Berlin Reloaded

As you may recall, a year ago I went to Berlin as part of my annual Christmas trip. Smitten with the city I decided to go back to Berlin this past Christmas (2016).

I've been to Berlin countless times. I remember visiting Berlin as a small boy, back when it was still divided into East and West. I stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate and tortured my parents with endless questions, trying to understand why we couldn't walk through the gate to the other side and why heavily armed police was guarding it.

Years later, in my teenage years and the heydays of techno, I went back every summer to attend one of the world's largest techno parades (search for Love Parade). Luckily only a few photos of that time exists and it was before the days of digital cameras and social media. 

Some parts of Berlin have changed dramatically and for the better, but similar to New York it is the odd/unique parts of the city that I am most attracted to and enjoy visiting.

The benefit of visiting a city or place that I've been to before is that there is no pressure to go sightseeing and work down a list of major tourist attractions. I can be spontaneous and just wander around, something I did on this trip. Below are a few photos from my recent visit to Berlin. For reference I have included details where to find these spots.

All photos were developed by MeinFilmLab in Germany. 

Street Art

Friedrichstrasse 

Central-Kino, Rosenthalerstrasse 39

Hackesche Hoefe

Rosenthalerstrasse 40-41

Sophienkirche

Grosse Hamburger Strasse 29-30

This church is located in the Eastern part of Berlin. We stumbled upon this little gem while heading for dinner at Shiso Burger, a hip burger place that a friend of ours recommended and that is located in Auguststrasse a few feet away. Berlin has quite a few churches; however, this particular church was the one where on September 13, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. held a second sermon during his short trip to East Berlin. 

A great summary of Dr. King's visit to Berlin is available here.

Friedrichstadt-Palast

Friedrichstrasse 107

Berlin by Night

Brandenburg Gate

Reichstag

Kanzleramt

Harzer Schmallspurbahnen

“Warum in die Ferne schweifen? Sieh, das Gute liegt so nah.”

— Based on "Erinnerung" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When I was a teenager and talked about my upcoming travel plans, my grandmother sometimes responded with the above words. A rough translation is "Why look into the distance? See, the good is so close" (thanks Google translator). The words are based on a poem by Goethe called "Erinnerung". Recently, when I went on a day-trip during my visit to Germany, the words popped up in my mind and left me with a smile.

I grew up in a small village on the outskirts of Halle (Saale), a city in the southern part of Saxony-Anhalt. Halle is primarily known for being the native town of Georg Friedrich Haendel, a famous baroque composer, and salt harvesting in its early days. Close to Halle, a short drive away, is a mountain range called Harz, Northern Germany's highest mountain range. The highest peak/elevation of the Harz mountain range is called Brocken (~3,747 ft).

Both the Harz mountain range and Brocken are great places for hiking and family trips. I recall going on family trips multiple times during my childhood, both with my parents as well as other family members. The part that I liked the most about vacationing there were the day-trips aboard the Harzer Schmallspurbahnen (Harz Narrow Gauge Railway), a steam train network stretching through parts of the Harz mountain range. This past December, when I went home to Germany and the village I grew up in, I couldn't resist going on a day-trip to the Harz mountain range and jump aboard the steam train for a trip up to the peak of the Brocken.

Our trip aboard the steam train started in Wernigerode, a small town in the Harz foothills. We arrived early in the moring, around 8 am, at the train station. In the distance we could already hear the steam train slowly approaching that station. Needless to say, I must have stood there with the biggest grin and my eyes wide open. The trip from Wernigerode to the peak of the Brocken took about 2 hours.

Slowly the steam locomotive made its way up the mountain to the peak, passing small villages and through the forest. Along the route the steam train made frequent stops for servicing and re-fill of the water tanks; a great opportunity to take photos. When we arrived at the peak of the mountain, it was wrapped in fog and high winds made it challenging to walk around. We had planned on exploring the views from the peak, but we headed straight for shelter at a small restaurant instead. After a short lunch break we boarded the train for our return trip back to Wernigerode.

The trip aboard the steam train brought back many childhood memories, and years later it was still the same fun and excitement to ride aboard the train.

Below are a few impressions (photos). All black and white photos were taken with the Leica MP and Zeiss Sonnar 1,5/50 lens on Kodak Tri-x 400 film. All color photos were taken with the Hasselblad 500C and Zeiss 2,8/80 lens on Fuji Pro400H. All photos were developed and scanned by Mein Film Lab.

Hamburg

For me, no visit to Germany is complete without a visit to Hamburg. Whilst I was not born in Hamburg, it is my favorite city in Germany and one of the few places that I make absolutely sure I stop by whenever I fly back home to Germany. When asked by friends or strangers which places to visit in Germany, Hamburg is at the top of my list of recommendations.

Hamburg, or Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg as it is officially named, is a port city that is located in the northern part of Germany, close to the North Sea and by the River Elbe. The city has a vast network of canals, an old historic warehouse district (Speicherstadt) that has been designated as a world heritage site, and an enormous industrial port along with a beautiful harbor promenade. Hamburg is also known for its Reeperbahn district, Europe's largest red-light district, but also the home to many great bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants and galleries. It's the place where the Beatles played for an extended time in Germany in the 60's. 

I had previously posted photos made during my visit to Berlin last December, and in this post I am sharing a few photos I made during my four-day visit to Hamburg around New Year's Eve. I took full advantage of my visit and explored the streets of Hamburg with my camera every day. I even got up early on New Year's Day and explored the empty (hung-over) streets of this beautiful city. My mom was my brave travel companion and co-explorer. The temperature in Berlin was mild, almost spring-like, but in Hamburg it was frigid. It was so frigid that we had to stop at one of the souvenir shops and buy a fashionable "Schietwetter" (translated "shit weather") hat for my mom, which she proudly shows off in one of the photos below. However, the frigid temperatures during the day or night were no hurdle and I even ventured out in the middle of the night to capture the beautifully illuminated warehouse district.

All black and white photos were made with the Leica MP and Zeiss Sonnar 1,5/50, or Leica M-A and Summicron 2/35, on Kodak Tri-X 400 film. All color photos were made with the Hasselblad 500c and Zeiss Planar 2,8/80 on Fuji Pro 400H. All photos were processed and scanned by MeinFilmLab in Germany. One of my photos was also featured on the MeinFilmLab selected works in January.

Hamburg by Night

Berlin

“All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’.”

— President John F. Kennedy - June 26, 1963

One of my goals for 2016, a new years resolution so to speak, is to get better at blogging and capturing, in words and photos, what I've seen and experienced on my travels. It will take some time, but hopefully you will see a change for the better by the end of the year. To achieve that goal I've decided to take a small black notebook and fountain pen with me on my travels, to take notes throughout the day so I wont forget the small details that made the trip or day special.

My most recent trip was my 2 1/2 weeks trip to Germany for Christmas and New Years. I left on December 18th and flew from JFK via Heathrow to Frankfurt. After a painful and long layover at Heathrow I arrived in Frankfurt. I rented a car and drove up to my mom's place, close to Hanover, to stay for a couple of days before heading to Berlin for a short three day trip on December 23rd.

The drive from Hanover to Berlin was pleasant and uneventful, and I had my share of fun on the Autobahn and pushing the rental car to its limit. I left around 1pm and arrived at the hotel in Berlin late afternoon. After unpacking I spent the evening enjoying a nice snack and a few drinks at the hotel. A bit tired from the drive I decided to take it easy and only walked around for a few minutes that night, enjoying the beautifully lit Christmas tree by the Brandenburg Gate. I snapped a couple of photos before catching an early nights sleep in order to rise early in the morning for some sightseeing.

December 24, 2015 - Christmas Day

I set my alarm for 8 am, right before sunrise. I decided to skip breakfast at the hotel and instead opted for a quick Latte and Pain au Chocolat across the street at Starbucks. I was too eager and excited to get out and explore the streets of Berlin with my cameras. I have to admit, it felt a bit strange to order at Starbucks in German and I almost pulled out my phone to pay with the app. I didn't even take the time to sit down and enjoy my breakfast. With the coffee cup and a small paper bag with my food in my hand I left the store, ready to explore Berlin.

Luckily the hotel, Adlon, is very central and only a few feet away from the Brandenburg Gate, as well as other attractions. The night before I had carefully planned my day and the different sights I wanted to visit. On my list I had the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Strasse unter den Linden, Checkpoint Charlie, and Museumsinsel. It was enough sights for a nice little three hour walk. 

I could not have asked for a better day and weather to explore Berlin. Even though it was December, the weather was mild and I walked around the city experiencing a beautiful sunrise and perfect light for photography. The streets were empty, at times spooky, and I didn't have to mind any tourist groups. It seemed as if even locals took the morning off because I barely ran into people on the streets. One by one I worked myself through the list of sights I had planned on visiting.

Around noon I arrived back at the hotel and went for a quick stroll to the memorial of the murdered Jews of Europe. The memorial is located right behind the hotel. It's a "sea" of thousands of concrete slabs. I took my time to take it all in and tried capture the sheer magnitude with my camera.

A little after 1pm I took off for a nice leisurely afternoon walk along the "Strasse under den Linden". Our target was the "Berliner Fernsehturm" (TV tower). I still remember when I was a child, standing in long a queue for hours just to get up there and catch a glimpse of the city from high up. How times have changed, I only waited for ten minutes and then we were on our way up. The view was breathtaking. I decided not to take any photos and just enjoy the view. After about 30 minutes I went back down and then headed back to the hotel.

Later in the evening I had a nice family Christmas dinner at "The Grand", a German-French cuisine restaurant close to Alexanderplatz. Luckily the concierge at the Adlon helped out the night before securing a reservation. Service was a bit slow given the amount of people having dinner there that night, however, spending all year in a city where everything is fast paced, New York, I didn't mind at all.

December 25, 2015

The last day in Berlin was all about soaking up some history and culture in the morning. I got up really early, packed all the bags, and after a quick in-room breakfast headed to the Neues Museum (Museumsinsel) to see the Nefertiti bust. You are not allowed to take photos of the bust itself, but I was able to capture a few around the museum. The entire Museumsinsel is filled with different exhibitions and to enjoy it all you certainly need more than just a morning.

When I got back to the hotel early afternoon from the museum visit the car was waiting for us in front of the hotel, all nicely packed and ready to go. A last look around the Pariser Platz and the Brandenburg Gate and then I was off to visit my dad and the village I grew up in.

Stay tuned for more...

All photos developed and scanned by MeinFilmLab. Black&White photos are Kodak Tri-X, colour photos are FujiPro400H.