Berlin Archives ⋆ The Passenger

July 30, 2023August 14, 2023

Pfaueninsel

The German capital city Berlin stands for history, politics, art, culture and party. For tall buildings, monuments and endless streets. There are the rivers Spree and Havel; you can find many parks, but to relax in nature you also never need to ride very far. A good option for this is the Pfaueninsel (‘peacock island‘), a river island within the Havel close to the ‘border’ to Potsdam. It is since 1990 part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage at Berlin and only accessible by ferry boat.

July 30, 2023August 14, 2023

Viktoriapark

The Kreuzberg is with 66 meters height the highest elevation of Berlin. Since the 15th century this ‘mountain’ was used to grow wine grapes. Today it is covered by a nice park that many Berliner use for a walk. On its top you’ll find the Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars – it was erected in 1821 after the victory against Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815. Initially it was planned to create a vast church in Gothic-style to commemorate this, but it was to costly.

July 30, 2023August 7, 2023

Flakturm Humboldthain

The Volkspark Humboldthain is a beautiful garden in the north of Berlin. Construction works started in 1869 at the 100. anniversary of the birth of Alexander von Humboldt. It includes a nice rose garden and since 1942 a massive amount of concrete: with the use of forced labor a high-rise bunker with an anti-aircraft warfare position was built, the Flakturm Humboldthain. Flak is an abbreviation for Flugabwehrkanone meaning anti-aircraft gun.

July 29, 2023August 7, 2023

Waldbühne

The Waldbühne Berlin is a fantastic open-air stage in the Murellenschlucht valley close to the Olympiastadion of Berlin. More than 22,000 persons can attend concerts and other events there; the biggest outdoor stage I’ve ever seen. It was built in 1936 for the Olympic summer games following the design of a Greek theatre. The creation was initiated by Joseph Goebbels and the layout included a VIP box for Adolf Hitler. You can still today guess in which time it was built by looking at the artworks at the entrance gates.

July 29, 2023August 7, 2023

Zitadelle Spandau

Everyone who has ever travelled by highspeed train to Berlin knows Spandau: It is the last stop before you reach Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Not too many tourists leave the train there, but there would be a good reason: the city has one of the oldest fortresses of the high renaissance period, the Zitadelle Spandau. It is located in the northeast of the historic city center within river Havel.

June 27, 2023June 30, 2023

Schlachtensee

Berlin has a lot of water in rivers and lakes. The largest lake is the Müggelsee in the East, the one most often used for swimming is the famous Wannsee. Most often considered as the most beautiful lake is the Schlachtensee at Steglitz-Zehlendorf. It has a tubular shape and is often used for swimming due to its good water quality; but you can also have long hikes along its shore or use it for diving or stand-up paddling.

June 27, 2023September 8, 2023

Für dich soll‘s rote Rosen regnen

The Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf is a cemetery in a forest belonging to the city quarter Zehlendorf (now Nikolasee) of Berlin, Germany. It was created after World War II and is one of the cemeteries in Berlin where you can find the graves of celebrities which have a strong connection to the city. The cemetery still has the character of a forest and you can enjoy long walks in nice nature; while doing so you will find the graves of personalities like Jakob Kaiser, Paul Löbe, Walter Scheel and Otto Suhr.

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.