GDR Architecture – Frankfurter Tor Towers

Twin Towers at Frankfurter Tor

Two impressive, conspicuous copper-topped towers, reminiscent of the German and French dome cupolas at Gendarmenmarkt, mark the inception of Frankfurter Allee at Frankfurter Tor square.

They are today listed historic monuments of the Stalin era and heritage of GDR times.

The structures alongside the former "Stalinallee" (name given to the  avenue in  1949 for Stalin's 70th birthday) are designed in the  Soviet "wedding-cake" style and were built under the direction of architect Hermann Henselmann between 1951 and 1960 to create a comfortable living environment for East German workers.

As the buildings' huge proportions make it difficult to catch them on photos in their entirety, I recommend Google Street View to get an overall impression of the site.

The Gray and the Colors of East Berlin

Ordinarily, I'm not such a sun loving lady, I prefer cloudy and hazy, but currently, I must admit, Mr. Sun does a great job on the photos.

So, this afternoon I ventured to the East of Berlin and squeezed into the tram from Warschauer Straße to Frankfurter Tor (FYI: you can only find the tram in the eastern parts of the city as rails in the western parts were removed during Berlin's division in favor of other means of transport). 

Occupied house in the East

Crowds of people were eager to get to the same place as me, it seemed. I wondered if they might hand out free beer somewhere on the way, but a lot of people already brought their own, a common habit in this part of the city. People travel around in public transport sucking on bottle-necks ...

When I got out at Frankfurter Tor, a street clown pointed his finger and cheered at me: "Oh, oh, you are an Elf! From Lord of the Rings!"

That was amusing and made me smile for a while.

Backyard sheds with grafitti

When I got back from my photo spree, I had to run to catch the tram, and a young guy who had just left the tram went back there to stand in the door and hold it open for me with a big smile.

That was heart-warming and made me smile for a while as well.

I've done my share of writing for today and am only publishing a few photos. I got material for days to come now, articles will follow.

Debris house with grafitti, Rigaer Straße

BAUHAUS Architecture – One of many Examples

Fancy Bauhaus elevator

Yesterday I stumbled across that gem in the former "Haus der Deutschen Buchdrucker" – and contrary to my settled conviction that I strongly dislike Bauhaus architecture, I see now how beautiful it really is.

Of course this house is only one of the many buildings, building projects and housing estates in Berlin, constructed during the BAUHAUS period.

The Bauhaus school was founded in 1919 by famous architect Walter Gropius in Weimar, and endeavored to bring all arts – including architecture – together, to finally create a synthesis of the arts (Gesamtkunstwerk).

The aim was to bring modernist design in everyday life, to form a consortium where the gap between artist and craftsman was abolished.

Max Taut, the architekt of the Haus der Deutschen Buchdrucker", was like his famous brother Bruno an advocate of what was called "New Objectivity" or "New Sobriety" (Neue Sachlichkeit), a predominantly German movement of the 1920s and 1930s, forcibly stopped by the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.

Elevator interior with wooden bench

Groundfloor Haus der Deutschen Buchdrucker

Bauhaus staircase

Bauhaus tiling

Şehitlik Mosque – Berlin Türk Şehitlik Camii

Şehitlik Mosque with Cemetery

As the weather today was almost obtrusively serene and sunny, I decided this was the right time to take a few more pics of Berlin's fairytale-like, most fabulous mosque: The Turkish Şehitlik Mosque.

I published a little article about it here on my blog in October 2009, but that day I had forgotten to charge my camera's battery, so I could only take a few precious photos. Now I took a whole load of pics and the weather was my friend.

 

The premises consist of a cultural center and a mosque. The upper floor of the cultural center features a big terrace and a building element half the size of the ground floor. 

The mosque itself is comprised of four stories: A multipurpose hall in the basement, a prayer room on the ground floor, the mosque on the third floor and a gallery where the women usually pray.

Main prayer language is Turkish, occasionally Arabic and on Fridays prayers are read in German, too.

A brazen plaque right beside the entrance gate explains the origin of the cemetery in Turkish and German. For a short explanation visit my October 2009 article.

Here is the Turkish text:

"Berlin'de ikinci Türk Mezarliği olarak 1866 yilinda Sultan Abdulaziz zamaninda kurulmuştur. 1798 yilinda tesis olunan ilk Türk Kabristanindaki mevtalar buraya taşinmişlardir.

Mezarlari nakledilen, Prusya'da Osmanli Sefiri iken, 29 Ekim 1798 de vefat eden devlet adami, şair ve tasavvuf eri Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi ile diğer dört merhum adina 1867 yilinda kurulan abide, 1988 de Berlin Senatosu tarafindan Diyanet İşleri Türk-İslam Birliği'nin işbirliği ile tamir edilmiştir.

1920-1921 yillarinda şehitliğin ihyasinda Osmanli Büyük Elçiliği eski imami, Hafiz Şükrü Efendi 'nin büyük emeği geçmiştir. Caminin iki minareli bugünkü şekli Türk işçilerinin katkilariyla gerçekleştirilmiştir."

Official Site of Şehitlik Mosque in German language

Rita, Pannierstraße 12 – Coffee comes as an Objet d'Art

Damn it! I didn't have my "real" camera with me, only my shitty xperia phone camera. Bummer!

This cup of coffee was so beautiful to look at, I hardly dared to take a sip.

They have yummy home-made high-calorie cake here. Really tasty. Staff was friendly and discreet, music a little bit too loud for my taste, just so you have to raise your voice a tad to get through to your company.

The seats are unpadded, so I suggest you eat a lot of that fancy cake they sell to ensure you develop a bit of a pad yourself.

Alt-Pichelsdorf – Boat Harbor and Lakeside Promenade

Boat harbor and lakeside promenade in Alt-Pichelsdorf

Halfway between Berlin Fair Grounds and Havelhöhe, the bus X49 stops in Alt-Pichelsdorf.
Having spotted lots of water from the upper deck, I got curious, leaped to my feet, jumped down the stairs and out the bus. 

After a little walk I reached the deserted boat harbor which must be brimming with life and quite idyllic during spring and summer time.

Pichelsdorf was first mentioned in 1375, in times of emporer Charles IV, the second king of Bohemia. In 1590 it still was a fairly insignificant fishermen's village, inhabited by only 14 families and their chairman.

In 1780 a "Büdnerhaus" (seems to be some kind of tavern with garden) was built. It still exists under the name of "Historischer Weinkeller" and apparently you can get home made Feuerzangenbowle (flaming fire tongs punch) there. I guess I'll have to check that out some time soon.

Badenscher Hof – Jazz like being yelled at

Are you into really, really, really loud music? You'd just love to get deaf at early age? You enjoy music when it's all blended together like in a big ol' stew? 

Then go visit a jazz concert at Badenscher Hof. You'll be all abuzzed!

To be honest, you can also go there if you are already deaf, because you can feel the music! If you are into piano music, however, don't go there. During the rare moments that you can hear the piano in the whole mash it sounds somewhat thin. 

Now the positive things: The staff is friendly and attentive, the place is suitable for having a drink or a snack, and as I said, if you like it loud you will probably love the music. Many people do, as tells us a quick search on qype.

We left the place ten minutes after the concert had started. When we hit the subway my friend said "I'm so glad not to be yelled at anymore!"

A-Trane – Jazz, great Atmo and Pretzels

Situated not far from Savignyplatz, A-Trane offers the perfect setting for a relaxed and fun evening with classy live music.

They have excellent staffing, friendly, quick and professional, and around 11 p.m. the "Pretzel Man" arrives with a basket full of the southern German speciality.

Around this time it also gets really crowded, so that it  might become hard to squeeze in. The audience is international, locals and tourists, with an age range from 16 to 70+.

On Mondays you can enjoy the inspirational, delightfully unconventional arrangements of Andreas Schmidt & Friends who seem to have found the perfect conjuction of music and humor. It is fascinating to observe how the band manages to draw a smile on people's faces.

Grimm Center Berlin – A very special Library

When the days are cold and rainy and your hunger for information cannot be satisfied by the Internet alone, go visit the the Humboldt University's library, the Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum in Berlin Mitte.

Situated near U + S Friedrichstraße train stations and Berlin's "Museum Island" one of Europe's most modern libraries offers –  in addition to its exceptional architecture – unsurprisingly a multitude of literature including a  extensive collection of scientific journals (over 2000!).

The Center is open to the public until midnight on weekdays and until early evenings on weekends.

For photos visit this page!

Address and position plan

Museum "Collection Childhood and Youth"

Recently I visited what I would best describe as the "creepy doll museum". From the description on the Internet I took that in the Collection Childhood and Youth I would discover all kinds of cute old toys and interesting facts about childhood in the past century.

Already the building was a blast. First I thought it was an abandoned school and hesitated to enter:

 No kidding: This is the museum! The collection is hosted on the third floor. The rest of the building is empty.

I was visiting in the middle of afternoon, and when I left the first of the three exhibition rooms one of the two others had just been cleaned, so that the floor was still wet , and the third was in the process of being cleaned. As I was bold and entered the "wet floor room" number one, one of the custodians came after me and threw me out!

In my opinion the collection was not worth my time, but everyone has to judge for themselves. 

There was a grandpa with a three year old, and the kid seemed to enjoy the collection and was very curious about it.

Most interesting was the gigantic book displayed in the corridor where children from all over Berlin had drawn pictures of their city.

Museum

Beauty in ugly Places

While waiting for the bus in Alt-Treptow late afternoon, this building caught my eye:

And of course these balconies: