Even though World War II ended almost 70 years ago, signs that the city was annihilated and then rebuilt from the ground up are so commonplace that they go almost totally unnoticed.
The Führerbunker, where Adolf Hitler lived up to and including his suicide, was converted into a parking lot several years ago. Apart from an information placard, nothing commemorates the site of the dictator’s death.
One of the most impressive examples can be found in Volkspark Friedrichshain, the city park near our hotel. I went running there one afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to find what I thought was a natural forested hill. It wasn’t until a few days later that I was told the hill I had gone up was actually an enormous pile of rubble, collected from a Nazi flak tower that stood in the park as well as debris from around the area. A huge slab, which probably should have tipped me off to the bunkerberg’s origins, is still visible at the top.
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- The site of Hitler’s death.
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- Anchors left from the turret that once topped the flak tower in Volkspark Friedrichshain
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- What would eventually become the hill in Volkspark Friedrichshain. Credit: Otto Donath
Berolina 