An amazing sight of Berlin from the River Spree

Going on a boat cruise is something this reporter has always considered should be a major part of any trip where such is available. And even more so now, as Germany’s capital actually does seem finer and more appealing when viewed from the River Spree. The weather is fairer when on the water, or so […]

Going on a boat cruise is something this reporter has always considered should be a major part of any trip where such is available. And even more so now, as Germany’s capital actually does seem finer and more appealing when viewed from the River Spree.
The weather is fairer when on the water, or so it seems. The buildings are more beautiful and colourful with the architecture seemingly more visible as they rest against the backdrop of the clear blue sky which vanishes into the horizon of the ocean.
The Spree flows through three states of Germany- Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin and it is upon it that Berlin’s original centre was built. Its source is located in Neugersdorf, near the Czech border.
As a preventive measure, the Dahme Flood Relief Canal diverts water from the Spree to run into the River Dahme a left bank tributary of the River Spree.
Cruising through Berlin, the river passes Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), the Reichstag and the Schloss Charlottenburg while revealing other sides of Berlin’s culture, architecture, sea life and vegetation, among others.
Locals exploit the benefits of the River Spree as many of them sprawl on its bank on the tarnished green grasses, benches, concrete or brick platforms taking in the scenery as well as the fresh breeze as they wave at tourists who respond alike with brimming smiles.
Yet some others are in groups as families or friends recreating on the shallow parts of the Spree in their punts.
For the German capital, the Spree makes up a dense network of navigable waterways, many of which are artificial, and which provide a wide choice of routes and several important commercial harbours along this network.
An Island on the Spree, the Museum Island, home to five of Berlin’s major museums, offered a great tonic for tourists on the cruise.
Although this reporter has previously visited the Museum Island twice before, ‘visiting’ it from the River Spree provoked a different kind of excitement especially as the dome of the Bode Museum raised its crown-like bronze head before teasingly revealing the rest of its magnificence in architecture, style and colour.
Strategically positioned where the Friedrichstraße Street crosses the River Spree, the Berlin Friedrichstraße is a railway station in the German capital, Berlin. The sight once again provoked a childhood curiosity on how engineers are able to dig foundations in sea beds to erect gigantic bridges and add some aesthetics to them.
This day was not the best to get answers as it was more pleasurable to take in the reflections on the water of this 1878 edificewhich is still standing and serving its growing population 136 years after.
A favourite destination for tourists, due to its proximity to major attractions like the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, the station is also the main junction for regional traffic in Berlin.
According to a tour guide, during the Cold War, Friedrichstraße was well known for being a station that was located entirely in East Berlin, but continued to be served by S-Bahn, U-Bahn trains from West Berlin as well as long distance trains from countries west of the Iron Curtain. The station also was a major border crossing between East and West Berlin.
Considered one of Berlin’s landmarks, it was only on the Spree that this reporter appreciated the architecture of the double-deck Oberbaum Bridge (Oberbaumbrücke).
The tour guide informed that the bridge was built on the former boundary of the municipal area with its rural environs, where an excise wall was built in 1732 while a wooden drawbridge built as part of the wall served as a gate to the city.
The guide stated that Oberbaumbrücke is a name from the heavy tree trunk, covered in metal spikes, that was used as a boom to block the river at night to prevent smuggling.
The 154 metres of Berlin’s one time longest bridge is impossible to capture in one camera shot. But its two towers, designed in North German Brick Gothic, do not betray that they are artificial and don’t fail to remind Berliners and inform tourists that the site was once Berlin’s river gateway.
Very uneager to miss the splendour from the top deck of the boat, this reporter sat for lunch served below. Munching away sea-food and some steamed veg with rice, the quacking sounds of ducks and whoops of white swans made up for coming down as cameras clicked away.
In what seemed like a trance, this reporter noticed the water level go down and the boat follow suit from the marking made on one side of the concrete wall where the captain had temporarily anchored the boat.
It was explained in the simplest terms possible that some parts of the Spree are not navigable and with the canals it was necessary to moderate the water pressures and flows at strategic points to enable hassle free passage. This reporter noticed that the routine was repeated at least one more time to increase the water level.
Her eyes caught the colours of the mural on what is left of the Berlin Wall which divided the city for nearly 30 years. Erected by East Germany at the height of the Cold War in 1961, the barrier which isolated West Berlin within a heavily armed barrier of double concrete walls and gun turrets was constructed to stop disaffected East Germans escaping to the West.
With these sections of the wall serving as permanent reminders of the days when Germany was split, the Wall, seemingly fighting for recognition behind skyscrapers and all sorts of architectural wonders, the monument holds sway, interacting with tourists in colours and abstract presentations.
Berlin’s 1905 Protestant Cathedral poised on the Spree in all its renaissance baroque regalia beckoned on all aboard with its crucifix and turquoise domes. The Berliner Dom, Berlin’s largest and most important Protestant church as well as the sepulchre of the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty has linked the Hohenzollerns to German Protestantism for centuries and undergone renewed phases of architectural renovation since the Middle Ages, records on the structure state.
First built as a parish church on the Spree River in 1465, it was only finally completed in 1905 under the last German Kaiser -Wilhelm II and damaged during the Second World War and reopened in 1993 after several years of closure.
Styled similarly to Rome’s St. Peter’s Cathedral, it underwent restoration even as recent as 2006, which included the unveiling of eight mosaics which decorate the dome’s ceiling.
Although all sides are not very visible as one approaches the building from the Spree, turning back in the opposite direction after the boat has sailed past, one sees the rest of its domes more clearly.  The outer dome structure is said to have been rebuilt with a simplified cupola and spires between 1975 and 1982. According to the tour guide, in the early years of division,it’s over 12, 000 first set of parishioners in the 19th century were divided into two separate parishes. It was only in 1980 that the parishioners were able to celebrate Mass again and that baptism and funerals were carried out.
‘Thankfully,’ this reporter didn’t have to take the 270 steps visit to the 114 metre-high dome sided by four towers with an interior rich with New Testament and Reformation period elements.