Daily Wanderlust: Bebelplatz in Berlin, Germany

There is a lot of history in Berlin, Germany. Without a doubt. The Wall. The old artist squats and street art. The stark Holocaust memorial. The reminders of a recent dark past can be found throughout this gorgeous an historic city.

During my time in Berlin, I took two tours — one that dealt with the history of the city, and another that took me around to see the street art.

The first tour took us to the typical haunts of history, where Michael Jackson dangled Blanket from Hotel Adlon’s balcony, the public square in Mitte, St. Hedwig’s Cathedral and Bebelplatz (located in the square).

Bebelplatz, created by Micha Ullman, marks the day in May 1933 when the SS, Hitler youth groups and more held a very public book burning, torching approximately 20,000 books. The memorial, which is inset into the square, reminds visitors of this day by showing empty bookcases and one simple sentence which translates in English to:

“Where they burn books, they burn people.”