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Saturday 23 to Tuesday 26 March
On Saturday we drove into Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s famous shopping street, for lunch and some shopping. I was so excited to have the opportunity to buy some bits and pieces for our little granddaughter, who is due in the world in September.
Spring was slowly creeping into Berlin, so we decided on a Sunday walk in the Tiergarten. The Tiergarten is a massive inner-city park, original founded as a hunting area in the 16th century by the Elector of Brandenburg. It was fenced to prevent the wild animals from escaping.
Frederick the Great (1712-1786) did not appreciate the hunt, so he opened the park as public gardens.
In the 1930s Hitler planned to make the Tiergarten the centre of his city of Welthauptstadt Germania, the World Capital Germania. Fortunately, that never happened.
After the war the Tiergarten, which sat in the British Occupation sector, was used to grow potatoes and vegetables. Most of the trees were felled for firewood. Between 1949 and 1959 the Tiergarten was reforested, but it was not until after reunification that the park was properly regenerated.
It is a beautiful park to walk through. Still cold in March, but the sun shone and the early spring bulbs added colour. We could hear woodpeckers, but not see them. We did find bumblebees – a sure sign the weather was warming.
So after a catch up with Hayden and Andrea and some quality rest time, it was time to continue our adventures. We took the train to Stuttgart.
