Hotel Telegraphenamt in Berlin

18 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin, Hotels Reading Time:  7 minutes

Hotel Telegraphenamt © Fridolin freudenfett/cc-by-sa-4.0

Hotel Telegraphenamt © Fridolin freudenfett/cc-by-sa-4.0

The former main telegraph office at Oranienburger Straße 73–76 in the Berlin Mitte neighborhood in the district of the same name is a listed architectural monument. From its opening in 1916 until 1992, it served as the headquarters of Berlin’s telegraph facilities. The monumental building complex has been owned by an investor since 2001. After several years of renovation, a hotel opened in the building in 2022.   read more…

House of One in Berlin

24 December 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  8 minutes

House of One model © Thaler Tamas/cc-by-sa-4.0

House of One model © Thaler Tamas/cc-by-sa-4.0

The House of One is a religious structure being built in Berlin. It will be the world’s first house of prayer for three religions, containing a church, a mosque, and a synagogue. The construction costs, which are estimated at 43.5 million euros, come roughly equally from the federal government, the city of Berlin as well as donations and a crowdfunding campaign.   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…

Marco Polo Tower in Hamburg

1 February 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hamburg, House of the Month Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Huhu Uet/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Huhu Uet/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Marco Polo Tower is a residential building in the HafenCity district of Hamburg‘s Mitte district. Together with the neighboring Unilever building, it forms a striking ensemble of buildings on the North Elbe.   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…

New Guardhouse in Berlin

5 May 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  14 minutes

© Ansgar Koreng/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

© Ansgar Koreng/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

The Neue Wache (English: New Guard) is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. Erected from 1816 to 1818 according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel as a guardhouse for the Royal Palace and a memorial to the Liberation Wars, it is considered as a major work of Prussian Neoclassical architecture. A Victoria relief by Johann Gottfried Schadow and five General statues by Christian Daniel Rauch, referring to the Warrior statues on Schlossbrücke, also belong to the ensemble. Since 1993, the Neue Wache has been home to the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny.   read more…

Chapel of Reconciliation in Berlin

9 November 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Berlin Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Immanuel Giel

© Immanuel Giel

The Chapel of Reconciliation (German: Kapelle der Versöhnung) is a place of worship in Berlin, Germany. It stands on the site of the old Church of Reconciliation (German: Versöhnungskirche), on Bernauer Strasse in the Mitte district. The church was completed in 1894 as an imposing brick-built building by the architect Gotthilf Ludwig Möckel, in the Gothic revival style. It sustained some damage in the Second World War, and still had a deactivated American bomb in the basement discovered during its reconstruction in 1999, but the church survived the war.   read more…

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