Berlin – Spandau
The name Spandau immediately brings to mind the most famous - and in later years the only - prisoner of this facility. Rudolfa Hessa. Hess, who for some time was the deputy head of the Nazi party, in 1941 he flew to Scotland, to negotiate for peace with King George VI and conclude an Anglo-German alliance against the Soviet Union. This is the official version, anyway, but the whole Hess story sounds suspicious. There is no good reason, for which Hess, who was immediately arrested and detained, until the Nuremberg trial, would take on this mission; otherwise it came to light, that a man serving a prison sentence, until the suicide of v 1987 year, it wasn't Hess at all (doctor, who carried out the post-mortem examination, he found no signs of severe wounds, which Hess received during the First World War). Perhaps in the next few years, the truth will be revealed…
However, the link between Hess and Spandau himself is negligible. Layed 4 km from Berlin at Wilhemstrasse the prison was later demolished and today people come here mainly for this, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, take a walk along the lanes of Spandau, which make the impression of streets in a small town and visit the citadel (wt.-pt. 9.00-17.00, under. i nd. 10.00-17.00; 1.50 DM, students 0.50 DM), fort founded in the 12th century to defend the city. From the outside, this moated fort with brown walls built by an Italian architect during the Renaissance looks surprisingly charming. It's worth going inside, although it is not an unforgettable experience. There is also a small museum in the prison, dear petty bourgeois restaurant and Juliusturm, from which there is a nice view of the surrounding area and the ruins of the interior of the citadel. City of Spandau (ten minutes on foot) it does not deserve more attention. The area around the church is the most interesting, where you can find a nice Konditorei patisserie, a modern square with witty carvings and a recently restored street called Kolk (turn right on Am Juliusturm opposite B rei te Strasse). The fastest way to get to Spandau is by taking the metro line # 7 to Zitadelle station or to Altstadt Spandau and back to Zitadelle.