Germany 2025

One year on from our last foray to the Fatherland, we were on a plane to Berlin, en route to the Uckermark region where my mother-in-law Bärbel lives. As our flight wasn't due to land until early evening, we arranged to stay the night at Nicole's cousin's place on the outskirts of the capital city. The flight ran to schedule and we left our car at a large parking facility just off the M8. A shuttle bus took us to the terminal building. Two hours later, Madeleine picked us up at Berlin Airport and we had a good night's sleep, although Tofi the cat did pay us a visit in the middle of the night. What a perfect start to our holiday!

The next day, we ate a vegan breakfast and took the suburban train (S-Bahn) from Adlershof into the city centre. The main station (Hauptbahnhof) has several retail floors and was opened in 2006. We encountered one of the Berlin Buddy Bears - colourful life sized fibreglass artworks that symbolise tolerance and understanding. Around 500 examples are dotted around the city. Trains of all shapes and sizes come and go 24/7 at the Hauptbahnhof. After leaving our cases in the secure lockers, we jumped on a tram outside the entrance and went a couple of stops along to the Natural History Museum, where we had booked a 10-11am time slot. The charge worked out at around £10 per head, which was fine. Museums in Germany (both large and small) are almost never free. We were travelling on a Berlin-Brandenburg ticket which offers travel on all modes of transport across the two states, for up to five people. The €35 price tag was probably slightly dearer than the total cost of the individual journey legs, but we had the flexibility to jump on and off the system without any hassle. The museum dates from 1889 and is currently undergoing a long-term renovation project. The upper galleries are currently off-limits and two thirds of the building remain basically unchanged since 1945. The vast collection encompasses a wide range of specimens and two famous exhibits confront you as you stroll into the impressive entrance hall. The Giraffatitan skeleton is the largest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the world and the assembled bones stretch up to the roof, reaching a height of 13 metres. The remains were unearthed in modern-day Tanzania. Fitting the entire display in a single camera frame is practically impossible. Also prominently featured is the Archaeopteryx - a fossil of a very early bird ancestor with reptile characteristics that lived around 150 million years ago. Discovered in 1875 near Eichstätt (Bavaria), this particular specimen is the most complete example of its type and arguably the best known fossil across the globe. We proceeded into the System Earth gallery. A large globe in the centre of the hall shows animations and film sequences on topics such as plate tectonics, volcanoes, the impact of asteroids and meteorites, mountain formation and the atmosphere. These themes are discussed more extensively in island displays around the room. More dinosaur action presented itself in the shape of Tristan Otto (pictured below) - one of the few Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons outside North America. A mere 66 million years old! The original skull is displayed in a separate display case, allowing visitors to view the detail up close. Around the corner, the massive "Wet Collection" sits within a rectangular glass-walled room. Visitors can explore all four sides and the high shelves house endless specimens preserved inside jars. The water/alcohol mixture prevents decay. Moving on, I passed by giant creepy-crawly models, including a house fly, common flea and a fearsome spider. They were painstakingly built by Alfred Keller between 1930 and 1955.

The taxidermy section had a dodo on display. The large flightless bird became extinct in the 1660s and was endemic to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Human settlers aren't thought to have been directly responsible for the ground nesting dodo's disappearance, although habitat destruction certainly played a part. Experts reckon the introduction of rats (and possibly also cats and dogs) was the main danger, as the alien newcomers attacked chicks and feasted upon the vulnerable eggs. A famous museum resident is Bobby the Gorilla, regarded as a masterpiece of taxidermy. He arrived at Berlin Zoo in 1928, aged two, but died from appendicitis in 1935. His continuing presence in the city has cemented legendary status for the great ape. The special exhibition space is currently hosting the museum's historical mounted bird collection. Most of the specimens are over a century old and are currently in the process of being relocated as part of the development plan. All 11500 examples were cleaned, photographed, digitised and packed into transport boxes. Instead of keeping the crates behind closed doors, the renovation programme offered a rare opportunity to make the unique collection accessible to the public for the first time, under the cunning title Zugvögel - migratory birds. The display wasn't a visually stunning experience, with many birds crammed together into small cabinets and tagged with only Latin names. Nevertheless, I learned useful new facts about our feathered friends and the challenges they face. Populations are declining globally at an unprecedented rate. In just 40 years, we have lost a total of 600 million birds in Europe. It's frightening to think that such massive changes are occurring within my own lifetime. I spotted a stuffed great auk, which has been extinct since around 1850. Clumsy on land, it was easy prey for sailors who ate the flesh and used the fat for lamp oil and the feathers for insulation. News of the seriously declining numbers reached the natural history institutions and this exacerbated the demand for specimens, thus adding to the problem. We left the museum after a couple of hours and those without time-slots were having to wait in long queues outside. I would certainly like to return one day in the future when the building has undergone more refurbishment.

Back at the Hauptbahnhof, we grabbed a sandwich and waited for our connection. Trains run hourly to the Uckermark, the largely rural region where Nicole is from. We boarded a service bound for Schwedt and the carriages were quiet. We alighted at Angermünde, a historic market town and the closest mainline station to Nicole's home village of Schönermark. Her Uncle Gerald ferried us seven miles to Bärbel's place, where we received a warm welcome. An ample supply of food and drink would be a key feature of the next week and a half! The next day we woke to the sad news that Gerald had been admitted to hospital with a suspected stroke. Fortunately he was released after a few days and appears to be well on the way to recovery. He generously loaned us the use of his car for the duration of our stay. Bus services do pass through the village but they are limited. On our first fully day, we drove out to Blumberger Mühle - a local nature reserve on the outskirts of Angermünde. A visitor centre, shop and café are on site. The complex belongs to NABU (Naturschutzbund) - one of the oldest conservation groups in Germany. Formed in 1899, the organisation now boasts almost a million members. Entry to Blumberger Mühle was just €4 and the reserve belongs to the wider protected area of Schorfheide-Chorin, whose territory stretches to 1300 square kilometres, including areas of marsh, meadow and woodland, dotted with innumerable lakes. We passed through the reception area and went for a wander around the familiar trails. Unfortunately the rare-breed pig (of Hungarian origin) had passed away since our last visit. The bird hide looks out across the extensive carp and tench ponds, created by monks in the 13th century and still farmed today. The mill (after which the reserve is named) was established in 1707 and ran for almost 200 years. Following WW2, fish production was intensified and the operation was off-limits to the general public, thereby allowing nature to exist alongside the commercial activities. The collapse of the Berlin Wall irrevocably changed the economic outlook of eastern Germany and NABU purchased the ponds and surrounding land in 1993 ensuring a long-term future as a wildlife haven.