The Light Side of Berlin

The bear has been a symbol for Berlin since at least 1709.  Since 1920 the bear has been the only symbol on the Berlin Coat of Arms.  In 2001 the art promoters decided to bring art to the city streets of Berlin.  They decided to use the bear,the symbol of Berlin, as the backdrop for the art work.  They had a bear art contest.  These bears are all over the city and lots of fun.

                                Upside down Picasso Bear and the City map bear.

The Berlin Bear hangs out at the Brandenburg Tür every Saturday.  Look who is in the background--Darth Vader--we heard that Darth Vader is a church member. The Berliner Bear
was left with a pass-a-long card after the picture.

How can you resist buying children books from this pixi elf?  Just the right size for your 2 year old to grab one or two.   There are book stores on almost every street and lots of these little Pixi bookholders.

 Ice Cream is "eis"--how can one resist?  There are lots of fun statues advertising and enticing one into their establishment.

Lego Discoveryland is underground--very expensive but looks fun.  This giant giraffe is their enticement!  It certain caught our eye!  I wonder how many legos make up this giraffe?

There are some interesting differences in what used to be East and West Berlin.  When the city was divided in 1949, the city water system was also divided.  The East Germans brought their steam heating pipes above ground.  They aren't ugly because they use bright pinkish purple and blue colors..  The pipes are still functioning today. .As the Berlin Wall went up, the underground network of water pipes was blocked with steel grates between east and west sides. These huge grates acted as collectors of garbage and served to prevent people from trying to escape to the west.  Here is what the pipes look like today.  They are seen only what used to be East Berlin but now are all over.

 The signals to walk or not walk across the street were different in East and West Berlin.  When the two cities combined, it seemed like most decisions for government etc.were patterned after West Berlin.  The East Berliners stood firm on their street lights.  They had these cute fat figures for walk and don't walk.  The ones on the west are thin and boring!  This cute little feller is finding his way into the West Berlin area where you can find both stop lights.  United We Stand--Divided We Fall. They are getting there!!!!!

One of favorite sights we found while riding the bus to the mission office.  Tom and I couldn't believe our eyes--Spiderman on the house.  On our way home, we jumped off the bus just to get this picture!