Hitler's Bunker

The site of Hitler's bunker, where he spent his final 2 weeks. The allied troops drilled holes through the 4 metre thick concrete, eventually causing the structure to collapse. Now an unmarked parking lot that dogs use as a washroom. Very befitting.

Babel Platz

Some pictures just around Babel Platz.

The bank that Lola robs in Run Lola Run (no longer a bank).


The State Opera House. Not much to look at from the outside, but supposedly tops on the inside. This isn't the original, it's a GDR rebuild. The original parts are the darkened bits.


The 18th c. Roman Catholic cathedral from Frederick the Great. Instead of ostricizing the Catholics as had previously been done, he welcomed them and even donated land for their cathedral in this very prominent square.


Humboldt University (Einstein, the Brothers Grimm, and Karl Marx). Babel Platz was the scene of the infamous Nazi book burning, many volumes coming from Humboldt. Shamefully, many staff and students were active in the event, destroying the only known volumes of important works. As a gesture of good will, the school runs a book sale out front everyday, selling many of the works that were not permanately lost for a very cheap price.

Broach 2

I forgot (I don't know how) that on Saturday at the junk market I found another 'ruby' broach, this one a circle. I got it for a super cheap price too.

Weather Chaos in Germany

I woke up this morning to find:

Snow on the balcony!



Snow on the cars!



Snow in the trees!



Much to my delight when I left the house later in the morning it was really snowing!







I headed out to Schoneberg district, first to the Konigskolonnaen (Royal Colonnades) which is a pretty park with neoclassical columns and Greek-replica statues. Something tells me these roses are not going to make it too much longer.




The columns flanking the entrance to the North,


and to the South of the main entrance.


View from the path.


View from far end of the park.


At the back end of the park is Kammergericht court house. A few nights ago I watched the movie 'Sophie Scholl - the Final Days' about a group of young students from Munich who tried to incite a resistance movement against the Nazis in 1944. True story and a good movie. Before being sentenced to death, Sophie's final statement predicts that soon the evil Judge Freisler will be where she is then. Quite dramatic. Turns out her prediction was not too far off. In 1945 allied bombing caused the back end of this building to blow up, further causing a giant beam to crush Judge Freisler to death. Rather poetic I thought. The building was restored in the late '90's and is once again being used as a court house.



So, after 4 hours of freezing my butt off in Schoneberg, I returned home to Greg who told me that today's newspapers called our recent weather 'chaotic' and even CTV news mentioned our 'crazy' weather. On that note I leave you with this:

DZ Bank

Imagine having this in your atrium? The DZ Bank offices off of Pariser Platz was actually designed by Frank Gehry. The outside is a bit of a boring bust, but the inside is phenomenal. I couldn't get too close though as it's security-pass only beyond the lobby. The scale is just huge, and the impact is obviously immediate. Don't know if it's just hightened nostalgia for 'home' but it really felt Canadian for me.

Dusk Sky

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning." Hopefully this applies to pink-tinted clouds and tomorrow we get a break from the wetness.

For these videos, I am stationary, the clouds are moving.

Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum

What better way to spend a rainy afternoon than looking at diseased and dissected body organs and now-barbaric medical instruments? Admittedly I didn't take pictures of the more disgusting specimens or the more sad cases. I didn't have the 'stomach' for it. Seriously though, this small museum is inside the grounds for Berlin's 'Charite' university hospital, Europe's largest hospital-teaching institution. Enjoy!

This little bunny had syphilis.


Why does this model for measuring nerve conduction (on the left) remind me of a clock my mother once had? Fyi, it's beside acousitc resonators.


Military surgeon's portable instruments from 1940.


Cataract knives c. 1900.


Wax models with various eye diseases, also c. 1900.



Loops in the small intestine, 1956. Strange how much it looks like a jelly fish.


Relief of the Mucous membrane of the stomach, from 1936.


Gallbladder, spleen and kidneys, oh my!


Who knew gallbladder stones could be so varying and pretty?

M13

A snippet of my ride today on the M13 Tram Line, starting near Weißensee Cemetery.

Weißensee Jewish Cemetery

Despite the persistent rain this week, I took a walk this afternoon in Weißensee Cemetery, Germany's oldest and Europe's largest Jewish cemetery. Approximately 100, 000 jews are buries here. The majority of grave stones I saw dated the deceased around the turn of the century.

An abridged Wikipedia entry:

The grave plots are arranged into 120 different sections, each with their own geometric shape and the lavish way in which the more wealthy figures in it chose to fashion their mausolea using the latest art nouveau designs is immediately noticeable.

The outskirts of the plot is predominantly reserved for the upper and middle classes while the centre is reserved for the less well off, in areas which are harder to reach, often covered in foliage.

After WWII , Jews from all parts of Berlin continued to use the cemetery until 1955; from 1955 until reunification only the small Jewish community in East Berlin used it.

During the DDR, the cemetery was neglected and many of the graves were left unattended (because most of the community were murdered during, or had fled from, the Holocaust) and became overgrown with weeds.

It has been estimated by the cemetery officials that the cost to fully repair the damage caused by years of neglect is 40 million €. In the year of its 125th opening anniversary, appeals to local government were made to increase funding, so that a bid can be made to reach the UNESCO world heritage list.

As I understand it, it's a custom in Judaism to place a rock on a grave stone as a means to show respect to a friend. I saw lots of rocks and very few flowers. The amazing thing is that graves that are over a century old have newly placed rocks on them.


It was difficult to capture the sheer enormity of the cemetery. Hopefully these pics give an idea.








I was really struck though that despite decay (or probably because of it) the grounds were quite green and beautiful.