Day 10 – The Federal Foreign Office, A Stop at Deutsche Bank, Checking In with Checkpoint Charlie and Exploring the Local Parks

Two of the major contributors that made our Wuderbar Together, Celebrating the Year of German-American Friendship, possible were the German Federal Foreign Office and Deutsche Bank. Our TOP 3 group was able to thank them for the opportunity this afternoon as we received an invitation for lunch at the Federal Foreign Office, followed by a tour of one of the innovative branches of Deutsche Bank. Hopping on a train outside of the Berlin Wall Memorial, we speed off to meet the Directorate-General for Culture and Communication at the International Club restaurant inside the Federal Foreign Office.

The Federal Foreign Office is considered the foreign ministry of Germany and represents Germany’s interests to the world. The primary fields it promotes includes cultural cooperation, international exchange and protection assistance to Germans abroad. This was a fantastic lunch spent sharing our experiences during our travels and discussing the history of our German-American Friendship. After our lunch we were given a private tour of the Federal Foreign Office rooftop deck where the view is breathtaking. You can see 360 views of the city and really get a feel for the art, culture and history that has influenced Berlin to develop into the city it is today. I know I can speak for my entire TOP group in saying thank you again to the Federal Foreign Office for providing us with this once in a lifetime trip to Germany!

After our lunch we headed to Deutsche Bank (District Future) in the business district of Berlin where we were greeted by Mr. Carsten Hannasky and Mr. Alexander Giese. This specific bank is one of Europe’s most modern bank branches and is Deutsche Bank’s test and trend lab. This means that they try out new ideas here first before integrating them into other branches. For instance, recently this bank no longer contains any ATM’s or cash. With credit and debit cards being so widely used, this branch is testing out the idea of being a cashless bank in the sense of only using digital forms of banking when meeting with clients.

Upon first stepping inside we could tell right away it was not your average bank. There were many open desk work spaces, a small daycare center, a mini ping-pong table, a cafe and beautiful hanging plants which provided a calm atmosphere. During our tour we learned that members of the bank who are looking to begin their own startups can have their employees come here and work at no cost to them.

We also learned about Deutsche Bank’s #PostiveImpactStory where they are looking for individuals who work and bank with them to share how they are making a positive impact in the world. Last year Deutsche Bank was able to have a positive impact on 1.8 million lives. There three priorities within their positive impact campaign are the field of education, local communities and enterprises.

With an afternoon/evening on our own a few TOP group members and I set off to explore new parts of Berlin. Realizing on a map that Checkpoint Charlie was only a few blocks away from the bank we decided it was a must see. Checkpoint Charlie is the former border crossing between the East and West Germany and became famous after the October 1961 tank confrontation between the Americans and Soviets. Checkpoint Charlie not only served as an important Cold War site, but also as a place where several individuals tried to escape the GDR. What was really interesting is that one of our group members actually went through Checkpoint Charlie when she was approved for a one day pass to enter East Berlin when in grad school. Hearing her tell the tactics used by the GDR border patrols when she tried to re-enter the West was chilling. Luckily, she made it back to the West and was able to revisit the same spot more than thirty years later.

Checkpoint Charlie is definitely a tourist spot with hundreds of people trying to get a picture of the men dressed up like American soldiers. However, it was worth it to see the famous “You Are Now Leaving the American Sector” sign. My suggestion check out this location later in the evening or at night when it is less crowded. Wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown area we took a short train to a local Berlin park. Parks are scattered throughout the city and along the Spree river. Many of these parks not only include walking and running trails, but ponds where you can rent a canoe and see the city from a different view. We went to the Tiergarten park because it had several outdoor restaurants where we could eat and relax, all while feeling a cool breeze from the nearby pond. It was a great way to end our jam packed day in Berlin.