Germany plus a bit of France 2013

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And now onto Berlin. Again a lot of photos missing, grumble grumble, but still a few of some different parts of Berlin. Luckily we went to the major museums and sites in 2011 and those photos are safe. Our friend from Bad Homburg, another very, very distant cousin of my wife was visiting Berlin to see his son and acted as tour guide for a day or so.

Bernauer Strasse and the Berlin Wall Memorial - of course the wall was called the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart " by the DDR. This photo shows that the wall was actually two barriers with a "death strip" between them.





Charlottenburg Palace built 17th/18th C.

Front view



Rear view



I dragged my wife to the Humboldthain Park in Northern Berlin to have a look at the remains of the old WW2 Flak Tower. With my brilliant navigation I was unable to find this minor structure.

Credit: Youtube



But I did find the adjacent "Control Tower" about 500 metres away. It had been the same height but with a smaller footprint.

Me, wondering why the remains didn't look like the photos I had seen.



The large steel hatch protected entrances had been concreted up to prevent entry.



In our now doomed trip in August I was determined to rehabilitate my reputation as a tour guide and visit the larger tower.

Speaking of Totalitarian Regimes. We went for a walk, in the rain, along Karl-Marx-Allee (Called Stalinallee between 1952 - 196 before even the GDR found that name a bit embarrassing). It was built as a showcase of the socialist classicism of the Soviet era. A lot of the old Soviet-era signs advertising Lada's etc are still on top of the buildings. The elite of the DDR would have lived in these buildings - except for those who had country Dachas. If you have seen the excellent film Good-Bye Lenin! a lot of it was filmed here.





A Berlin Landmark at night

 

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The next day we went to Potsdam and especially to Sanssouci Park

Sanssouci Palace





The graves of Frederick the Great and his favourite dogs. Those readers paying attention will remember that he had been interred for about 40 years at Hohenzollern Castle during the Soviet Era. His grave is at the top of the photo and those small items on his grave are potatoes. He introduced them to Prussia and encouraged their planting and consumption. It is a tradition to put them on his grave.

The story goes that Frederick had never been particularly fond of his wife, and so instead elected to be buried alongside his trusty greyhounds, which he usually named after the King of France’s mistresses in order to anger the man.



Orangery Palace - built 1851 - 1864



The Chinese House - built between 1755 - 1763



The gilded exterior



The New Palace - built 1763 to 1769



Cecilienhof Palace built for Crown Prince Wilhelm in 1914 - 1917. Crown Prince Wilhelm liked Tudor buildings - his English ancestry perhaps - and had his Palace built in that style. This was the site for the Potsdam Conference after WW2.



A reminder of the conference in the central courtyard




Charlottenhof Palace - built 1826 - 1829

 

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The next day we caught a bus up to Pillnitz Castle. It sits on the banks of the Elbe River upriver of Dresden. It is a restored baroque palace than has been enlarged and enhance ever since the 14th Century. We cunningly went there on the one day a week the main building is closed!

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There were some extensive Victorian era glasshouse you could wander through

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One of the steam powered paddle wheel cruise boats that operate out of Dresden. We took a trip on one of these a couple of days later.

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After a pretty short visit we headed back to Dresden. We had bought an all day local transport ticket. So instead of using the bus we caught this public ferry to the other side of the Elbe. The current was very strong.

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As usual in Germany, the public Transport is pretty co-ordinated. You can see the bus waiting for the ferry and there is also a tram line hidden in the trees in background. We used the tram to get back to town.

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The palace from the ferry..

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That's a massive Glasshouse!

 

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That's a massive Glasshouse!

And very attractive both inside and out.

 

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The other place we really enjoyed in Potsdam was the Leiberman House. Great artist!

 

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Continuing on Potsdam

Th New Palace on the right and what is now the University of Potsdam operating out of the old palace buildings on the left.



We then wandered through the extensive formal gardens and parklands





A pyramid - which was actually built as an Ice House in 1791. The unusual design came about because it "is part of a mystical garden largely built by Masons"



The Mamorpalais - Marble Palace first completed 1791 but much changed and extended over the years. It housed the DDR Army Museum from 1961 - 1989



A Summer House - the Grune Haus - on a large lake in the park



We then walked along the shores of the Jungfernsee Lake. You can catch cruise boats around the lake and it connects to Berlin via the Havel River.



We kept walking and then came to this - an old DDR Lookout Post with the curious juxtaposition of an old advertising leftover



This Cold War relic was here because the banks of this area once marked the border between East and West Berlin. This can be seen by the next icon we saw.

The Glienicke Bridge - as seen in the Movie "Bridge of Spies". The first "spy" exchange was, as per the film, that of Gary Powers and Rudolf Abel on 10 February 1962. The final here exchange was on 11 February 1986.



This sign nearby basically translate as saying "Germany and Europe were divided here until 10 November 1989 around 18 years ago".

 

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Back to Berlin

The Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park. As part of the negotiations around the re-unification of Germany the German Government had to guarantee to keep the various Soviet Memorials in good repair.







Looking back from the large statue



Details on one of the side panels.



The Victory Column - Siegessäule - built to commemorate Prussian victories over Denmark, Austria and France in the 1860's/70's.



Looking from the Victory Column towards the Brandenburg Gate.

 

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For our last day in Berlin we headed down to Köpenick. It is a small town that has now become part of Berlin. As well as wandering around the town there is also what is claimed to be the best tram ride in Greater Berlin. You take Tram 68 and the route winds alongside the Langer See (the biggest Lake In Berlin). We took the ride, about 30 minutes each way, and it was very pleasant . Unfortunately, as you can see, the weather was not the best.

Köpenick is in a pretty location where the Spree and Dahme Rivers converge.

The City Hall





River Views









I became very excited when I saw this statue and poster for a local stage production outside the City Hall.

For years I have enjoyed and been fascinated by the story of "The Captain of Köpenick" . For those who haven't heard about his exploits - a short explanation is that he was small time criminal who manged to put together the uniform of an Army Captain. He then rounded up 10 soldiers from various parts of Berlin - they didn't know him but they just obeyed whatever orders he gave them because they were trained to "just follow orders". He took them on train to Koppenick, "arrested" the Town Treasurer and Mayor for "financial irregularities" and confiscated around 4,000 Marks. Being a good officer he of course left a receipt - signed with the name of his last Jail Director.

He then commandeered two rail carriages and had some of the soldiers take the "arrested" men back into Berlin while the remainder where told to stay on guard. He then disappeared. Unfortunately for him, there is no honour among thieves and a former cellmate who knew about his plans turned him in. He ended up being sentenced to 4 years in jail. However this is not the end of his story. The public were so amused by his antics that they clamoured for his early release and Kaiser Wilhelm, who apparently was also amused, pardoned him in 1908. There have been a number of books, plays and films made about this incident.

For the full story have a look at Wilhelm Voigt - Wikipedia

I was very pleased that you can still walk into the vault that was central to this story.

 

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We know headed north towards the Baltic Sea coastal town of Wismar. On the way there we made a quick stop at the town of Neuruppin. It is on the shores of a big lake the Ruppiner Sea. As is our wont, we saw an interesting sign on the Autobahn and followed the directions.









This is another of those children's water playgrounds the Germans seem to like. As a big kid I couldn't resist a play.

 

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Our next stopover was four nights was Wismar. This is another of the old Hanseatic League cities. A lot of the buildings have a "Swedish" feel, which is not surprising as it was a Swedish Dominion from 1648 - 1803. The city, which had become rundown under the DDR rule, had just undergone a massive restoration process to completely refurbish the old town just before our trip. They were just completing the last 1% or so when we were there.

The Old Central Marketplace - panoramic shots obviously





The Wasserkunst , or, waterworks 1580 - 1602 in the marketplace



The Frishe Grube runs through Wismar



And bit further upstream at night



St. Nicholas Church, a medieval brick church built from 1387 - 1481



A few street scenes

 

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One night we had a meal in this Restaurant - Alter Schwede (Old Swede) on the Central Market. As far as I know it is the oldest building in which I have ever eaten. It dates from 1380. I had some lovely Cod plus my first taste of Schmaltz - rendered pig fat served as an appetizer.



Walking down to the old harbour we passed through the only remaining gate of the old City Walls. The Wassetor built in 1450.



Looking down as we passed through the gate I got even more excited than at Köpenick. I had forgotten that the first, and still the best "Vampire" movie, "Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror", was filmed in Wismar. The makers tried to avoid paying royalties to Bram Stoker's family by never using the word Vampire. However it so obviously breached copyright that this transparent trick failed.

Nosferatu - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In this still from the film you can see Count Orlok,rather than Count Dracula, carrying his coffin through the Wassetor



The gate lets out straight onto the Old Harbour (Alter Hafen). You can see the Wassetor in the background.







A replica Hanseatic Cog of the 14th Century.



Like many of these northern German Ports there are usually a number of boats selling smoked fish from their decks. It only cost €3.50 for a crunchy bread roll with a little bit of lettuce and nice piece of fish.

 

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The next day we drove west to Lubeck - a city I found to be more attractive than I realised. It actually was once the leading city of the Hanseatic League - I think we have been to over 20 former Hanseatic League cities in our trips.

The old city gate the Holstentor - built in 1464





The old part of Lübeck is on an island enclosed by the Trave River





It is a very pleasant walk along the waterside streets.



Another old building - built 1535 - now housing a restaurant



We actually had lunch down here - in the Potato Cellar. It was once the wine cellar for the still standing 13th C. 'Hospital of the Holy Spirit'.





Lubeck City Hall formed from combining three gabled houses built around 1230.

 

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A bit more around Lubeck















The other surviving city gate - the Burgtor, built in 1444, and attached Customs House.





The inside of the Niederegger Marzipan Shop - the company was founded in 1806. Marzipan is Lubeck's most famous contribution to gatronomy. I know someone else from AFF has been in this shop and the attached cafe, but who was it?

 

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We the drove about 20 km to Travemunde on the Baltic Sea - at the mouth of the Trave River.

The children in Germany wear some unusual beachwear. To be fair there was a pretty impressive chill factor in the sea breeze













The 'Passat' is a 6,100 ton 4 masted steel barque built in 1911 and is now a Museum Ship. It was one of the, once famous, "Flying P-Liners ". For many years it did the 'nitrate' run to and from Chile around Cape Horn. It rounded Cape Horn 39 times. (When we get to Bremerhaven I will show you an amazing record of the voyage of one of these "P Liners"). In the 1930's it was on the wheat run from Spencer Gulf in South Australia. It participated in the last "Great Grain Race" in 1949 from Port Victoria, South Australia to Europe. It sailed as a cargo ship until 1957.

 

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The next day we went East to Stralsund - yet another Hanseatic League city.

The Old Market Square with St Nicholas' Church - dedicated in 1279 - in the background



Stralsund City Hall - constructed between 1300 - 1310



The North - South Passage inside the City Hall



Around the streets. You can see the similarity in architectural style in Wismar, Lubeck & Stralsund





Once again there was smoked fish for sale in the harbour.



And here are the fish in the smoker



Another museum ship - the Gorch Fock I launched as a training ship for the German Navy in 1933

 

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We started our journey southward by heading to Bremen.

The Old Town Hall constructed 1405 - 1409. It is on the World Heritage List and It is the only late medieval town hall in Europe that has never been destroyed



The Upper Hall. The model ships hanging from the ceiling represent the cities Hanseatic heritage. The oldest one was built in 1543.



Bremen Marketplace







Statue of Roland in the Marketplace. Erected in the 15th Century



The Haus Schütting - initially served the city's merchants and tradesmen as a guild house. It was built in 15398/39 and has been much modified over the centuries.



The Bremen Town Musicians - as per the story by the brothers Grimm are commemorated around the city centre. We bought some stuffed toys etc of these animals and we gave them to our granddaughter when she was born in 2013.





Bremen Cathedral parts of it date back to the 11th C.

 

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Bremen Cont:

The Schnoor Quarter. The oldest, medieval, part of Bremen. It originally developed as an area for fishermen in the 10th C. It is now very much a tourist site.





The Böttcherstraße - "Only about 100 m (330 ft) long, it is famous for its unusual architecture. The street and its buildings are a rare example of an architectural ensemble belonging to a variant of the expressionist style.". It was mostly built between 1922 and 1931.

The relief - " paid tribute to Hitler as the "Bringer of Light" on a relief at the entrance, the Führer rejected this variant of völkisch art in a Reichsparteitag speech on 10 September 1936, in which he dismissively referred to Böttcherstraßenkunst ("Böttcherstraße art")."





Glockenspiel House - which, surprisingly enough, contains a glockenspiel that puts on quite a show.



This plaque in the street commemorates the 1937 non stop flight to New York by a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor. "It was the first heavier-than-air craft to fly nonstop between Berlin and New York City (c.4000 miles)" Though designed as a long range airliner it became an anti-shipping bomber during WW2/



The old waterfront areas of Bremen are becoming very gentrified.

 

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The next day we went to Bremerhaven where we spent most of our time at the German Maritime Museum in the Old Harbour. There is a large museum building and outside displays as well as floating museum ships. If you are ever in this area it really is a must see.

There is a restaurant on the ship in the foreground of this photo where we had lunch.



Lunch below decks. It was very nice and pretty reasonably priced. This is one of the few photos I took of any of our meals - not normally done by me in those days. I am pretty sure we are both drinking Apfelsaftschorle



Another floating exhibit - the last genuine Type XX1 U-Boat. If they had become operational in number during WW2 they would have posed a serious threat. You can see how the sleek shape is very different to earlier types of submarines and therefore very much faster underwater.



Details of the vessel



From the bow



The conning tower



Inside - even though this submarine is apparently pretty spacious compare to earlier ones it is still pretty claustophobic and awkard climbing through water proof hatches.

The Business end



Looking down the companionway



Hatchway



An idea of the cramped space inside

 

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Submarine Cont.

Captains cabin



Crew Cabin



Crew mess



Engine room



Battery Packs



Control STation

 

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We then went to the huge main building. I dragged my wife around there for over three hours until she was exhausted. Having worked at Fremantle for over 20 years I have a love of ships.

The seafront with the Maritime Museum in the rright foreground. The tall building in the distance houses the Atlantic Hotel.



To finish off the submarine theme a 'Seahund' Midget Submarine of WW2. Not a very successful effort as 138 were active 35 were lost and only 9 merchant ships were sunk.



In my photos of Travemunde I mentioned about about a rather amazing voyage by one of these P-Liners. I was off-track a bit. The ship wasn't a P-Liner but it was another German steel hulled, fully rigged ship launched in 1892. It was the 'Susanna' and in 1905 it took 99 days to round Cape Horn. And, of these 99 days 80 were while in storm conditions. All you Antarctica visitors who have crossed Drake's Passage probably preferred your trip to this one.

A record of the ships position day-by-day.



A photo of the fearless crew



Some of the exhibits







In the background is an 1881 paddle-steamer that use to operate on the Elbe River around Dresden



This is the remains of a lifeboat off the former 'Flying P-Liner' vessel 'Pamir' which, while still carrying cargo, sunk - "On 21 September 1957, she was caught in Hurricane Carrie and sank off the Azores, with only six survivors rescued after an extensive search." This marked the end of large cargo carrying sailing ships.



You could also have some fun by pretending to be the master of these remote controlled vessels.