European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 31, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Berlin by Boothe bus tour company uses this bus As a portable office. The actual tour buses depart across the Street the two hour Quick tour captures Only the highlights by Ron Jensen Nurnberg Bureau the recorded voice climbing through the slender plastic tubes and into the Toam cushioned ear pieces spewed out Berlin trivia in seven languages while monuments to the City s 750-year history drifted past the bus s tinted windows. On this warm Day in july the two Small fans above each pair of seats Are insufficient in their attempt to erase the steamy atmosphere. But the discomfort was minimal. It was easy to relax and let the recorded voice promising to show off the Quot main attractions in the reunited City of Berlin Quot educate and entertain. A Berlin is crisscrossed below ground by 93 Miles of Bahn subway track. And the system is still growing. Starting its two hour tour from just off the. Kurfurst Tendam the bus bus there Are several tour companies to choose from soon passed the department store known As Madewe the Kauhaus Des westerns or department store of the West. It is the recorded voice said Home of the largest food selection in Europe. World War ii plays a major role in the electronic lecture. Following the pounding the City took in the the War 70 percent of Berlin was rubble 2.6 billion cubic feet of it. In the Charlottenburg area of the City Only 600 of 110,000 apartments escaped damage during the War. The Kaiser Wilhelm memorial Church has reminded West berliners since 19-15 of the War that devastated their City. Built in the Early 1090s in Neo romantic style it once towered 373 feet. The remaining Shell is Only 223 feet High. The Globe Fountain near the memorial Church belches out 103,000gallons of water every hour. There Are twists and turns in the tour certain to test a newcomer s innate sense of direction. However if one can follow the path on a map it is a great initial orientation to Berlin. One can later visit the places thought to be interesting enough for exploration. Berlin is a City of foreigners. Many of them live in Kreuzberg a densely populated neighbourhood of various cultures. The voice on the bus said Quot in Berlin Kreuzberg is often referred to As Turkey s second largest  Waterways and canals wind their Way Tor 113 Miles through Berlin. About a Block s length of Berlin Wall stands surrounded by wire to keep away souvenir Hunters. It is kept As a reminder of the City s division which ended in 1989. Past the Wall is Unter Den Linden an Avenue 190 feet wide and one mile Long. Here is Humboldt University where the Brothers Grimm researched their tales and where Albert Einstein and Max Planck taught the physics that made them famous. Berlin is Home to three universities and 18 colleges Atten Deil by a total of 130,000 students. There Are 33 Heaters More than 100 nun in in Nies and three it opera houses Here. Not far away is the Plaza where on May 10, 1 913, flames lit the night As books by Sigmund Freud f la. Wells Jack London and others were burned by the nazis. Also in the Eastern part of the City the bus cruises Dow n Friedric Strasse a Busy shopping Street before the War but the dividing line Between the free and communist halves of the City. Like much of the East it shows signs of revitalization Quot whoever inquires about the real estate prices Here will be convinced that the Street has a great future Quot the voice said. Between 1999 and 1961, 2.1 million people fled East Germany. On june 17, 1953, resistance toward communist policies by East Berlin workers was crushed at potsdamer Platz. The event led directly to the Wall s construction. Quot after the Wall w As built potsdamer Platz became a dead end Quot bus riders Are told. Back in the former West Berlin the bus drives slowly past the Reich Stag Home of the parliament of the Weimar Republic that was destroyed by arson in 193 3. The nazis used the fire As an excuse to persecute their enemies. Behind it Are crosses honouring 80 people who the voice said Quot paid with their lives in try ing to go from Germany to  the prussian monarchy established the tie Garten As a Hunting ground. After the War its Trees were used to rebuild Berlin. More than 7 million Trees were later planted As replacements. Throughout the tour the name of Karl Friedrich Schinkel pops up. The Das Sical style architect designed Many buildings in the City including the Schau Spilhaus on Academy Square and the  Kirche which houses a Schinkel museum the Neu Wache new guardhouse. There Are others so Many in fact that berliners say the voice once again said Quot in every crease and crinkle a Karl Friedrich  a giant statue honors the 20,000 soviet soldiers who died in april and May 1995 trying to wrest Berlin from the nazis. This two hour tour Cost 30 do but there Are Many Tours to choose from of varying lengths and with certain specialities. For example some Combine bus and boat for 46 do. A nightclub tour lasts five hours and costs 95 do. Other Tours take in cities outside Berlin