AWGScriveners2013: Maggie: re-discovering Berlin after 41 years

Since I didn’t know until almost the last minute that I was going to be able to go to Berlin for the Region 5 conference, flights were already full for the day before the conference and we had to go a day earlier, but that left time for Serge and I to enjoy some tourism together. We walked a LOT that first afternoon and evening, and only took public transport to return across the city to our hotel on the Ku’damm. We had already decided to have supper near the hotel, and there was a conference supper on the Friday night, but we checked out some places for our Saturday dinner, and the one that we chose was a winner.

It’s the Altberliner Wirtshaus, in the former East Berlin, and seemed very traditional, although there was an over-abundance of (other) French tourists that night (which the waitress said was unusual). The beer list was not as interesting as at Dicke Wirtin (see review a little later in this piece) and they have no home-made schnapps, but the food was delicious, and there was plenty of variety. The sauerkraut was perhaps the best I’ve ever tasted. It’s on the internet, and one review lists it as fairly expensive, but we paid only 39€ (plus “tip is not included”) for almost more than we could eat, plus beers.

I had been to Berlin 41 years ago, with a German man who had been a prisoner of war at a camp near Marseille where my dad was stationed at the end of the war. He had kept in touch, and my dad had suggested I visit him and his family when I was travelling in Germany. They live north of Nürnberg, and he had to make a business trip to Berlin, and invited me to go along. I have just looked at my diary entries for March 19 and 20, 1975. They make me laugh, so I’m going to share some excerpts:

“I went looking for a pension near Ku-damm. Most places didn’t even open the door – just spoke through the intercom. And when they heard I wanted a room for only one night, they said they had nothing. One place had a room for 23 dm, but I said that was too much for me. She asked what I wanted to pay, and I said 15 to 18 DM. So she said since it was only for one night, I could have the room for 18 DM.

“About 5:30 pm we set off for East Berlin via the S-bahn. Customs at Friedrichstrasse station took forever, and the officials were not in the least friendly. But I made my currency declaration, and after almost an hour, we were through. It was quite an experience, and a bit frightening. We walked along Unter den Linden, and I unfortunately found East Berlin far more to my liking than West Berlin. The street was lined with the big old buildings, reconstructed after the war – the opera, library, Humboldt University, armory, etc. – all beautifully illuminated. Far more impressive than the super-modern construction and neon lights of the free sector. Mr. Ernst made a big point of the fact that the churches had not been rebuilt. We walked past the fountain in front of the Rathaus and over to the very modern and huge Alexanderplatz. I was surprised by the absence of restaurants and cafés. Only a few cafeterias. And it was a very unusual feeling knowing that I was free to come and go, but the other people on the streets are Soviet citizens. Another of my reactions, this morning in West Berlin, was the strange realization as I looked at the burned out ruins of bombed buildings that my countrymen were in a large part responsible for this destruction.”

My second day in Berlin in 1975, I crossed to the Soviet sector at Checkpoint Charlie.

I noted in my diary that I was told not to take photos of any buildings flying the East German or Russian flags. This trip, in 2016, at the Tourist Checkpoint Charlie, there is a German dressed up as an American soldier, who charges money for photos, or says to come back after dark and take photos for free. Serge managed to get a photo anyway. (Note the McDonald’s, which was not there in 1975.)

Also from my diary notes. I had to change currency for East Berlin, and then tried to spend it before returning to the west. “It’s not easy to spend money. The postcards are black and white, and souvenirs are from Bulgaria.”

I took hundreds of photos in Berlin, and Serge took almost as many.

Here's another restaurant recommendation.

Dicke Wirtin (Grosse Aubergiste) is a small, traditional brasserie with a history, and with a large selection of excellent beers we had never heard of, and an even larger selection of home-made eaux de vie from various fruits and vegetables. Of particular interest (to me) were those made from Jerusalem artichoke, rhubarb, and ginger. Very near a bus stop, just off the Savignyplatz. The food was very good as well.
We discovered the restaurant (thanks to the French edition of the Lonely Planet guide to “Berlin en quelque jours”) our first night in Berlin, when we stayed at a hotel on the Ku’damm, and went back our second night (after Robin Meloy Goldsby’s fund-raising concert at Steinway House for the new Target Project). Serge went there another day for lunch, while I was at the Regional meetings, and we went back for some more schnapps our last night in Berlin. The waiters and waitresses were extremely friendly, especially after we left 15% the first night in response to the rubber stamped line on the bill (in English!) – “Tip Not Included.” That got us an immediate extra order of schnapps, and the next night, we were offered a stronger version of the ginger schnapps (nothing to do with cookies), which nearly knocked us off our chairs. The last night we were once again offered extra schnapps, but said one last glass for the two of us would do, and the waitress should choose the flavor so we could try to identify it. I did. It was quince.

Some photos of the wall (not the one proposed on the Mexican border):