Page 108 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

106  BERLIN AREA B Y AREA FUR THER AFIELD  107

infiltrating its own community hugely popular spot for cycling
were without equal in the and kite-flying. Part of the main
Eastern block. building has been used to
Since 1990 one of the house refugees since 2016.
buildings has housed a museum
that displays photographs and
documents depicting the a Viktoriapark
activities of the Stasi.  Platz der Luftbrücke. @ 104, 140.
Refurbished in 2016, the three­
floor exhibition documents the This rambling park, with several
Fragment of Socialist Realist decoration from Karl-Marx-Allee genesis, evolution and activities artificial waterfalls, short trails
of the Stasi. Exhibits include and a small hill, was designed
t Karl-Marx-Allee built in 1938. In May 1945, the miniature cameras and bugging by Hermann Mächtig and built
occupy ing Russian authorities devices. You can also walk between 1884 and 1894. The
Map 5 F1.  Strausberger Platz or
Weberwiese. created a special transit camp around the office of infamous Neo-Gothic Memorial to the
here, in which they interned war Stasi chief Erich Mielke. Wars of Liberation at the summit
The section of Karl­Marx­Allee criminals and anyone under of the hill is the work of Karl
between Strausberger Platz and political suspicion. From 1946 A reconstructed drawing room from 1548 in the Kunstgewerbemuseum Friedrich Schinkel and was
Frankfurter Tor is effectively a the build ings were refashioned i Köpenick constructed between 1817
huge open­air museum of into the custody area for the  Spindlersfeld, then @ 167 or Baroque palace, built between 1949, it stands on the grave of and 1821. The monument
Socialist Realist architecture. The KGB; in 1951, it was given over  Köpenick, then @ 164, 167. 1677 and 1681 for the heir to 5,000 Soviet soldiers killed in the commem orates the Prussian
route to the east was named to the Stasi, who turned the v 27, 60, 61, 62, 68. Kunstgewerbe­ the throne Friedrich (later King battle for Berlin in 1945. The victory against Napoleon’s army
Stalinallee in 1949 and chosen cellars into the “submarine” – a museum: Schloß Köpenick, Friedrich I), to a design by gateway leading to the mauso- in the Wars of Liberation. The
as the site for the showpiece of series of cells without daylight. Schloßinsel. Tel (030) 6566 17 49. the Dutch architect Rutger leum is marked by a vast granite monument’s cast-iron tower is
the new German Democratic It was replaced by a new prison Open 10am–5pm Thu–Sun. van Langfield. In 2003, the sculpture of a grieving Russian well ornamented.
Republic. The ave nue was building in 1960. Kunstgewerbemuseum Motherland surrounded by In the niches of the lower sec-
widened to 90 m (300 ft) and, The prisoners’ cells and Köpenick is much older than (see p92) opened a suite of statues of Red Army soldiers. tion are 12 allegorical figures by
over the next ten years, huge interrogation rooms are on view, Berlin. In the 9th century AD, Renaissance and Baroque In the farthest part of the park Christian Daniel Rauch, Friedrich
residential tower blocks and a two of which have no windows this island contained a fortified rooms to the public in the is the oldest and largest public Tieck and Ludwig Wichmann.
row of shops were built. The and are lined with rubber. settlement known as Kopanica. Köpenick Palace. observatory in Germany, the Each figure sym bolizes a battle
designers, led by Hermann In about 1240 a castle was built Archenhold Sternwarte, built by and is linked to a historic figure
Henselmann, succeeded in on the island, around which a Friedrich Simon Archenhold for – either a military leader or a
combining three sets of u Forschungs- und town began to evolve. Crafts­ the Berlin industrial exhibition member of the royal family.
architectural guidelines. They Gedenkstätte men settled here and, after (Gewerbeausstellung) in 1896.
used the Soviet wedding cake Normannenstraße 1685, a large colony of Given a permanent site in 1909, it
style according to the precept: Huguenots also settled. was used by Albert Einstein for a s Rathaus
“nationalistic in form but (Stasi-Museum) In the 19th century Köpenick lecture on the Theory of Relativity Schöneberg
socialist in content”, and linked Ruschestraße 103 (Haus 1). Tel (030) recreated itself as an industrial in 1915. It is also home to the Schöneberg Town Hall
the whole work to Berlin’s own 553 68 54.  Magdalenenstraße. town. Despite wartime longest reflecting telescope in
traditions. Hence there are Open 10am–6pm Mon–Fri, devastation it has retained its the world (21 m or 70 ft), and a John-F-Kennedy-Platz.  Rathaus
motifs taken from famous Berlin 11am–6pm Sat–Sun. Closed 24 & 31 historic character and, though small planetarium. Schöneberg.
architects Schinkel and Gontard, Dec. & ∑ stasimuseum.de there are no longer any Beyond Treptower Park lies
as well as from the renowned 13th­century churches, it is another park, Plänterwald. The Schöneberg town hall is
Meissen porcelain. Under the German Demo cratic worth strolling around the old The huge and evocative Soviet War a gigantic building with an
The buildings on this street, Republic, this huge complex of town. By the old market square Memorial in Treptower Park imposing tower, which was built
renamed Karl­Marx­Allee in buildings at Ruschestraße and in the neighbouring streets, p Tempelhofer Feld between 1911 and 1914. From
1961, are now considered housed the Ministry of the modest houses have survived o Treptower Park Platz der Luftbrücke.  Platz der 1948 to 1990 it was used as the
historic monuments. Interior. It was here that the that recall the 18th century, Archenhold-Sternwarte, Alt-Treptow. Luftbrücke. @ 104, 184. main town hall of West Berlin,
infamous Stasi (GDR secret alongside buildings from the  Treptower Park. @ 166, 167, 265. and it was outside here, on 26
service) had its headquarters. end of the 19th century. Archenhold Sternwarte: Tel (030) 536 Tempelhof was once Germany’s June 1963, that US President
y Gedenkstätte The Stasi’s “achievements” in At Alt Köpenick No. 21 is a 06 37 19. 8 compulsory; 2–4:30pm largest airport. Built in 1923, it is John F Kennedy gave his
Berlin-Hohen- vast brick town hall Wed–Sun. ∑ sdtp.de typical of Third Reich architecture. famous speech. More than
schönhausen built in the style of the The vast park in Treptow was Additions to the original structure 300,000 Berliners assembled to
were com pleted in 1939.
Brandenburg Neo­
hear the young president say
Genslerstraße 66. Tel (030) 9860 82 30. Renaissance. In 1906, laid out in the 1860s on the In 1951, a monument was “Ich bin ein Berliner” – “I am a
 Landsberger Allee, then v M5, M6. a famous swindle took initiative and design of Johann added in front of the airport. Berliner”, intended as an
@ 256. Open 9am–6pm daily. 8 place here and the Gustav Meyer. In 1919 it was Designed by Edward Ludwig, it expression of solidarity from the
English tour 10:30am, 12:30pm & event became the where revolutionaries Karl commemorates the airlifts of democratic world to a city
2:30pm daily. & inspiration for a Liebknecht, Wilhelm Pieck and the Berlin Blockade. The names defending its right to freedom.
popular comedy by Rosa Luxemburg assembled of those who lost their lives While Kennedy’s meaning
This museum was established in Carl Zuckmayer, The 150,000 striking workers. appear on the plinth. was undoubtedly clear, pedants
1995 within the former Stasi Captain from Köpenick. The park is best known for the Decommissioned as an airport have since pointed out that this
detention centre. The building Office of the infamous Stasi chief Erich Mielke at the Köpenick’s greatest colossal monument to the Red in 2000, it was turned into a could also be translated as “I am
was part of a huge complex Stasi Museum attraction is a three­storey Army. Built between 1946 and recreational park in 2008 and is a a jam doughnut”.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp492–3 and pp510–11

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