Saunas, swimming and memorials

November 15, 2025

We three visited some great saunas and swimming pools in Berlin, including Hotel Oderberg and Vabali. Mildred and I also took a day trip to the kiez of Charlottenburg to swim at the public pool there.

Really nicely restored! Built in 1896.
Exterior of pool building

Also near Charlottenburg, we visited the Memorial Church, which was very sensitively rebuilt after the war. The main church is stabilized and partially rebuilt, showing that damage was extensive while also giving a sense of the original shape of the building. Mosaics on the inside are intact and beautiful.

Memorial Church (center) and new chapel (left) and new bell tower (right)
Paving stones in this plaza
The new chapel is completely surrounded with mostly blue but also other deep colors of stained glass.
There’s an administrative looking building right there too, with this glass showing on the outside
We went for dinner at a Japanese restaurant.
This is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also called the Holocaust Memorial. You can walk through these blocks of varying height, some are quite tall.
In between the taller blocks
This memorial goes on for so far. Like so many memorials in Berlin, it’s very well done and very moving.

2 Comments on “Saunas, swimming and memorials”

  1. I thought we had a busy week but you managed to get so much in! Looks like you had a great time and saw so much. Clearly Berlin’s history is really all around. So lovely to catch up with such an old friend too.

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