Schöneberg in Berlin

11 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  16 minutes

Metro station Nollendorfplatz, the gate to the traditional LGBTQ/Rainbow neighborhood © Babewyn/cc-by-sa-4.0

Metro station Nollendorfplatz, the gate to the traditional LGBTQ/Rainbow neighborhood © Babewyn/cc-by-sa-4.0

Schöneberg is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin’s 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. The locality of Schöneberg includes the neighborhoods (Stadtquartiere) of Bayerisches Viertel (English: “Bavarian Quarter”), an affluent residential area with streets named after Bavarian towns) and the Rote Insel (English: “Red Island”) as well as Lindenhof and the large natural park area Südgelände (English: “south grounds”) on the outside of the Ringbahn railway circle line.   read more…

Palace of Tears in Berlin

1 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, House of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Matthias Süßen/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Matthias Süßen/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Tränenpalast (English: “Palace of Tears”) is a former border crossing point between East and West Berlin, at Berlin Friedrichstraße station, which was in operation between 1962 and 1989. It is now a museum with exhibitions about Berlin during the Cold War period and about the process of German reunification. It was the border crossing for travellers on the S-bahn, U-bahn and trains going between East and West Germany. It was used only for westbound border crossings. It had separate checkpoints for West Berliners, West Germans, foreigners, diplomats, transit travellers and East Germans. The term Tränenpalast is derived from the tearful partings that took place in front of the building between western visitors and East German residents who were not permitted to travel to West Berlin.   read more…

Culture Brewery in Berlin

20 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Museums, Exhibitions, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  11 minutes

© Kaspar Metz

© Kaspar Metz

The Berlin Kulturbrauerei (literally “Culture Brewery”) is a 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft) building complex in Berlin, Germany. Originally built and operated as a brewery, its courtyards and unique architecture have been protected as a monument since 1974 and it is one of the few well-preserved examples of industrial architecture in Berlin dating from the end of the 19th century.   read more…

Berlin-Dahlem

26 November 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  17 minutes

Free University of Berlin - Rost- und Silberlaube complex © Unify~commonswiki/cc-by-sa-3.0

Free University of Berlin – Rost- und Silberlaube complex © Unify~commonswiki/cc-by-sa-3.0

Dahlem is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin’s 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. It is located between the mansion settlements of Grunewald and Lichterfelde West. Dahlem is one of the most affluent parts of the city and a center for academic research. It is home to the Freie Universität Berlin, with its architecturally significant Philological Library (“The Brain”). Several other research institutions and museums, as well as parts of the Grunewald forest with its renaissance hunting lodge, are located in Dahlem. The U3 line of the Berlin U-Bahn system connects Dahlem to central Berlin.   read more…

Kitchener in Ontario

13 September 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Water Street © flickr.com - Allie_Caulfield/cc-by-2.0

Water Street © flickr.com – Allie_Caulfield/cc-by-2.0

Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about 100 km (62 mi) west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a 1916 referendum changed its name. The city covers an area of 136.86 km², and had a population of 256,885 at the time of the 2021 Canadian census. The Regional Municipality of Waterloo has 575,847 people, making it the 10th-largest census metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada and the fourth-largest CMA in Ontario. Kitchener and Waterloo are considered “twin cities”, which are often referred to jointly as “Kitchener–Waterloo” (K–W), although they have separate municipal governments.   read more…

Liebermann Villa in Berlin

1 September 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, House of the Month, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  9 minutes

© flickr.com - Jean-Pierre Dalbéra/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Jean-Pierre Dalbéra/cc-by-2.0

The Liebermann Villa is the former summer residence of the German painter Max Liebermann. It is located directly at the shores of Lake Wannsee in Berlin. It has been open to public since April 30, 2006 and shows a collection of Liebermann’s paintings of his villa and its garden. Max Liebermann (1847–1935) was co-founder and head of the Berlin Secession and head of the Prussian Academy of Arts (Preußische Akademie der Künste). He was dismissed by the Nazis in 1933 and banned. He painted about 200 paintings of the garden at his villa, some of which are exhibited in his former studio on the upper floor.   read more…

Portrait: Angela Merkel, physicist and first female chancellor of Germany

26 January 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  18 minutes

© א (Aleph)/cc-by-sa-2.5

© א (Aleph)/cc-by-sa-2.5

Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German politician and scientist who served as the chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and as Leader of the CDU from 2000 to 2018. Merkel was the first female chancellor of Germany. During her tenure as Chancellor, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union (EU) and the most powerful woman in the world.   read more…

Prussian House of Lords in Berlin

3 November 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Diego Delso/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Prussian House of Lords (German: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (German: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus), it formed the Prussian bicameral legislature. Modeled on the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, the Herrenhaus was created following the 1848 revolution with the adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia imposed by King Frederick William IV on 31 January 1850. A member of the House of Lords was known as a pair (see also pairie), or officially as a member of the Prussian House of Lords (Mitglieder des preußischen Herrenhauses, or MdH). The House consisted of hereditary peers, life peers appointed by the King of Prussia, peers by virtue of position, representatives of cities and universities, etc. The majority of members were nobles, although the House also had commoners as members, especially among the representatives of cities and universities.   read more…

Bauhaus Archive Museum of Design

1 June 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Berlin, House of the Month, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  7 minutes

© janine pohl/cc-by-sa-2.5

© janine pohl/cc-by-sa-2.5

The Bauhaus Archive (German: Bauhaus-Archiv) is a state archive and Museum of Design located in Berlin. It collects art pieces, items, documents and literature which relate to the Bauhaus School (1919–1933), and puts them on public display. Currently, the museum is closed due to construction works and will reopen in 2022. It has a temporary space at Knesbeckstr. 1-2 in Berlin-Charlottenburg.   read more…

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