Travel adventures - BERLIN - Day 2

I guess you have already forgotten about our trip to Berlin, haven't you? It's been already one month since we've been there! Time is flying so fast! Today I will share my memories from this amazing city with you.

Our second day started with some rain. It didn't take long before we were able to leave the hotel and head to the famous Art Market in front of The German Historical Museum - 'Das Zeughaus'.

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The Zeughaus and The Art Market

We've heard that The Art Market is one of the most famous markets in the city, so we absolutely wanted to see it! On the way to the market we crossed a small bridge - 'Eiserne Brücke' with a few padlocks attached on the railing. Recently I've seen that in many cities. It looks like there is no space on Pont des Arts in Paris anymore 😊

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We were unfortunately not able to take any photos from the market as most of the sellers had a sign with 'no photo' on it. When you happen to be in Berlin you should go there as it's worth a visit. It's opened every Saturday and Sunday. You will find there art works by local and international designers made in Berlin. There are no second - hand items sold so it's not a flea market.

There were beautiful paintings, jewelry, wooden items, fashion pieces, sculptures, music instruments and many more. You can approach the artists directly and talk to them about the products.

Boulevard Under den Lindenwill takes you through the middle of the city and you will be able to visit numerous important buildings including The Zeughaus which is the oldest one there. In the past it used to be an arsenal for weapons and now it is used as The Historical Museum.

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The building is very easy to spot because of its light pink color. It was inspired by Versailles and the construction started in 1695. The building faced serious damage during the war and it was restored between 1949 and 1965.

There is also a small café to relax and get something to drink and eat.

The Neue Wache

Let's continue walking down the boulevard. The Neue Wache is located just a few meters away from the Zeughaus.

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The Neue Wache serves as the memorial for the victims of war and dictatorship. I have never seen so many memorials in any other city.

The memorial in its current form was opened in 1993.

It is a very touching, peaceful and powerful place at the same time. It is a big empty room with one sculpture in the middle. The sculpture is lit by an opening in the ceiling. As it is not covered, the sculpture is exposed to any kind of weather.

The sculpture is called Mother with her Dead Son and it was created by Käthe Kollwitz in 1937. It is also known as Pietà. It perfectly captures the tragedy of the loss of life caused by war and tyranny.

Today the underground room includes the remains of an unknown soldier, a resistance fighter and soil from battlefields and concentration camps.

Further down the boulevard we came across this open air Gypsy exhibition with some colorful illustrations and photos.

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It was not very big but still nice to see. It took us about ten minutes to walk around.

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Humboldt University

Next to the Gypsy exhibition is the famous Humboldt University.

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It was founded in 1810 and it's also know as Mother of all modern universities.

As its name says it was founded by liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt. What a name!

His statue is in front of the university and the statue of his brother Alexander is right outside of the complex.

Humboldt University is the oldest university in Berlin and it is considered one of the best and most prestigious universities in the world. It has students from all over the world. It has also been associated with over 50 Nobel Prize winners. What an achievement!

Albert Einstein was one of the most popular professors here and many famous people studied at this university including Karl Marx, Otto von Bismarck, Robert Schuman and many more. So much information today! 😊

Statue of Frederick the Great

This statue is in front of the Humboldt university and it is one of the few remaining equestrian statues in the city. Most of them were destroyed during the war.

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There were many cars and tourist buses, so I had to wait for a while to cross the road and get closer to the statue. I know I should use the pedestrian crosswalk but it was far away and I didn't want to waste my time 😊

Frederick II was king of Prussia between 1740 and 1786. He led many successful military actions and turned Prussia into a world power. This is how he deserved the title 'Frederick the Great'.

The construction of the statue began in 1839 and it was designed by Christian Daniel Rauch. The work was completed in 1851.

The bronze monument is 13.5 meters high. The king sits on top of his favorite horse and he wears his formal uniform. The pedestal includes a lot of details too.

It was such a cold, windy and rainy morning and by the time we finished our walk the sun came out and it turned out to be a very nice summer day.

On the way back to the metro we saw this building. We thought it is nice that they cover it with a printed fabric to show how it will look like after the reconstruction, isn't it?

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We were so wrong! Look at this! It's only the frame of the building that used to stand there. There is no construction work going on 😊

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Finally I've managed to capture a cyclist. There are so many of them in Berlin! I was feeling like in Amsterdam 😊

We wanted to get a bike too to save us a lot of effort but then we realized that we didn't know the city at all so how would we bike around? Not a good plan! We both enjoy walking so it was not such a big deal anyway.

I like my new 'tradition' of showing a photo of me taking a photo at the end of my posts. I'm sure you don't mind.

I hope you enjoyed another day with us in Berlin!

All pictures are taken by my Nikon D3200 AF-S NIKKOR 18-55 mm 1:3.5-5.6 G II (except of the ones indicated in the article).

Thank you for reading!

Cheers,
Martina

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