WWII Church in Berlin

This is the Kaiser Wilhelm church in the centre of Berlin that was damaged (destroyed) by allied bombing in WWII. It was strengthened and kept as a memorial as a reminder of what war can do. With all of the post WWII buildings in Berlin it's a sobering and awesome reminder of worse times.

Paul

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Was there in may of this year - totally agree!

That's a great image of the old church. I was there in 1966, of course the Wall was still standing. We went through Check Point Charlie into East Berlin, quite an experience. Do they still have little memorials where the wall used to be, for the people who died trying to escape?

I didn't see any memorials and in fact its hard to see where the wall stood except for some clearly marked locations. Here's a pic of one of the wall sections in Potsdamer Platz which has obviously been removed then placed as a memorial itself.
All in all a very interesting city

Paul

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I would love to visit Germany. I look at every picture i can of Germany. I like the ones you have they are very nice.

Nice photos Paul _ thanks for providing history on the church I didn't know about.

most of the remaining wall is in east berlin over the river. there is also some of it remaining fairly close to the checkpoint charlie museum. spent 4 days there in 2004. pretty interesting city. here's a list of where the remaining sections of wall are if anyone is interested
http://www.dailysoft.c​om …ide/berlinwall_​berlin.htm
nice photos, btw. especially like the one of the memorial.

Thanks for the history, and the memories Paul. when I was in Berlin in '66 it was because my dad, then a sergeant in the British Army, was a contestant in a big weightlifting tournament being held in East Berlin. I have memories of ominous looking guards inspecting our car as we drove from West Germany into the East to Berlin, of women with pickaxes and apron covered long skirts doing road works on the autobahn, and going through Check Point Charlie in a military car with my mother. My dad was in our car, in full uniform in front of us. I'm not sure of all the details now, but it seems the guard wanted to stop him - at gun point. When he saw Dad's uniform and the ID he flashed at the window, he backed down, and waved us all through. A scary moment. I think there was some rule that they could not stop military personnel, not sure of the details. I was 11 yrs old at the time. Goodness, and now Checkpoint Charlie is a museum!! I feel old!

There used to be a platform you could climb onto to look over the wall at Potzdamer Platz. On the other side was yards of tank traps and barbed wire, and East Berlin looked grey and dark, even in daylight. Wooden towers with armed guards watched your every move.

Very nice!

Good shot. I know how hard the Gedeachtniskirche is too shoot because of all the buildings and people around it. Have you also been to the memorial for killed Jews and the Topographie des Terrors?

SanderH wrote in post #2142145
Good shot. I know how hard the Gedeachtniskirche is too shoot because of all the buildings and people around it. Have you also been to the memorial for killed Jews and the Topographie des Terrors?

Thanks all for the comments.
SanderH, I just added another post on the Holocaust Memorial at https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=229613

A very sobering place

Paul