Tiergarten Park

In the center of Berlin is the beautiful Tiergarten Park with trails that wind through tall trees and over streams. There are statues and flower gardens throughout where people can sit on a bench or listen to the birds. It was easy to forget you were in the middle of one the largest cities in Europe.

The park is split into four parts by two wide streets that intersect at the Siegessäule, victory column, in the middle of the park. The victory column was originally built in 1864 and is 67 meters tall so it is visible between trees from the entire park. We walked through the tunnels under the streets to the Siegessäule which had plaques describing the reliefs on each side of the base of the column. Once we were on the roundabout we could buy tickets to go inside and climb the spiral staircase to the top observation deck. Inside they had the history of the victory column and detailed models of it and many other famous buildings. On the first level are huge red granite columns that surround a mosaic of tiles that depict historical leaders from the Kingdom of Prussia and key figures in the unification of Germany in the 1800's. We could see divots on the columns from WWII where German soldiers tried to fend off the advancing Soviet army shortly before their surrender. Then we made the climb to the top on a long spiral staircase, it was nice of them to put a small bench or two on the way up. Once we we're at the top we could see the whole city from the small outdoor deck surrounded by steel bars. Anything not tied down could easily be swept away by the strong winds. The deck was small so we could get pictures from every direction in just a few steps. To the East we could see Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag Building in the distance. There were great views of the Tiergarten Park below and the city skyline surrounding the park.