Berlin, Germany

We decided to do a tour in Germany as we were coming into Warnumude port which was about 2.5 hours by train from Berlin. We booked a tour that took us to a former concentration camp and then on a tour of Berlin. We had to get an early start with our train leaving at 7:30am. The ship had so many people going into Berlin that they ended up booking two private trains to book us there and back. Our first stop was Sachsenhasen Concentration Camp which is in Oranienburg, Germany and was used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to 1945. This camp was not a death camp like Auschwitz but many people did still die here and there were executions. As Jews were on the bottom of the hierarchy list a lot of them were transferred to Auschwitz. The camp did have a small gas chamber that was used to kill more people at once in its later years rather than executing them by shooting. Most of the camp is reconstructed as a lot of the locals used the original wood and steel for their homes after the war. It was really interesting to see and the reconstruction was able to give you an idea somewhat of what the camp looked like.

Our next stop was the city of Berlin which was about an hour’s drive from Oranienburg. We stopped at the Brandenburg gate which is the only remaining gate that you would go through to enter Berlin. We also went to the Jewish Holocaust Memorial which is a huge space filled with concrete slabs all of various heights and sizes. Across the street from the memorial was where Hitler had his office and is where the bunker was that he killed himself.

After the memorial we had a traditional German lunch and then we went to see Checkpoint Charlie. Where the Berlin wall once stood is now a double row of cobblestones marking its spot. The guard house is a replica as the original had been torn down and is now a big tourist attraction with two men in American Military uniforms standing at the front of it. After Checkpoint Charlie we went to see a remaining part of the Berlin Wall. We didn’t have much time there as we had to get back to the train station to get the train back to the ship. 

Sachsenhasen

They found this bottle and letter in this spot a few years ago. The widow of the man who wrote it was still alive when it was found

Layout of the camp

Main entrance

This motto was above all concentration camps including Auschwitz..."Work makes one free"

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Prisoners would have to test out new shoes for the military on these rocks. They were forced to carry heavy backpacks and walk for days to see if the shoes would hold up.

Execution area

Gas chamber

Ashes have been found around the camp and small plaques are put up to mark the spots

Brandenburg Gate

Jewish Memorial

Where Hitler's offices were

The square were the book burning was held

Random store front that had hundreds of photos hung on the walls

Checkpoint Charlie

Where the Berlin wall once stood

Berlin Wall

Sand art in the cruise port