frederick the great - a great military genius who even Napoleon saluted.
charlottenburg palace
berlin was the centre of the Prussian Kingdom, before Germany came into existence.
the backside, facing the baroque gardens
(in chinese) rain past, sky beautiful
colourful indicators of spring
the little bridge beyond
there. the intended layout of the garden
a puddle of reflections
berlin - the political capital of Prussia and Germany
the reichstag - the seat of the german parliament
inside the glass dome of the reichstag
the spiralling ramps that are uni-directional (go figure)
the open-air top of the dome
check out the othe guy who posed for our photo
the building Hitler used to seize power one fateful night
The Brandenburg Gate - the symbol of Berlin
Victoria - goddess of victory, sitting on top, with her gaze firmiy fixed on the french embassy below
bulletholes are still visible from all the wars it has withstood
“under the Lime trees” = the champs elysee of berlin
so named because Napoleon conquered berlin through the Brandenburg gate
hotel adlon - most expensive hotel in berlin, and where michael jackson appeared at the window with his baby
first encounter with a piece of the wall
modernisation has swept the city
you are entering the american sector
you are leaving the american sector
they still have a fake guard standing there
what it was like in the 70s or 80s
the wall, maked by the double row of bricks)
the minicooper showroom near checkpoint charlie
where the divide once stood
wall art!
the longest surviving section of the wall notice the metal pipes at the top - deliberately designed so that no one could get a grip from any angle
life was better on the other (west) side
holes caused by wall-peckers after the fall
memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe - 2711 concrete blocks of different hights covering 19,000 sq metres
'inside' the jewish memorial
hitler's bunker, also where he committed suicide, was somewhere under that carpark
memorial commerating the loss of knowledge when all the 'improper' books in the Humbedolt library was burned in a big bonfire under Hitler. memorial shows rows of empty book shelves under that glass thing.
"when we start burning books, we will start burning people" or something to that effect. a quote from the 19th century.
Humboldt Universitaet - through whose portals some great men have passed; Albert Einstein being a famous alumnus.
a carving dedicated to all mothers who have lost children in the great war (world war I) - by a mother.
the entire building houses the single sculpture
the bridge leading to museum island
look! a pink museum! (cant remember which it is..)
altes (old) museum
the berlin church - where the prussian emperors are buried, and peter- an excellent tour guide
the altes museum
egyptian couple where the female is the dominant one
the bust of queen nefertiti - from the 1300s BC
pergamon museum (the most impressive on museum island)
the double-storeyed entrance to the temple of Athena - goddess of wisdom
pergamon was a greek city on the west coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey)
a model of the real thing.
on the steps of the great altar
remnants of the original freize that ran around the entire monument. shows scenes of the gods in battle. athena portrayed here.
Doric columns
entrance to the temple of Zues
the ancient city gate of babylon, called the Ishtar Gate
constructed in 575 BC by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II
the processional way into the city, 250m x 24m
the ministry of ministries - evidence of communist dictatorship
propaganda wall showing life in east belin under communism
the (false) hope of communism
the memorial (in green) showing a photo from a protest crushed by russian tanks, made in the same dimensions as the propaganda one.
the french cathedral (a gift to the french protestant migrants from the berliners) and a municpal bldg
the german cathedral on the other side
tv tower (the pride of east berlin architecture, despite the fact that the communists enlisted norweigan engineers)
berlin also has modern-day attractions!
the berlin zoo
no signs of knut the polar bear though
church of scientology berlin
my favourite childhood toy!
carol loves giraffes. and lego.
mr giraffe's lego tail
the futuristic flair of the sony centre, completed in 2000
portsdamer platz the new up and coming downtown
DB is the transport company. distinct building on the berlin skyline (if any)
they have cute pedestrain crossing signs in east berlin the green man....
...and the red girl
a car cannot get cuter than this
the hostel at which we stayed
with sarah on the rooftop terrace of the hostel. we met her on the bus from prague to berlin...
our german-turkish roommate, with whom we had dinner
german trains
