Dr. Stefan Christmann

June 8, 2023June 23, 2023

Modern trains, ancient stations

At Скопје you can currently discover two railway stations: the historic one from 1940 that is nowadays the city museum and the current one in Brutalist style. From the outside it looks like a number of pipes stored next to each other, but the Soviet-style inside is very well worth a visit; it is like travelling in time. When in 1963 an earthquake destroyed most of the former railway station, Japanese architect Kenzō Tange was engaged to built a new earthquake-safe one.

June 8, 2023June 18, 2023

Kale

The fortress of Скопје is called Kale (the Turkish word for fortress) and located on a hill next to old city center. It was built in the 6th century by Byzantine emperor Justinian I. It became important over time as Скопје was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire, but also the Serbian emperor was crowned there in 1346. When in 1963 an earthquake destroyed Скопје to large extent, also the fortress received massive damage. Kale has been rebuilt to some extent, but still today excavation works take place there.

June 8, 2023June 23, 2023

Porta Makedonija

Leaders seem to love triumphal arches. If you don’t have one like at Paris, you built one like at București. But it is rather seldom that you really invest in such monument nowadays. The Porta Macedonia at Скопје is an exception to this rule created in 2012 during the highly disputed project Skopje 2014 reshaping the city center. It commemorates the 20th anniversary of the young state of North Macedonia.

June 8, 2023June 18, 2023

Alexander the Great

Once you’ll reach the Macedonia Square of Скопје you will be astonished: in its center there is a big column reminding one of the Trajans column at Roma, surrounded by lions and large statues of soldiers. And on top is a giant statue of Alexander the Great on his horse Bucephalus. One of the largest monuments I’ve ever seen in a city center and one the creates a conflict with the neighbor Greece as both countries fight about whom the heritage of this leader belongs to.

June 8, 2023June 18, 2023

Three bridges

The old and the new city center of Скопје, North Macedonia, are connected by an ancient bridge, the Stone Bridge (Камен Мост). Already in Roman times a bridge was crossing the river Vardar here. The current structures are of Osman origin: they were created by Mehmed the Conqueror from 1451 on. In 1944 the German Wehrmacht wanted to blow up the bridge which could be prevented – and therefore the bridge is still today a town’s landmark of the city and part of the city arms.

June 8, 2023June 18, 2023

Centrally located

There are plenty of good hotel options at Скопје, North Macedonia. One that suited all my needs was the ibis located opposite to the Brutalist-style telecommunication building connected to the famous post office. It can be found in a quiet side street, just a stone’s throw away from the Macedonia Square. Via a bridge next to the hotel you can reach the old town very fast and the transfer from the airport also brings you close to this place.

June 8, 2023June 18, 2023

Меѓународен аеродром Скопје

The airport of Скопје (SKP), North Macedonia, is a small but good one. It has one terminal and one runway, as a passenger it is very convenient and fast to use. Formerly the airport was named after Alexander the Great; as a part of the conflict resolution with Greece the airport name has been neutralized. SKP is located 20 kilometers outside of Скопје at Петровец. It is operated by a Turkish airport company called TAV.

May 28, 2023June 16, 2023

Meeting followed by breakfast

The Wannseekonferenz is a dark moment in German history. It took place on January 20th, 1942 in the Villa Marlier at the Wannsee lake of Berlin. Delegates of different government institutions were invited to a ‘meeting followed by breakfast’ and coordinated the deportation of all Jewish citizens of Europe to extinction camps in the East. The Holocaust itself was already decided by that time, but the conference was used to define the victims and the schedule in more detail; it was the administration of the so called ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question‘ (‘Endlösung der Judenfrage‘).

May 28, 2023June 16, 2023

Alles nur geklaut

The center of the Museumsinsel in the heart of Berlin has a colorful past: From 1443 on it was the location of the Berliner Schloss (also named Stadtschloss), the seat of the Electors of Brandenburg, the kings of Prussia and later the German Emperors. It was torn down in 1950 by the government of the GDR and on its grounds the Palast der Republik was built, housing the parliament named Volkskammer. This parliament building then was demolished until 2008 to rebuilt the historic Berliner Schloss, now housing museums and carrying the name Humboldt-Forum. A replica of a historic building worth a visit!

May 28, 2023June 15, 2023

Mauritius blue

The communication museum (Museum für Kommunikation) in the capital city of Germany resides in an amazing ancient building in the city quarter Mitte (Leipziger Straße / Mauerstraße). Its predecessor, the Reichspostmuseum, was opened in 1872; highlight of the building is the six meters high giants statue added in 1895. The current museum is operated by a foundation owned by the German state and financed by the Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom. That seems very reasonable because the focus of the collection is the history of mail and telephony.