I like traveling very much. This time I visited the capital of Germany, Berlin.
I went to explore the center of the capital. As always, I opened Google maps and chose a route. I looked at how to get there and, having reached the parking lot, I began my journey through the evening Velekolepny and mystical Berlin. I have visited many places, but most of all I want to tell about the list that I made up thanks to the List on Google maps. There are eight of them.
1) Of course a place covered in history! If possible, be sure to visit! And take a walk in the evening, watch and listen, feel the atmosphere! You will like it!
The Brandenburg Gate
was erected by order of the German King Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1791. Their continuous construction was carried out for three years, and was led by architect Karl Gottgard Langgans. I would like to note when talking about the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, so it is that they originally had a different name - the Gate of the World.
This architectural masterpiece is not just an adornment of Berlin, but also serves as a symbol of the unification of the country.
The Brandenburg Gate is the only one that managed to survive in difficult times for Berlin. To look at them, you should go to the border of the Tiergarten and Mitte districts, on Unter den Linden. Near the gates almost always crowded: they cause interest among tourists not only in the daytime, but also when dusk falls on the capital of Germany. The unique ultramodern illumination makes the columns and the quadriga towering above them, a truly fantastic sight.
2) After I want to introduce you to the most famous Parliament in the world, this is the Reichstag!
Reichstag was very impressed. The evening is also very beautiful. A strict but magnificent building. Even in the evening there are many tourists. Illumination is exciting!
The Reichstag is a symbol of Berlin and all of Germany. Initially, it was the name of the parliament, which was replaced by the Bundestag, and the name was assigned to a building built specifically for him. It was laid in 1884 by order of Kaiser Wilhelm I, the work lasted 10 years.
An architectural structure with a long and complicated history. Currently, most tourists who have arrived in Berlin to get acquainted with its sights are primarily in a hurry to the restored Reichstag. Almost all visitors to the city wish to capture themselves against the background of a building built in the style of the Italian Renaissance, for which tens of thousands of soldiers had given their lives in due time.
The majestic Reichstag building is fascinating: after the global restoration, completed in 1999, it acquired a unique detail - a glass dome designed by British architect Norman Foster. Thanks to him, a harmonious combination of modernity and history appeared in the guise of the Reichstag.
The Bundestag is the most visited parliament in the world.
The Reichstag stands in the very center of Berlin, next to the Platz der Republik. The nearest Brandenburger Tor Underground Station is 500 meters, a 10-minute walk from the Friedrichstrasse train station, through which there are underground and underground trains (S-Bahn and U-Bahn).
Opening hours: daily from 8:00 to 0:00, visitors are admitted every 15 minutes, the last call at 22:00. Admission is free, but required by appointment at the office. website or through the service center behind the Berlin Pavilion on the south side of ScheidemannstraĂźe. Registration in the center is possible only for a time not occupied by electronic registration. It makes sense to contact him at least 2 hours before the planned visit, but not earlier than 2 days.
Opening hours of the center from April 1 to October 31: from 8:00 to 20:00, in the winter - from 8:00 to 18:00.
3) The largest Cathedral in Berlin is the Berlin Cathedral! Well, it’s impossible to miss it. His Majesty and Beauty are fascinating. And the hard work to restore it is amazing!
Berlin Cathedral - this attraction is in the photographs of almost all tourists who visited the capital of Germany. Firstly, the cathedral building is very beautiful and cannot but impress travelers. Secondly, Germany’s largest Protestant church is located on the museum island of Berlin, which, of course, is visited by most of the city’s guests.
The baroque cathedral was built for 11 years - from 1894 to 1905 and was supposed to serve as the court church of the ruling dynasty of the Hohenzollern. It is interesting that it was erected on the site of a neoclassical cathedral, designed by Karl Schinkel. The fact is that the previous church did not like Emperor Wilhelm II, he believed that she lacked grandeur. Breaking - not building! The church was demolished, and instead architects Otto and Julius Rashdorff built a new one. According to the plan, the cathedral was to become the main church of all European Lutherans. Contrary to Protestant teachings, Berlin Cathedral turned out to be very rich and vibrant, more like a Catholic church.
True, unlike many Gothic churches, this cathedral does not leave a feeling of pressure on a person when you are inside the building. Here is a very bright and beautiful decoration, which I want to consider in detail and remember. Outside, the cathedral is decorated with sculptures, columns and stucco, and inside - stained glass windows and paintings on biblical themes.
Before World War II, the Berlin Cathedral was also famous for its height - 114 meters. However, during the war, the church was badly damaged and required reconstruction. Now the height of the cathedral is 98 meters. The cathedral opened after reconstruction only in 1993 and impressed everyone with its beauty.
From Monday to Saturday, the cathedral is open from 9:00 to 20:00, on Sundays and public holidays - from 12:00 to 20:00. From October 1 to March 31, the cathedral is open until 19:00.
Entrance: 7 EUR, for students and schoolchildren - 5 EUR.
4) I consider it obligatory to visit the Berlin State Opera (Staatsoper Berlin) - one of the largest theaters in Germany.
I was here on January 27, 2020. Just at the Berlin State Opera on Unter den Linden a concert was held to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. At the conductor’s console is Daniel Barenboim. They performed Beethoven’s “Heroic”. All funds raised from the sale of tickets went to finance the Auschwitz-Birkenau fund. The Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel was present. Therefore, there were journalists at the exit.
If you are not an opera fan, you can see at least the theater building - the reconstruction has recently completed. And the theater is located in the very center of Berlin, in the historical part of Unter den Linden boulevard.
The building was built between 1741 and 1743 by the architect Georg Wenceslaus von Knobelsdorf. The theater began its work even before the end of construction. On December 7, 1742, the opera Caesar and Cleopatra by K. G. Graun, the founder and first director of the theater, was presented to the public in a still unfinished room. Until 1801, the theater was visited exclusively by representatives of the courtyard and invited guests, and only in 1808 its doors were open to the general public. In the years 1820-1842, the main conductor of the theater was Gaspare Spontini.
On the stage of this particular theater, the premiere of Weber’s opera The Magic Shooter took place. The theater reached its peak during the period when it was led by Felix Weingartner, Karl Muck and especially Richard Strauss and Leo Blech.
After 1918 and the end of the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the works of contemporary composers began to appear in the theater’s repertoire. A new chapter in the history of the theater was entered by the premiere of “Wozzeck” Alban Berg (conducted by Erich Kleiber).
During the Second World War, the theater was twice destroyed: the first time - during the bombing of Berlin in 1941 (then quickly rebuilt), the second time - in 1945. After the second destruction, the theater was restored from 1952 to 1955. On September 4, 1955, it was reopened by the production of Wagner’s “Nuremberg Mastersingers” under the direction of Franz Konvichny.
At a time when Germany was divided into two countries, and Berlin into two cities, the German State Opera continued to be an international theater. This was possible thanks to the activities of the then theater quartermaster Hans Pischner. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new impulse of the theater’s activity was given by the outstanding modern musician - conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, who became the artistic director of the German State Opera in 1990.
5) The palace bridge is very beautiful. I like it.
In the eastern side of the famous Unter den Linden boulevard there is the Palace Bridge, an architectural landmark connecting the Spreeinsel island and the Friedrichsverder district. On May 29, 1822, the first stone was laid at the base of the bridge, then the bridge got its name Palace. The vaulted bridge consisted of three segments made of sandstone, the height of the bridge allowed river vessels to pass through without resorting to drawbridge mechanisms.
The construction period was strictly limited; the bridge was to be commissioned before the wedding day of the then Crown Prince Frederick William IV. The day before this event, on November 28, 1823, a torchlight procession was organized on the still unfinished bridge, but officially the Palace Bridge was opened only in 1824. Karl Friedrich Schinkel in his project, to decorate the bridge, planned to use eight sculptures symbolizing victories in the Liberation Wars, but due to budget constraints, they were installed after the architect’s death, only in 1857.
Sculptures are groups united by an allegorical plot. Each of the sculptures has a certain meaning, for example, the Goddess of War, symbolizes military glory and victory, the Goddess of Peace, supporting a wounded warrior, calls for an end to bloodshed and a truce. Such militant stories are explained by the proximity to the Arsenal. Karl Friedrich Schinkel also designed the lattice of the bridge, with newts, sirens and seahorses with tridents
6) The Wilhelm von Bode Museum, which is known to many as the Bode Museum, is located in the northwestern part of the Museum Island of Berlin and is very popular among Berliners and visitors.
The museum complex includes the Museum of Byzantine Art, the Sculpture Collection and the Coin Office.
The museum owes its foundation to Emperor Frederick III - it was his idea to create an exhibition that could demonstrate to the public the richest collections of valuable exhibits belonging to the emperor. The art historian Wilhelm von Bode undertook the work, who divided the exhibition halls so that objects belonging to a certain era were exhibited in each.
The Second World War caused huge damage to the museum building, which led to the fact that it was reopened only in 1950, and restoration work continued until 1987. In the early 1990s, a considerable number of construction defects were discovered, which it was decided to eliminate , and in 1997 the museum was closed for major repairs. In 2006, the Wilhelm von Bode Museum was again opened to the public, presenting itself in front of the eyes of its guests in its new radiant guise.
7) Montbijoux Bridge - across the Spree, in the very center of Berlin.
It was built at the beginning of the 20th century, simultaneously with the revival of the Bode Museum on Museum Island. During the Second World War, the northern section of the bridge was blown up, so later it had to be replaced with a temporary bridge.
The historical appearance of the object was returned only in 2007, while the average support of the bridge was eliminated for the convenience of navigation.
History needs to know and remember how many lives a war takes. Memorial to the fallen Soviet soldiers in Tiergarten.
It was created by sculptors Lev Kebel and Vladimir Tsigal together with architect Nikolai Sergievsky.
According to the idea, the building was to isolate the winners alley planned by Albert Speer at Adolf Hitler at the intersection of the north-south and east-west axis (then the Charlottenburger Highway, now named after June 17).
For many years, the territory of the memorial was a Soviet enclave in the territory of the former British occupation sector of Berlin. Before the final withdrawal of a group of Soviet troops in Germany in 1994, a solemn guard was standing at the monument. After 1994, the memorial was transferred to the city. Between Germany and the Russian Federation concluded bilateral agreements on the care of military burial grounds.
The main entrance from the street on June 17 is framed by two Soviet T 34 tanks. During the offensive march to Berlin, they were the first in the city. Two cannons were installed behind the diagonal at the level of the first staircase. In volleys they proclaimed the end of the battle for Berlin.
On two stone sarcophagi are the names of officers who fell in Berlin between April 14 and May 1, 1945 and who were marked with the title “Heroes of the Soviet Union”.
The main place of the memorial is the colonnade located at the highest point. The texts on the pylons tell about different branches of the Red Army, the names of the dead soldiers are listed. On the largest pylon in the center is an eight-meter bronze statue of the Red Army. As a sign of the end of the war, he holds a weapon on his shoulder. The soldier’s left arm is stretched over the fallen comrades, resting at the foot of the monument. Behind the colonnades are two currently inactive fountains. They personify the tears of the peoples of the then Soviet Union and their grief over the dead.
In the back of the memorial, created in the form of a park, are the graves of more than 2,000 dead soldiers. The location of individual graves cannot be determined.
It was a wonderful trip to Berlin and thanks to Google maps and the created list I can now share my trip with others!