Renate finally arrived on Fri. and today we did what we usually do when we take a vacation in a new city - a hop on/hop off city tour on a double deck bus (though of course we really aren't here on vacation). Despite their reputation for being touristy, these city tours are actually good value. You get a feel for the city's geography and learn something about the sights, so you can come back later and see them in detail. We hopped off the bus at Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate.
Because Berlin was about 70% destroyed during WWII and for more than 45 years after that was divided between east and west, many parts of it are new construction. Around Potsdamer Platz, for example, almost everything is new and was built after the wall came down in the 1990's. Walking around, we found the original house where the Brothers Grimm, who collected folk tales in the 19th century and published them, lived from 1840 until their deaths while they taught at the University of Berlin. But it is surrounded on both sides by new glass and steel structures. The effect was somewhat jarring, stone house fronts with intricately sculpted Jungendstil statues tightly packed next to glass and steel storefronts.
In some parts of the city, the urban architecture of Berlin reminds me of a city in Asia, like Tokyo , and less of a European city, like Stockholm, Paris, or London. Large areas of the city around the train station are still undeveloped, and many buildings show the style of urban planning popular in the 60's and 70's especially in the socialist bloc, where buildings even in an urban setting are surrounded by large lawns (see previous post for another example of this style). The effect is as if large parts of Berlin are still a work in progress. The urban architecture lacks the densely packed 5 and 6 story houses with retail establishments and restaurants on the first floor that most European cities have. Glass and steel skyscrapers with indoor malls hosting small shops seem to be the rule in many places. There are neighborhoods which have a more traditional European city feel to them, for example, the neighborhood where we live in Charlottenburg. A small square near the intersection of Wilmersdorferstrasse and Mommensenstrasse just steps away from our front door beckons for hot summer nights, and it feels a little like a square in Paris.
The other place were we hopped out was at the Brandenburg Gate, which you can see in the picture above. A bit of history. The Brandenburg Gate was commissioned by King Fredrick Willhelm II of Prussia in the late 17th century after his wars against Denmark and France as a sign of peace, but was not completed until after he died. It was build on the site of an old customs gate (Berlin prior to the 1700's charged duties on goods that entered the city) from 1788 to 1791. When Berlin was split between eastern and western halves during the Cold War, the Brandenburg Gate existed in a no-man's land between the two halves and was inaccessable from either side. The gate's design is based on the Polyphoraea, the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens, and reflects the style of neoclassical architecture popular in the 1700's. Many events important in German history took place around the Brandenburg Gate, from Napolean's triumphal march into the city after he defeated Prussia during the Napoleanic Wars to Nazi rallies during the National Socialist period.
Of particular interest is the Quadriga, the sculpture of on the top showing a Roman chariot drawn by four horses and guided by a woman, Victoria the goddess of victory. Here's a closeup:
Since the Quadriga faces east, the details in this picture, which was taken in the afternoon, are a bit difficult to see because it is lit from the back.
The street leading eastward from the Brandenburg Gate is Unter den Linden, "Under the Basswood Trees" in English, named after the trees that lined the street in the 19th century. This street was the most famous street in Berlin in the late 1800s. Now, with the Brandenburg Gate closed to traffic, the part between Friedrichstrasse and the Brandenburg Gate has little traffic and is mostly populated by tourists. The area around the Brandenburg Gate to the east is called Pariser Platz, "Paris Square", and in fact the French Embassy has been traditionally located there and is located there today. You can see it in the background behind the tulips (and my thumb):
On the west side of the Brandenburg Gate (the part that was in West Berlin during the Cold War), the street changes its name to Strasse des 17 Juni ("Street of the 17th of June"), quite a mouthful to say even in German. Before WWII, the street also used to be Unter den Linden, but it was changed during the Cold War to commemorate the uprising against the DDR government on June 17, 1952. To the right looking out from the gate, you can get a glimpse of the Reichstag building with its transparent dome:
I'm not sure why they didn't change the name of the building when the Bundestag moved in in 1999. "Reichstag" sounds so pre-WWI. And the name certainly doesn't capture the spectacular effect of the transparent dome on the top, which you can see peeking out of the corner in the picture above. The picture below, taken from a street further away, shows the full dome:
I'm sure we'll get back to this area again during our time in Berlin, if only to climb up into the dome on the Reichstag building and have a look out over the city. But for now, the afternoon was well spent, and we have a better idea about the layout of Berlin beyond the confines of our immediate neighborhood.
All very interesting! I have no mental model of Berlin and you are filling in a big blank in my brain. The high buildings with grass around - that was I think that architectural movement whose name will come to me as soon as I click Publish, no doubt!
ReplyDeleteI think it is "Modernist" or something like that. It is the kind of architecture you see in big cities everywhere, but usually only where there are shopping malls and office buildings.
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