"BERLIN" a Berlin Travel Page by bugulma

I watched in TV several times the New Year celebration near of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and I thought it would be nice to be there in one day. So when I came to Dresden in the end of 2004 I decided to fulfill my dream to meet New Year in Berlin. If to be true, of course, it's not so funny to be into drunken crowd (newspapers wrote there were 800 thousands of people around), it's better to look at it in TV. Besides, in spite of fireworks were not allowed in the Juni 17 Strasse area where the celebration was because the main fireworks in the midnight, but there were many fireworks outside the area. It became dangerous especially after midnight because, it seems, some people lost control and some fireworks flied parallel the field. Some fireworks blew in the hands. So it was a kind of futuristic picture: there were fireworks and in the same time there were signals and rows of the medicine machines :-)
The second time I've been to Berlin in December 2005 and spent 3 days here.

But it's impressions of New Year Eve. I arrived to Berlin in the morning and spent whole day in the city. Of course, the only day is not enough. I got S-Bahn from the Eastern Railway station, where my train arrived, to Alexanderplatz Station and I went towards Unter den Linden Strasse. I got Brandenburg Gate area, which was closed cause of preparing fireworks. Then I crossed the former border and came into Western Berlin. In my opinion the city is still divided, rather in the people mind. The Eastern Berlin and Western Berlin are still different! Maybe I didn't see many places but where I was, those places built my opinion. The feeling that the Wall is still exists in the minds, especially the Wall in the minds have people who was born in DDR and had an age when you can remember quite well. It seems there was system, which worked perfect, and then it was destroyed and then you had to get used to something new and not everyone wants that, it seems. Well, I am the same. I want to say I was 13 when USSR collapsed and instead of good working system (I don’t say it was good) in one day we had nothing. I think something Soviet still lives in my head. :-) But let's back to Berlin.

The first settlements in the area date back to the beginning of AD, when German tribes of Semnons lived here. In VI century Slavic came and lived here till the middle of X AD when the area was taken under German kingdoms control (Brandenburg, for example). The first city here was mentioned in October 28, 1237 and it had a name Koln (nevertheless the date is a birthday of the city). The first mention of Berlin was in January 26, 1244. It was the town that situated on the opposite side of Spree River to Koln. In 1307 the towns were joined and the city became Berlin and since 1319 it is independent trade city. Since 1486 the Berlin is Residence of Brandenburg Electors. Approximately in these times Berlin became Protestant city. In 1618 Berlin joined to Prussia. And soon, 1640 around, the Berlin became the capital of Prussia. In 1701 Fridrich III was crowned as Prussian Emperor. The Golden Age of Berlin is bound up with the name of Fridrich the Great, who was Emperor in 1740-1786. The Prussia began to play the great role in Europe. I'd like to say about interesting fact of Seven years war (1755-1762) when Russia and Prussia were enemies in that war. So, while Fridrich had a battle with Austrian troops quite far from Berlin, Russian lieutenant Chernyishov attacked Berlin and got it. It was in 1759. It was the first time when Russian troops were in Berlin. By the way, after that attack the key of Berlin was presented to Russian officer. The key is kept in Russian museum in Saint Petersburg.
Another great page of history is bound up with Otto von Bismark, who became chancellor of Prussia. He played the great role that to unit all divided German kingdoms in the united Germany that we know today. It is a pity but the German unification was a reason to have a war with France in 1870-1871. Besides it seems Bismark could inculcate the war spirit in Germans and both world wars in XX century was begun by Germany, in 1914 and in 1939. But both were not successfully as that war against France.
The result of the WWII is the country and the city was divided. In August 1961 the Brandenburg Gate was closed for observing in Eastern Berlin. I think I can mention the great role of the only president of USSR Mikhail Gorbachev and his colleague, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who helped to unit Germany again in September 3, 1990. The modern history of Berlin and Germany had been beginning in that day.