Berlin August 2005

 

 

This was my third visit to Berlin ('92 and '99 previously)
I get the feeling the city is still coming to terms with its recent and not-so-recent past.

 

From flattened spaces
new buildings continue to impress
juxtaposed with old and unglamorous
the past is gradually being laid to rest
(lest we never forget)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I will not murder Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Homosexuals
I will not murder Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Homosexuals
I will not murder Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Homosexuals"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's becoming more difficult to find WWII-scared buildings like this.
On my first visit, most of the eastern part of the city down the high road was lined with them
now they are all patched-up trendoid coffee bars, restaurants, expensive hotels and fancy car sales shops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Jewish Museum celebrates Jewish culture
whilst not letting the visitor forget the Holocast.
It was designed by Daniel Libeskin
who is also designing the replacement building for the WTC in NYC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Potsdamer Platz was totally flat the first time I visited.
The Wall passed over here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up the road is Peter Eisenman's Memorial to the (6 million) Murdered Jews of Europe
which opened in May this year. 2771 slabs of stelea in a prime real estate area.
There has been some debate over its effectiveness,
however I found its simplicity & starkness jarring and provocative.
Between it and the Bradenburg Gate, now arises a new American Embassy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fernsehturm was a symbol of progress East Germany

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst I past here, an elderly trio proudly posed for photos with Marx & Engels
perhaps a sense of nostalgia - was it really the evil empire?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The East German parliament building "Palast der Republik"
was proudly constructed in record time in the 70's,
but is now abandoned due to the use of asbestos in construction.
Inside, the space had been reclaimed by an experimental art exhibtion "der Berg"
The buildings future is uncertain, threatened with demolition this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Berlin was a place where many famous Scientists came from in the 20th Century.
Mr E needs no introduction. An excellent exhibition celebrated 2005 as Einstein Year,
the 100th anniversary of the publication of his Special Relativity theory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stumbled across this beautiful art deco building
built by a publishing house in the 1920's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pics © Bruce Gillespie