Valet de Chambre builds Palais am Festungsgraben

Palais am Festungsgraben (former Palais Donner)

The above Palais was originally built in baroque style by Johann Gottfried Donner, the Valet de Chambre of Prussian King Frederick II (Friedrich der Große) in 1753 and redesigned, one century later, with the – then very hip – classicistic "livery" it wears nowadays. 

The Palais is situated right behind the chestnut grove of the New Guard House and  is the only buiilding in this neighborhood that survived World War II relatively unscathed.

It disposes of several very representative halls and is used for festive receptions or exclusive events (can be chartered by you too!). It even won an award for being "one of the best event locations in Germany".

Furthermore, the building serves as a theater, hosts two galleries and the Tajik Tee Salon.

Old pictures of the building from the Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv)

Impressions from the Carnival of Cultures 2010

Yesterday was the day: Berlin's international cultural scene took over Kreuzberg in a spectacular and flamboyant parade. 

Hundred groups from 70 different nations - a total of about 4.800 people - participated in the colorful procession. Starting at Hermannplatz, the border between the two boroughs Neukölln and Kreuzberg, the procession slowly moved to Südstern, astonishing hundreds of thousands of visitors lining the streets.

The street parade on Whitsunday was the highlight of that 15th edition of the 4-day street festival which ends today.

Official site

"In Rixdorf is Musike!" - There is Music in Rixdorf

 

Right in the center of the big market and pedestrian island on Hermannplatz in the district of Neukölln, we see – if we care to look up – the bronze sculpture of a dancing couple. People also call it "Rixdorfer Tanzpärchen" which means "Dancing couple from Rixdorf", "Rixdorf" being one of Neukölln's old names.

More than 100 years ago, Hermannplatz used to mark the borderline between Berlin and Rixdorf. Rixdorf with all its dancing halls and breweries was a playground for hedonists and the epitome of pleasure, amusement, and debauchery, a place for Berliners to booze up and have fun with easy girls – hence the popular melody "In Rixdorf is Musike".

In January 1912 the name was changed into "Neukölln", as the bad image of Rixdorf hovered all over the place and the local authorities wanted to finally get rid of it.The statue was sculptured by Joachim Schmettau in 1985 for the opening of a garden festival and used to rotate around its own axis twice an hour, but is now standing still.

Flashy!

After my little daughter taught me the very basics of flashy photography (you have to use a tripod) I managed to get a few halfway decent shots. See for yourself.

Festival of Lights

The night is falling and I'm gonna get out there in a few minutes and shoot some. That sounds a bit weird, but wait until you see the flamboyantly lit nightly Berlin!

Yeah, right. Now: That was so not fun! I went out there in the cold an rainy night - only to make my one reader happy (and myself of course but that doesn't really count) - and what happened? I have no idea. My Samsung refused to take other than really crappy photos. What did I do wrong? Why does it hate me so much? Have I unknowingly mistreated you, my dear friend?

I adjusted the camera settings one million times, approximately - without any other result than taking more crappy photos. Luckily there is an official Festival of Lights website! Go there, my one reader and take a look:

Festival of Lights - Berlin

Here comes the fun thing: After this, I took a few photos in the subway, and guess what? All of them pin sharp! Now you tell me why is that so!