Checkpoint Charlie and the Chocolate Store | Fassbender and Rausch in Berlin

Walking, in my opinion, is the best way to get around Berlin.  We initially were going to walk to Alexanderplatz, but decided to save it until the next day as it was getting late. As we walked, we continued to straddle the remnants of the Berlin Wall wherever we went.

A reproduction of the original border sign now stands in place of the original

Without intending to, we came upon Checkpoint Charlie, and as we decided since we weren’t in a rush to get anywhere specifically, we would check it out.   What exactly is Checkpoint Charlie? From Berlin.de:

Checkpoint Charlie, along with Glienicker Brücke (Glienicker Bridge) was the best known border-crossing of Cold War days. The sign, which became a symbol of the division of Cold War Berlin and read like a dire warning to those about to venture beyond the Wall – YOU ARE NOW LEAVING THE AMERICAN SECTOR – in English, Russian, French and German – stood here. It is today an iconic marker of territorial boundary and political division. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, it signified the border between West and East, Capitalism and Communism, freedom and confinement.

Reproduction of the original US Army Guardhouse

Despite a site of historical importance, I was extremely saddened to see how it was now also a big tourist area overrun with people trying to sell all sorts of tourist merchandise including fake military memorabilia and, of course, there’s a McDonald’s nearby.  Be careful if you’re thinking about purchasing pieces of the Berlin Wall as most, if not all, aren’t real and are made in the seller’s home.  Above is a reproduction of a US Army guardhouse that was erected on August 13, 2000 as the original wooden barrack was removed on June 22, 1990. The original now sits in the open air museum of the Allied Museum in Berlin-Zehlendorf.  This area was the departure point, not the entry point, but an all new Berlin has made this an entry into a new kind of American sector.

US Soldier indicating you’re entering American sector

Image of a Soviet Soldier indicating that you are  entering East Berlin

Did you know that Checkpoint Charlie was open for foreign tourists, allied military personnel, and diplomats during the Cold War, but it could not be used by Germans from East Germany.  Berlin’s government had planned to open a Cold War museum at the site, but disagreements and fears that the project could be manipulated by Communist sympathizers has put the project on hold.  In September of 2012, a temporary museum was finally erected.  The “BlackBox Cold War” pavilion at the old Allied border crossing depicts the decades long standoff between the communist and capitalist blocs that threatened to end in nuclear Armageddon.  The provisional building will stand for approximately two years and is being used as a test run for a permanent museum that hopefully will open in 2015 or 2016.

As we continued along our way, I stopped at a Santander bank to get some cash.  You should always check with your bank before leaving home to see what ATM’s you can use.  Santander allows Bank of America customers to withdraw funds without fees.  Now that I like! Despite it being dark outside, people were out walking, taking carriage rides around the city, and enjoying their evening in Berlin.

We turned left and found an amazing chocolate shop located on Charlottenstraße 60 just off of Friedrickstraße and Leipziger Straße at the Gendarmenmarkt.  Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatiers at the Gendarmenmarkt is considered one of Berlin’s oldest chocolate shops.  Although it calls itself the largest chocolate store in the world, a quick Google search and I discovered that quite a few chocolate stores call themselves the largest store in the world.  Sounds like I will need to research each of these stores in person to make a decision.

It was way back in 1863 that Heinrich Fassbender opened a confectionery store in Berlin and whose chocolates were soon regarded as fine enough to supply the royal court.  In 1918, Wilhelm Rausch, a  chocolatier’s son, set up his own shop in Berlin.  His shop became extremely successful and he decided to open seven more.  It was only in 1999 that these two Berlin chocolate making families came together to become Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatiers at the Gendarmenmarkt.

A chocolate “Brandenburg Gate”

Maybe you’ll want to look around the store and admire the amazing chocolate showpieces, from the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin TV Tower, the Memorial Church to the 2.30-meter-long chocolate Titanic.  The craftsmanship on these large pieces were utterly amazing!  The detail was absolute perfection and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to keep looking or take a big bite out of them!

Perhaps instead you can’t imagine leaving the store without buying some type of chocolate.  Have no fear because they offer chocolate tablets, chocolate hearts, chocolate sticks, chocolate with fruits and nuts, drinking chocolate, wafer thin chocolate, extra thick chocolate, and more kinds than you can probably name.

Let’s just say you can walk around here for quite some time and find more chocolate than you ever imagined could have existed.  This was like a visit to Willy Wonka’s and Harrod’s all rolled into one!  If you think it looks fantastic in this store, I’m only sorry that you weren’t there to smell it as well.

What if you’re more in the mood for a little dessert more than some kind of chocolate?  No need to worry as Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatiers have you covered in that department as well.

There is more variety here than I have seen in many bakeries or even restaurants.  You can take a few home to enjoy and share with friends and family.

Herren-Törtchen anyone?

Look at the beautiful detail on these little cakes!  Each was a little decadent sweet perfection! Maybe my translation is a bit off, but wouldn’t “Herren-Törtchen” mean “men tart” or “man tart?”

Many tourists miss the restaurants inside Fassbender & Rausch so I definitely don’t want you to miss out on an amazing dining experience.  Cafe & Chocolate serves hot chocolate and cakes while the downstairs restaurant, Schokoladen-Restaurant, offers a full menu, cooking seminars, and dinner shows.  The Schokoladen-Restaurant, the first and only chocolate restaurant in Europe, opened on September 15, 2006, and every dish on the menu contains cacao from Ecuador, Tobago, Trinidad, or Venezuela. Imagine a hot smoked garlic and chocolate soup, fish with cacao butter, or venison with dark chocolate.  You can have your dinner and chocolate, too at Schokoladen-Restaurant.

Feeling hungry yet?