Berlin is pretty much a condensed history of world war Europe. What transpired here reverberated in Europe and further. It was headquartered by the Nazis, bombed to bits, took over by Russian forces, ripped into half and finally reunited as one.

The Nazi party took power in Germany with Berlin as the capital after winning Germany’s election. The harsh treatment of the treaty of Versaille and the global stock market crash in the 30s gave rise to widespread disenchantment that finally propelled the Nazi party to rule. And as we know the war broke out shortly after.

After the war ended, Berlin was split into half by the Allies and the Russian army, and so did Germany. The wall came up in subsequent years when both sides did not want the people on their side to go to the other, more so to prevent East Berliners moving to the West. Countless people tried pulling up escape acts to get pass army checkpoints such as hiding in the car boot, or simply climbing over the wall and run or craw past the dead strip – a no man’s land zone where only armies patrol.

Berlin took a special place during the cold war. The Allies led by the Americans took charge of West Berlin, while East Berlin belonged to Soviet Russia. Any confrontation in Berlin could be interpreted as the two powers stance in the cold war. If WW3 were to happen, it would take place in Berlin.

On the day of arrival in Berlin, there was a cup finals between Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich. It was a pretty cold and rainy day, a little dissapointing having hope to escape cold weather in Oslo. I did a little city crawl myself. On the second day, I was joined by a new Australian friend, and we took the chance to find out about Graffitis. The Alternative Berlin tour who took us to visit graffitis, wall-painting, skateboarding factory and beach sandy beach volleyball area. The last day was a tour of historic Berlin, which is pretty much WW2 history and the wall. And finally, a shot of Jägermeister to finish off the night in Berlin.