Back to Berlin

It's been three years since I was here last. One thing that hasn't changed since before is that the city is still in upheaval. New buildings, train lines, lots of scaffolding.

For all you lovers of traffic lights (come on now, you know you love them) here are the first to be put up in Continental Europe in 1924 (Britain was the first in 1869. They were lit by gas which exploded, killing the policeman who was operating them). These lights are in Potsdamer Platz, an area that was behind the wall under East German control.

This is Checkpoint Charlie where before 1990 you would have crossed from the American sector into East Berlin. There was almost a war situation in 1961 just after the wall went up when American and Soviet tanks came face to face at Checkpoint Charlie. Now you can sit in McDonalds watching Berliners dressed as US soldiers have their photo taken with visitors.

I would love to see how they sold the idea of working in this building, supported by one metal post.

This is the tallest building in Germany. It's called the Berliner Fernsehturm. It's a TV tower and an observation platform with a rotating restaurant at the top. It was put up by the East German government as a symbol of East German communism and is visible from all over Berlin. I went up in the fast elevator last time I was here and the views are breath-taking. You'll notice the pigeons on the lower ledge; too lazy to fly to the top of the tower.

Nearby you have another East German construction, the Weltzeituhr (World Time Clock) which everyone stands underneath to have their photo taken.

 This whole area, called Alexanderplatz was almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing raids in World War 2. The East Germans replaced the buildings with mainly concrete monstrosities. A similar thing happened in London after the Blitz when developers got their hands on all the bombed out spaces in the City of London.

This is all that remains of the Franziskaner-Klosterkirche monastery church near Alexanderplatz which was destroyed in the bombing raids.

 

 

This was a statue put up outside the church in the 1960's. It is called 'Mutter und Kind' (Mother and Child) and shows a mother protecting a child. It may be representing the bombing raids.

 

 

The church was closed so I shot these sculptures from the outside. I'm not sure if they are by the same sculptor or what they represent.

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Another sculpture inside the church which looks like it represents grief.

Just around from the church I spotted this couple coming out of a registry office. Someone had scattered rose petals on the steps before they came out.

In this photo you have three symbols, the church on the left, the Rathaus (council building) on the right and the tower on the far right.

This used to be one of Berlin's biggest breweries and has now been converted into a complex called Kulturbrauerei consisting of cinemas, theatres shops and cafes. These two figures were called Adam and Eve.

On the site there is a bike tour of Berlin with some people setting off on their tour.

This whole area is called Prenzlauer Berg and is becoming very trendy and gradually filling up with Hipsters. There were loads of clothes shops in this street situated in basements which is why they leave the models on display in the street.

This used to be a poor working-class area and Kathe Kollwitz lived and worked amongst the local people representing poverty through her sculptures and drawings.

This is on the same street. It is a beautiful tree-lined street and if I wanted to live in Berlin then this is where I would want to live. Not sure if I would fit in; most of the locals appeared to  be twentysomethings with young kids.

Still on the same street this is the Wasserturm (water tower). When it closed down the Nazis used it to house prisoners. It has now been converted into trendy apartments.

Seems like a good reason to save the planet.

Attractive entrance to Berlin Zoo

While waiting at a bus stop this bus pulled up. It is called a party bus and was full of people sitting at tables drinking and having fun so of course I didn't get on.