"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings." Heinrich Heine 1820
This quote is on a plaque on the ground, in the square where they burned 20,000 banned books one night on the order of Hitlers propoganda minister, the quote predates the Nazis by over 100 years, but just look at the eventual outcome of that book burning,
Just one of the many moving and interesting facts learned on a walking tour of Berlin took offered by Insider Tours. A great was of orientating yourself in a city and putting things in perspective and really not in the least bit touristy as compared to one of those ghastly coach tours. Slow paced with time to let thinks sink in, these are often specialist to a certain aspect of a city. I liked this one so much, im going to do one focusing on the cold war and Soviet Berlin tomorrow, which ties in nicely to the Le Carre im reading. Ive done similar tours in London, for example the Jack the Ripper tour, oh and a ghost walking tour in Edinborough, all very good.
I chalked up the first of 3 blissed out travel moments on this tour, wandering and marvelling at the grandeur of a square and the various phases of history it had witnessed. What a unique city, few other places have experienced such turmoil, from the Electors, to the Kaisers, the Weimar republic, the Nazis, the division of the city and the Cold War and what a vibrant stylish up beat and cosmopolitain place it is now.
Take a look at some pictures ..remember you can make full screen using the icon on bottom right
Incidentaly my other 2 blissed out moments, were randomly eating a hamburger at a corner place id discovered late at night when ón and on' by Abba came on and another today standing in front of the Nefertiti bust in the Egyptian musuem that id always wanted to see - you never know what random moment its going to hit you!
At the end of my walking tour i wandered off past the Reichstag into an area of impressive post reunification government buildings which were the inspiration for more photography. Ive grouped these together with some others of the memorial to the murdered jews in the holocaust. Ive shared my doors and windows and bold colour photographic fetishes with you.. another passion is light play, abstract angles, reflectionslines and converging perspectives, these all seemed to fit within this theme. I hope you enjoy and just like Alfred Hitchcock if you look closely you might see me pop up somewhere in these images!
