Day Two in Berlin: Two Incredible Museums Fill the Day - Exploring Germany, Czech Republic and beyond... on our Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze

Day Two in Berlin: Two Incredible Museums Fill the Day - Exploring Germany, Czech Republic and beyond... on our Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze

From Exploring Germany, Czech Republic and beyond... on our Recumbent Tandem

By Barry Bartlett

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July 25, 2014

Day Two in Berlin: Two Incredible Museums Fill the Day

The very popular DDR Museum. We got there when they opened to escape the line up. Having lived through this era, we are fascinated by what life was like in the GDR (as English speakers call it), what brought it about and the results of the dissolution of the Wall.

The Radisson Blu hotel has this immense aquarium mounted above the bar and goes up for several stories. Note the glass sided elevator that goes up the middle of it. We waited for hotel guests to gain access with their card and we rode to the top - amazing!!

The Trabi wass the car highly sought after by people of East Berlin. The wait for one was very long - often 16 years. This is because it took time to save the money, but it was mostly because production was so slow.

Kids were lined up for their chance to "drive" the Trabi. Despite the car being a proud possession, it was poorly made, was constructed of a plastic compound and suffered many breakdowns. To own a Trabi, one had to have their own tools, parts and much patience.

Potty training communist style. The kids all had to sit on the pot at the same time and not get up until everybody was finished. The theory was that this process would create good citizens.

East German built motorcycle, Simson.

We really liked this museum. The exhibits were interactive and hands on. Mary Ellen is sitting in a typical apartment of the time.

The kitchen was fully stocked and we were able to use and touch whatever we liked.

Cameras made in East Germany.

This map shows East Germany with Berlin positioned like an island in the middle. The isolation and potential dangers of living in West Berlin prompted the government to offer perks such as higher income to entice people to live there.

A prison cell in East Berlin. The Stasny were intolerant of anyone who resisted or questioned the regime.

The Trabi: refurbished models now offer tours of East Berlin.

The ultimate party bike....includes beer on tap and a bartender.

The German National History Museum was outstanding.

This is one part of four huge paintings depicting all the months of the year

We are not sure what this part of the painting is all about

Two of the four paintings

This is a mask used by doctors during the Plague

This was hung on a house to show that the inhabitants were suffering from the Plague

A scene from a painting of the Battle of Waterloo

Signs demanding that the Heil Hitler salute was mandatory when entering the building

Part of the Berlin Wall

The infamously unreliable East German Trabi

...and across this symbolic piece of the wall, the west's Volkswagon Beetle.

The inner courtyard of the German History Museum

Lenin

Above the front entrance of the German History Museum

Friedrich Street is a busy shopping area in Berlin. We caught the train back to Karin's house from this station

We met these wonderful dogs at the train station. People in Germany take their dogs everywhere- into shops, malls, on the train....

Back home again with Karin. She had cooked us a special beef stew with green beans.... delicious!!!

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