Day eight - Berlin

Today began with a walk past Berlin's Intercontinental Hotel that was my home for several weeks while working on ‘The Wall’ Berlin 1990. Although much extended, the hotel was recognisably the same, although much of Berlin has changed considerably since my first visit 34 years ago.

First stop was Schweizes cafe to meet with pianist and composer Craig Urquhart. We had a long chat, but I recorded a snippet for my podcast - Harmonious World.

Craig Urquhart and I take a break from discussions (and tea)

The weather was glorious, so we took a walk back to the German Resistance Museum, where we realised that our hotel overlooks the window to German army officer Claus von Stauffenberg’s office, where he planned the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944. It was chilling to think of how much he risked and sacrificed in his attempt to bring peace to the world.

Looking across to our hotel from von Stauffenberg's office

I can highly recommend walking around Berlin, and we spent the afternoon following much of the route of the Wall from Checkpoint Charlie to the opposite side of the River Spee from the Reichstag and on to see the Russian Memorial. The photograph below is in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is right on the spot where my office sat while we were planning the production of Roger Waters' The Wall, which took place on 21 July 1990.

There was a group of temporary buildings right here in summer 1990