Edgy Berlin is Europe’s cool kid. Nine
times bigger than Paris, it was once
divided by a huge wall and is now one
of the most exciting cities on the planet.
Berliners love curried sausages, green
traffic light men and urban safaris. If you
ever visit, don’t make the same mistake
as US President John F Kennedy who
reportedly once said, “Ich bin ein
Berliner!”
, meaning “I am a doughnut!”.
RABBITS, RABBITS, RABBITS
At the old Chausseestrasse border
crossing between East and West
Berlin,120 brass rabbits hop across
the street and pavements. The
artworks, inlaid into stone and
cement, remember the
real-life rabbits that lived
in the grassy, ‘No Man’s
Land’ in front of the Wall.
In 1979, a
mechanic, a mason
and their families
floated over the wall in
a homemade hot air
balloon made from
propane cylinders
and bed sheets.
WHAT A CHAMELEON!
Few buildings have changed their look as many times
as Germany’s parliament house, the Reichstag. Over
the years, the building has been burned down, bombed,
reconstructed and flanked by the Berlin Wall. In 1995,
avant-garde artist Christo wrapped it in fabric, and
then in 1999, world-class architect Norman Foster
crowned it with a futuristic glass dome.
MINI MEN
Keep your eyes peeled for Berlin’s
Ampelmännchen
– little red and green men
showing pedestrians when to ‘stop’ and
‘walk’, at city traffic lights. The much-loved
hat-wearing figures were first designed in
East Germany. These days ‘Ampel man’
appears on everything from mouse pads
and bottle openers to T-shirts, cookie
cutters and flip-flops.
BEAR-PIT KARAOKE
On warm Sunday afternoons, Berliners flock to an
amphitheatre in the city’s Mauerpark to sing karaoke!
The spot is nicknamed the ‘bear pit’ because that’s what
it feels like when you’re up there singing in front of the
huge crowds that gather to cheer and sway along.
TRABI TOURS
Before the Wall came down, many East Berliners drove a
Trabant. The small, smelly car belched out clouds of exhaust
fumes. Its bodywork was not metal, but a type
of resin containing bits of wool and wood. Today
tourists go on Trabi safaris around the capital.
FAST FOOD
Forget burgers, currywurst
(pork sausage with tomato
sauce and curry powder) is what rocks the fast food
stands in Berlin. Berliners eat 127 tonnes (125 US
tons) of sausage a day. They even have their own
Currywurst Museum. It’s painted ketchup-red and
kitted out with sausage-shaped sofas.