Berliners and Bunkers

The first stop today was the Brandenburg Gate. I realized when we got to the iconic Berlin sight that I didn't know anything about it. Luckily Syd Googled it and it turns out it is where Napoleon marched his troops across Germany. The current gate is actually a reconstruction because the old one was destroyed post-WWII.

The highlight of the day was going on the WWII bunker tour. Most of the bunkers that were constructed by Hitler have been sealed off to the public or destroyed, but an organization in Berlin has tried to preserve one as best they can for historical reasons and also to show the public. Pictures weren't allowed! But, Syd knows how important the blog is so he snapped a few photos with his iPhone.

The top tower used to have guns for shooting down planes.

We met our tour group and guide at a train station and then walked up the hill to one of the bunker towers. I learned today that all the hills in Berlin are not actually hills. They are locations of the old bunkers and they turned into hills from all the rubble when the bunkers were blown up. Now the "hills" are covered by trees and vegetation.

The bunker entrance

At the entrance to the bunker they give you a hard hat. The place is supposedly safe to walk through, but, you have to wear a hat for protection. The bunker also drips quite a bit so it helps you stay a little drier too.

Rocking the hard hat

On the tour they explained a lot about the history of WWII and how many planes the bunker has successfully shot down (only 32). I am not so interested in war, but seeing the structure was very interesting. The Germans started building the bunker in 1938 and it was finished by 1940. They worked round the clock to complete it so quickly. The walls are 4 meters thick of solid concrete and have an impressive amount of rod iron for support.

Falling down bunker

I thought that the bunkers were for military purposes only but it turns out there was a fully functioning hospital and thousands of civilians lived there too. Hitler thought of EVERYTHING. The most bizarre part of the bunker was the fact that they had windows so people could enjoy living there post-war. The bunker that we toured today was planned to be a movie theater. As you can see from the photo's that didn't turn out well.

More history tomorrow when we visit the museums.