Berlin

Had a chance to visit Berlin for a conference.  In terms of 'charm', it is no match to Paris, but its functional beauty and associations with historical events make it an excellent destination for tourists. 

First of all, the Subway is immaculate and easily navigable even for non-German speaking foreigners.

The Brandenberger Tor and the Reichstag are impressive monuments that witness important parts of Germany history that are not as salient as WWII or the Cold War.

Having stayed at a hotel in former East Berlin, I got to learn a bit about the divide between East/West Germany.  Germany became divided after WW2 ended in 1945, but even until the end of 1950s the Berlin Wall had not been erected, with East and West Germans moving across the border with relative ease.  1961 was when a first physical form of a 'wall' was established with barbed wires, which was reinforced with concrete in 1965.  The wall 'fell' (officially started to get dismantled) in 1989.  When it did, Rostopovich gave an impromptu concert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiwXUJJjL6g&feature=fvw

Checkpoint 'C'harlie was one of the border control sites between East and West Germany before the reunification.  Guess an equivalent form in Korea would be 판문점.

It is truly sad that this beautiful city has to be associated with past as horrendous as the holocaust. A couple blocks south of Brandenberger Tor you can find the Holocaust Memorial.   Hundreds of concrete slabs are laid out like tombs in undulating formation.  Underneath this structure is a museum, which greets with you with this chilling warning, 'It happened, therefore it can happen again.'