Germany marks 20th anniversary of reunification

Who says you can’t be in two places at the same time? Historical marker reminds visitors where the Berlin Wall once stood

Today Germany is celebrating the 20^th anniversary of German reunification, which ended about four decades of division after the Second World War.

I’m not there now, but I was there last year – the 20^th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

The fall of the wall eventually led to the reunification of the democratic West Germany and the communist East Germany.

Here’s a bit of German history from our guide in Berlin:

Random Berlin bus video

We were on our way to the Berlin Victory Column when I took this video of our guide and some of my fellow online journalism workshop participants.

Berlin seems to be detached from the rest of Germany

The Brandenburg Gate and yours truly, November 2009

Berlin is the capital of Germany and not surprisingly, it contains many of the important structures in the country. 

For example, the Brandenburg Gate, the image shown on some of the German version of Euro coins, is found in Berlin. 

German coins showing the Brandenburg Gate

Aside from having many of the iconic German symbols, Berlin is also dynamic, prosperous and forward-looking. 

At first glance, Berlin seems to embody everything that’s German. 

Until you notice its geographical location: the German capital is closer to Poland than many of the country’s other major cities, such as Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig. 

Berlin is about four-and-a-half hours away by train from the Bonn/Cologne area, my home away from home when I was in Germany late last year. 

On the other hand, Paris, the capital of neighboring France, is only about four hours away by train from Bonn/Cologne. 

Based on location alone, Berlin seems to be detached from the rest of Germany.

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From the Great Wall to the Berlin Wall

From the Great Wall...

I would like to start the new year right by being thankful for the old one, 2009. 

Last year I met new friends, put an end to something that I should have ended years ago <wink> and stepped foot on places that I never thought I’d actually see in person.

Friends

In 2009, I gained friends from various parts of the world, thanks to the journalism workshops that I attended in Macau, China in May and Bonn, Germany from mid-November to early December.

End

Now I no longer have any unfinished business. Closure is a good thing.

Places

In April I set foot on the Great Wall, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

After only seven months, I saw vestiges of the Berlin Wall, probably the most concrete symbol of the Cold War.

... to the Berlin Wall

I feel so blessed.

Mitsubishi in Germany

Mitsubishi Colt on the foreground. A building partially blocks the view of the Berlin TV Tower

Mercedes-Benz. BMW. Volkswagen.

I’ve associated Germany with cars long before I visited that country.

That was why when I saw a Mitsubishi near our hotel in Berlin, I couldn’t help but ask myself what that car was doing in the heart of the German capital.

I have nothing against Mitsubishis, I see lots of them in the Philippines.

But the Philippines is not Germany.

The sight of a Mitsubishi in the Land of Benzes and BMWs surprised me.

I thought I would see only German cars in Germany itself.

Along Unter den Linden in Berlin

Take pictures of yourself, it is fun!

Yeah, I know this bull in Cologne, Germany is much cuter

Like a zombie in Berlin's Reichstag, Germany's parliament building

When I saw on German journalist Marcus Bösch’s Twitter page a link to a piece about models taking pictures of themselves, I couldn’t help but click on the link right away and read the article.

We don’t have to be models to take photos of ourselves. Anyone can do it!

I like to take pictures of myself.

Superb background in Shanghai! The foreground? Ummm...

No, it’s not because I’m a narcissist, but because it’s easier for everyone.

I can take a photo of myself a thousand times, literally, but I doubt I’d find someone else who’d do that for me. For free.

Besides, I can get as serious as I want or as silly as I want when I take pictures of myself. I don’t get conscious at all when I do that.

And with literally thousands of pictures to choose from, it’s much easier for me to have very serious or really silly photographs.

The more the merrier, indeed.

Balls in Berlin

Balls and the Berliner Fernsehturm (Berlin TV Tower)

German building and Soviet graffiti

The Reichstag is the home of the German parliament

The Reichstag in Berlin is the most remarkable government building that I’ve seen so far.

What’s so interesting about it? Well, some of its walls still bear the graffiti written by Soviet soldiers at the end of World War II.

But since I don’t speak Russian, I don’t know what the writings mean. I’m sure though that they’re not meant to praise Germany.

I think it’s a good move to preserve the graffiti.

They give the building character: once you’re inside the edifice you will realize that it’s a place that has gone through so much.

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Sleeveless in Berlin

It’s cold in Germany now – about six to eight degrees Celsius according to a BBC weather report.

But the weather hasn’t lived up to my expectations on the temperature in Europe at this time of the year.

While it can get bitterly cold out there on the streets, it’s warm inside the hotel and other buildings.

Indoors, I feel like I’m just in tropical Manila (at about 4 AM in December, when it’s a little bit cooler, 19 degrees Celsius more or less).

Inside any building I don’t need the thick jackets that I wear when I’m walking down the streets of Berlin.

I don’t think though that it has anything to do with global warming or something.

Maybe I’ve got really thick skin.

Or maybe I was a penguin in my past life.

Berlin train

Practice video…