Germany Part 4: Hamburg

**Note: you can get a better view on any of these pictures by clicking on them.


Hamburg

Our priority in Hamborg was to visit the Arche Church it is part of the same church network as Covanenet Life. After going to the Sunday morning service at Arche Church we took a walk around the city guided around by a guy from the church named Jörn. We got a really cool view of the city skyline after climbing the spiral staircase of Church St. Michaelis and of course got some Hamburgers (the Hamburger term comes from Hamburg).

The Arche Church

This is right by the harbor

This is the church that we climbed up to the top of

One of the views from the top. 

Note the lack of skyscrapers and tall cathedrals.

The famous ship and manufacturing area of Hamburg

A cool (Gothic I think) cathedral

Here is a good picture of our new friend Jörn from Arche Church

Just finished eating hambugers with a Hambuger. 

On the ferry back

Germany Part 3: Berlin

Berlin

Berlin was probable my favorite experience of this trip (the castle comes in close 2nd). There is not really anything that I have experienced that comes close to this city in terms of its history. Also, there was a lot of cool Architecture. But what made the city come alive for us was our tour guide (Sam) who took us around the city and explained the history of the city in a rally engaging way. During this tour we saw things like the memorial the murdered jews of Europe, the Reichstag, the place where Hitler killed himself, the remainder of the Berlin wall, checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenborg gate and much more. Here are some pictures from the significant sites:

Outside the Riechstag, the first thing that we saw

At the top of the Reichstag

The engineering is really cool here. The mirrors catch the sunlight and use it to light and heat the rest of the building. The shade on the right eliminates the glare. 

These glass windows allow people to peer into the main government chamber symbolizing the transparency Germany wants as a characteristic of their officials. 

One of four towers at the top

The highest building in Berlin in the Background, the radio tower

Having a good laugh after finishing off our first German sausages

This is our tour guide Sam. Easily the most talented tour guide I have ever known. 

Made a 3 hour tour seem like it took minutes. Ton's and ton's of history clearly 

and persuasively presented.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. 

(There were 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust)

Inside the memorial

This is right overtop of the bunker where Hitler spent his last days. 

He killed himself here by shooting himself in the head after drinking poison with his wife of one day. 

This is the last standing Nazi building in Berlin. Later this building was inhabbited by 

leaders in the communist party. Now it is a office for the Berlin tax service. 

This picture describes the ideal communist state, everyone happy. 

This is the Berlin wall. This is significant because Berlin was the only place that people from the East where allowed to go to the west during the reign of the communist party. This wall (initially constructed in one night) officially closed off east Europe (and by default east Germany) from West Germany. The wall only came down in 1989 after being up since 1961. 

A marker for the wall

Famous checkpoint Charlie, the place where WWIII almost started. 

The site of the famous book burning

At the end of a very satisfying day. Behind us is the famous Brandenburg 

gate probably the number one symbol of unity between East and West Berlin. 

Germany Part 2: München

(Here is my attempt to get back on track with this. These next blog posts will cover the other 3 days of our Germany trip. You can click on the pictures that you want to get a larger view of)

München

This was our first day in Germany. We stayed the night with this really interesting guy named Michael doing something that is really popular over here called coach surfing which basically is service for travelers that want a place to stay for free. It worked out really well for us, not only did we get a free place to stay but we got to meet a German and learn about the city and places to visit from him. During our time in München we were able to go to Frauenkirche, Marienplatz, Hofbräuhaus, and Dachou. Here are a couple pictures of the significant things that we did in München.

We rode 2 overnight trains on this trip. One from Copenhagen to Munich and the other from Munich to Berlin. This worked out really well for us and didn't cost to much in addition to the price of the Eurorail pass.

The walking mall

This is a pretty cool church called Frauenkirche.

It is a pretty large church that give a really good view of the city. 

Inside the church. It can seat over 20,000 people. 

The view from the top of the church. 

You can see Marienplatz from here as well as the new and old town halls. 

This is us in the Marienplatz. Behind us is the new town hall.

This was just a really cool building. Not sure what it was though. 

Inside the world famous beer hall, Hofbräuhaus

Dachou

The entrance to the concentration camp in Dachou. 

This was the first concentration camp. 

The camp was split up into two main parts, the barracks and the crematorium. 

"Work Brings Freedom"

A guard tower as well as some of the barracks markers.

The Gas Chamber

The Furnaces

"May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men"