Theme Week Potsdam – The Einstein Tower

22 October 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam

© Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam

The Einstein Tower is an astrophysical observatory in the Albert Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Germany built by Erich Mendelsohn. It was built on the summit of the Potsdam Telegraphenberg to house a solar telescope designed by the astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich. The telescope supports experiments and observations to validate (or disprove) Albert Einstein‘s relativity theory. The building was first conceived around 1917, built from 1919 to 1921 after a fund-raising drive, and became operational in 1924. Although Einstein never worked there, he supported the construction and operation of the telescope. It is still a working solar observatory today as part of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam. Light from the telescope is directed down through the shaft to the basement where the instruments and laboratory are located. There were more than half a dozen telescopes in the laboratory.   read more…

Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris

15 October 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  6 minutes

Musée Nissim de Camondo ©  Daderot

Musée Nissim de Camondo © Daderot

The Musée Nissim de Camondo is an elegant house museum of French decorative arts located in the Hôtel Camondo, 63, rue de Monceau, at the edge of the Parc Monceau, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.   read more…

Peacock Island in Berlin

8 October 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

Frigate Royal Louise in front of Peacock Island © Susanne Heldt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Frigate Royal Louise in front of Peacock Island © Susanne Heldt/cc-by-sa-3.0

Pfaueninsel (“Peacock Island”) is an island in the River Havel situated in Berlin-Wannsee, in southwestern Berlin, near the border with Potsdam and Brandenburg. The island is part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular destination for day-trippers. Pfaueninsel is also a nature reserve in accordance with the EU Habitats Directive and a Special Protection Area for wild birds. Pfaueninsel is an island of 67 hectares in the river Havel between the Großer Wannsee and the Jungfernsee. It is mostly woodland with some open areas, including lawns and fields. The total size of the protected area, including some water-covered areas, is 98 hectares.   read more…

Theme Week Potsdam – Babelsberg Park

20 September 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

Babelsberg Castle © Times/cc-by-sa-3.0

Babelsberg Castle © Times/cc-by-sa-3.0

Babelsberg Park is a 114 hectare park in the northeast of the city of Potsdam, bordering on the Tiefen See lake on the River Havel. The park was created in rolling terrain sloping down towards the lake by the landscape artist, Peter Joseph Lenné and, after him, by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, by order of Prince William, later Emperor William I and his wife, Augusta. Babelsberg Park is sponsored and managed by the Berlin-Brandenburg Foundation for Prussian Palaces and Gardens (Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg).   read more…

Ambergris Caye on Belize Barrier Reef

25 August 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

San Pedro Beach © Areed145/cc-by-sa-3.0

San Pedro Beach © Areed145/cc-by-sa-3.0

Ambergris Caye is the largest island of Belize located northeast of the country in the Caribbean Sea. Though administered as part of the Belize District, the closest point on the mainland is part of the Corozal District.   read more…

Mariyinsky Palace in Kiev

6 August 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

© DDima/cc-by-sa-1.0

© DDima/cc-by-sa-1.0

Mariyinsky Palace is the official ceremonial residence of the President of Ukraine in Kiev and adjoins the neo-classical building of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine. It is a Baroque palace on the hilly bank of the Dnieper River.   read more…

Waterton Lakes National Park

30 July 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  5 minutes

Prince of Wales Hotel © Svrspr/cc-by-sa-3.0

Prince of Wales Hotel © Svrspr/cc-by-sa-3.0

Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, and borders Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. Waterton was Canada’s fourth national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterton Lake, in turn after the Victorian naturalist and conservationist Charles Waterton. The park contains 505 km2 (195 sq mi) of rugged mountains and wilderness.   read more…

Zerbst in Saxony-Anhalt

19 June 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Zerbst-City_Hall-Mazbln-cc-by-sa-3.0

Zerbst – City hall © Mazbln/cc-by-sa-3.0

Zerbst is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt. The city has about 22,000 inhabitants and is locatd between Magdeburg and Wittenberg, near River Elber.   read more…

The Hambach Castle

4 June 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  6 minutes

Hambach Castle above vineyards and chestnut trees © Dr. Manfred Holz/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hambach Castle above vineyards and chestnut trees © Dr. Manfred Holz/cc-by-sa-3.0

Hambach Castle near the urban district Hambach of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, is considered to be the symbol of the German democracy movement because of the Hambacher Fest which occurred here in 1832.   read more…

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