Taking a walk in Berlin during September is a relatively pleasant chore to handle. The modern day Berlin is a neat and tidy city. While it is packed with historical sites (relating to the World War II and the Cold War), it also had modern buildings, huge shopping malls and futuristic architecture. In short, Berlin never ever gave me the stifling impression, although tourists can be found almost everywhere. Starting from Karl Marx Allee, I walked (7kms) towards Friedrichstraße (i.e. Checkpoint Charlie) via Alexanderplatz. Along the walk, I had my very first German Bratwurst (spiced minced pork and veal sausage, €1.20) with brot (bread). It was ok, but I really won't kill someone for that.

Needless to say, the Berlin Wall was the key to this leg of my European trip. Built in 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (a.k.a. GDR or East Germany), 155 kilometers of cold hard concrete was the all-important physical symbol of the Cold War. Unlike most walls, the Berlin Wall was not built to repel aliens; it was built to imprison its people. After WWII, Germany and Berlin was divided into 4 regions to be administered by the Americans, British, French and the Russians. While the Russian administered region of Germany became one of the richest, most advanced countries in the Eastern bloc, many of its citizens still looked to the West for political freedoms and economic prosperity. As such, there was massive emigration from GDR from 1949 to 1961. Furthermore, many West Berliners travelled into East Berlin to do their shopping at state-subsidized stores, where prices were much lower than in West Berlin. The drain of labour and economic output had threatened East Germany with economic collapse.

The problem was getting out of hand.

In 1961, GDR decided to build the Berlin Wall to encompass the American, British and French sectors of Berlin. West Berlin had just become a small dot of democracy among the huge seas of communism. Have the East Germans created a heaven in hell?