East Berlin – After the erection of the Berlin Wall 13 of August 1961 East Berlin became part of the communist backwater of Europe. However, East Berlin was not and is not a desert, nor a miserable imitation of West Berlin. To a large extent, eastern Berlin is Berlin, the historic center of the city lies there, unlike West Berlin, which is essentially a community of suburbs without a true center. There are many cultural treasures in East Berlin, including the architectural heritage of Karl Friedrich Schinkel and most of the old museums. But East Berlin doesn't just live in the past. It is a modern city, the development of which in the years of division ran differently from its Western counterpart. After war, when American aid poured into West Berlin, East Berliners watched, how the Soviets dismantle virtually everything and ship it eastward, what might have some use. Nevertheless, they managed to rebuild the completely devastated city and retain much of its historical identity, and many East Berliners justifiably feel proud of it.
Under the linden trees
Under the linden trees, was the main artery of imperial Berlin, the extension of which in the western part of the city is the Strasse des 17 June. The avenue comes to the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburg Gate). To the right (looking from the Gate) there is a massive building of the Soviet Embassy, and a few hundred meters above the junction with Friedrichstrasse rises the statue of Frederick the Great on horseback, of an enlightened despot, which laid the foundations of the Prussian state. The monument is a bridgehead of a district teeming with nineteenth-century monuments, newly erected from post-war rubble during the last forty years. Humboldt University is on the left side of the street, restrained, a distinguished neoclassical building z 1748 year, originally intended for a royal palace. Philologist, writer and diplomat Wilhelm Humboldt founded the village of 1809 year of school, which later became the University of Berlin, a w 1946 year it was named after its founder. On both sides of the entrance gate there are statues of William and his brother Alexander, famous traveler in South America.
The Bebelplatz is directly opposite the university, hereinafter Opernplatz, on which 11 house 1933 the year the infamous Buchverbrennung took place, burning books inconsistent with the Nazi ideology. Thousands of volumes went up in smoke, including works by such "non-German" authors as Erich Maria Remarque, Tomasz man, Henryk man, Stefan Zweig and Erich Kastner, as well as books by many foreign writers. The most accurate comment in the previous century was accidentally made by Heinrich Heine: "Where the books are burning, there will eventually be people burning ".
On the west side of Bebelplatz rises the Alte Bibliothek, old library building commonly known as Kommode, whose wavy facade was perfectly restored and where Lenin spent his days reading the books, waiting for the revolutionary moods to settle in Russia. The Deutsche Staatsoper building rises on the north side of the square, another excellent work of neoclassicism from the 18th century, designed by Georg von Knobbelsdorff, a po 1945 year, so does everything else in this area, almost completely rebuilt. Today, excellent opera performances are held here, especially the Ring of the Nibeluns cycle, and sometimes also classical music concerts (ticket office • 207-1362; ticket prices 3-5 M). At the rear rises the Cathedral of St.. Jadwiga (St. Hedwig's Cathedral) built for the Catholic minority in 1747 year and is still open today. It is believed, that it was designed by Knobbelsdorff according to the "instructions" of Frederick the Great himself, which Catholics did not like, who had to pay for the construction, as the structure in the shape of the Pantheon is not best suited to the requirements of the Catholic liturgy. The Palais Unter den Linden rises next to the opera house, which was built in 1663 year, a w 1732 year, the baroque reconstruction was carried out. The Operncafe is now located in one of the palace's wings, kitschy bar-restaurant-disco.
Tuż za Palace on Unter den Linden, there is the Schinkel Museum. (Schinkel Museum at the Werderscher Markt), devoted to the life and work of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, architect, which gave nineteenth-century Berlin its characteristic neoclassical stamp. As dictated by decency, the museum is located in a building designed by him, Friedrich Werder Church, a design that is much more phlegmatic and toned down, than Schinkel's earlier work. Opposite the Operncafe is one of the most famous buildings designed by this architect. New Guardhouse (New guard) built between 1816-1818, as a kind of neoclassical outpost for the royal guard.