My short stay in Berlin was intended as a time for winding-down and reflecting on the Grand Tour, with no particular plan but a chance for a quick look at the more obvious sights. It's a place I've long wanted to visit, and this would serve as a scouting trip for a proper visit later. In the event I spent a day longer than planned due to last-minute travel problems. There were no particular composer connections, but before I left home I'd booked a concert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as a suitable musical end to the Tour; and so it was. / more |
Brandenburger Tor
The one building in Berlin that I really wanted to see and photograph (at night if possible) was the iconic Brandenburger Tor – the Brandenburg Gate. So on my first morning in the city I was out of the hotel quite early, onto the U-bahn to Französiche Strasse, walked north a bit up Friedrichstrasse, then west along Unter den Linden to the Brandenburger Tor. But there I found a pop stage on one side and a TV truck on the other, for some event taking place that weekend...
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Performance
Arriving in Pariser Platz I found that my plan to photograph the Brandenburg Gate had been thwarted. But some compensation was provided by the guys in the square dressed as US and Russian soldiers (probably not too popular with the locals) posing for photos with the tourists and offering to stamp their passports with 'authentic' cold war marks. Not far away, three lads were breakdancing rather well and passing the hat round. They looked pretty good to me, and they genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves.
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Berlin Patterns
Dominating the south-east corner of the Tiergarten is the Sony Center, at Potsdamer Platz, designed by Helmut Jahn. As I walked through its central forum I was attracted by the patterns created by the steel and glass of the seven buildings on the site, and in particular by the spectacular roof. Later, walking down to Ku'Damm – the upmarket Kurfürstendamm shopping street – I found a couple of hotel buildings which made good pattern photos...
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Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche
Standing at the eastern end of Ku'Damm is the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche [Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church], built originally between 1891 and 1895 in honour of Emperor William I. It was almost destroyed in WWII, and what remained of the building has been incorporated into a new eight-sided church with a separate hexagonal tower, designed by the architect Egon Eiermann and built between 1959 and 1963.
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View from above
Having spent a fair amount of time and effort climbing towers in other German cities, it was a no-brainer to head for the Fernsehturm (TV tower) for some views over Berlin. I waited in line as it tried to rain, and it wasn't too long before I was in the 203 metre high viewing platform. Photos shot through double layers of glass, of course, and with very flat lighting outside. But it was fascinating to look down on the places I'd visited, especially the Hauptbahnhof where I'd spent so much time.
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As well as the concert at the Philharmonie and the highlights shown in photos here, other places of interest for me in Berlin were the Bauhaus Archive; the very moving quotes and comments on the boards around the Checkpoint Charlie Haus; the real (and surprisingly crude) bit of Wall along Niederkirchner Straße; and the open air 'Topography of Terror' exhibition below it, which documents the course of official terrorism from the 30s until the fall of the Wall. |
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