The ceremony of consecrating the khachqar dedicated to the memory of Armenian Genocide. Elliott and I came across this without knowing what was going on, but curiosity drew us in. Berlin is amazing because there is always something of grave historical importance happening somewhere.
My search for the Bremen Town Musicians statue was thwarted because a refugee rally was taking place in the town square. I returned the next day and was able to locate my statue. I did get the chance to explore St. Petri cathedral and much of the architecture of the square. Bremen is known as a blue collar town, and in the modern day has some fairly obvious issues with drugs, alcohol, and homelessness. Someone tried to pick my pocket in the train station, and I encountered several people who were clearly either mentally ill or intoxicated who were aggressively panhandeling. I also encountered an elderly man loudly and endlessly singing a song about cuckoos on a park bench.
It is interesting to note that all 5 of Germany’s veterinary schools have a statue of the Bremen Town Musicians in front of them.
Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church) near Alexanderplatz was first mentioned in 1292, making it at least the second oldest church in Berlin. While we were there, it was undergoing renovations, so I did not take many photos of the outside. Like almost every structure in Berlin, it was rebuilt after the war.
An Study of the German Forest in Song, Myth, and Folklore