En passant…

Tags

Borghese, museum, Vatican

Today a friend who lives in Rome sent a little comment about his visit to the Villa Borghese. This famous museum only admits 80 persons per hour instead of the usual 300 person per hour due to Covid 19 concerns.

Given the size of the building it must be a delight to be in such a magnificent building with so few people and so much spectacular art work.

I remember walking in the gardens of the Villa Borghese, something I did many times given that we lived near by, I would go there just to relax and enjoy the greenery. The garden is the third largest in Rome, you can walk for hours all around it. The land was first acquired by the Borghese family in 1605, located on the ancient site of the Gardens of Lucullus, 60 BC, just outside the city walls built by Marcus Aurelius you can enter from the top of the Spanish Steps turning to the left or from Via Flaminia or at Porta Pinciana which was closest to my home. In Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, bought the land in 1605 it was mostly a vineyard and covered a large area slopping down the Pincian Hill towards the Porta del Popolo and Via Flaminia. Today the vineyard is gone but was replaced with formal gardens in the French Style by Cardinal Borghese and later in the 19th century an English romantic gardens with ancient ruins, lakes and fountains was created giving the place an atmosphere both peaceful and serene.

Such huge estates acquired by noble families were used mostly to escape the city in Summer and many had large villas or palaces built within, such homes all have the one architectural features which is a roof top terrace to catch the evening wind coming off the Mediterranean sea towards Rome. This feature we enjoyed while in Rome dining on our terrace watching the ballet of small bats amongst the Maritime Pines.

Villa Borghese in Italian refers to an Estate and not to a building per se. In fact Cardinal Scipione built the Galleria Borghese which looks like a large palace simply to house his art collection so he could sit in various grand rooms and admire the works of art while having lunch or entertaining friends with music or discussions, it was not meant to be lived in. He would spend a few hours at the Galleria and then return to his home in the City. The family left its mark on Rome, his uncle Pope Paul V Borghese’s name is inscribed in bronze letters above the main entrance of St-Peter’s Basilica, he commissioned Bernini to do many works of art and architecture to enhance St-Peter’s and the semi-circular colonnade of the famous Piazza.

One of the magnificent rooms of the Galleria, your eye is drawn to look everywhere at once, it can be overwhelming.

On the grounds of the Villa Borghese you can see other large buildings, built for the 1911 World Expo, one today is known as the British School of Rome, the other is the Galleria Nazionale D’Arte Moderna with works from the 19th to 20th century. Both are formal and grand buildings in the Beaux Arts style. The Silvano Toti Globe Theatre is a copy of the Globe of London and presents Shakespeare’s Plays in Italian.

I always enjoyed this park, it is formal and relates to the history of Rome from antiquity, the vistas are enchanting so much so that Ottorino Respighi was inspired to composed the music entitled The Pines of Rome and I can see why.  Though Rome surrounds the gardens nowadays, it is very peaceful and quiet once you enter it.

View of the lake and the temple to the God of Medicine, Asclepius

Formal entrance from Via Flaminia, the gates speak of the grandeur of the Borghese Family with their coat of Arms and the Griffon and Eagle. The gates are closed at night. The Villa Borghese since 1903 is a public garden maintained by the City of Rome. The Borghese Family continues to this day, with assets in cosmetics, real estate, and other business lines with properties in Italy and in the USA.

More urban planning

Tags

Germany, history, life, Potsdam, Renewal, Urban design

It was announced that on Wednesday 1 July Canada Day, Canadians will be allowed to travel to Europe for the first time since all international air travel for touristic purposes was stopped in mid-March. Already Air Canada and other airlines are flogging seats and tempting people with European vacations. On Friday the Confederation Bridge linking over 12 Km this Island to the mainland of Canada will also re-open for travel restricted to people living in the Maritime Provinces. People are already salivating for the opportunity to go to Moncton to shop at Costco, really people? You must be joking but hey so is life. A Costco run will cost $47. Canadian dollars to cross the fabled bridge and you can return same day the distance between Charlottetown and Moncton being only a total of 2 hours by car. I won’t be going, no Sir not me.

Continuing my interest in Urban renewal in Germany and in Russia, I have been following since the mid-1990’s the rebuilding of cities like Dresden and Potsdam, both heavily bombed by the Allies in the dying days of the Second World War. These old historical cities were targeted because of the art and culture centre they were. Dresden especially, being the old Capital of Saxony and a centre for porcelain Meissen and for the arts with its beautiful museum collections. Potsdam was known as the Secret Capital of Prussia, the Kings since 1701 lived in Potsdam and administered the Kingdom from this location. Berlin was the ceremonial Capital for Official Acts, receptions and the seat of Government and the Parliament. Think of Potsdam like we think of Windsor.

I first visited Potsdam which is 30 minutes by train from Berlin centre about 1997, the old market or Alt Markt was nothing more than ruins and craters full of weeds. Here and there a few University buildings built by the Communist regime in the brutalist style of the 1970’s and in the former gardens of the City Palace a 16 floor Hotel Mercure which was suppose to symbolize according to Socialist thinking modernity in the Communist State. The 3 Star Mercure chain in Europe and in other third world countries 63 in all, was then owned by France who used the brand to further French diplomacy and its agenda. Lobbies full of prostitutes often on government payroll and French wines. Marriott owns the chain today under Accor management.

The main attraction of Potsdam was the Royal Park with the palaces and other architectural gems. Sans Souci being the most important one and the Neues Palais being the other. Under Communism both had suffered from neglect and minimal maintenance and wholesale theft by the Red Army of 18th century fine furniture and works of Art.  Some of which was returned by the Russians after 1989. I was happy to visit Potsdam for its history and many sites but it would get better in the years after 2000.

What is interesting about any urban renewal scheme in former East German towns is the influence of former Communist politicians who sometime sit still on City Councils and will resist any move to renew cities and get rid of the old decrepit architecture and infrastructure built between 1950-1989. Given the constant lack of funds and building materials, buildings were quickly and cheaply built and decayed rapidly due to lack of maintenance.

Since 2000 the City Council in Potsdam has developed with private developers a plan to rebuilt the old Market Square (city centre) of Potsdam. The Square was before 1945 flanked by the St-Nicholas church, the City Hall, the Barberini Palace and the City Palace Residence of the King of Prussia. After the war only the City hall and the St-Nicholas church remained though is a ruined state. The other palaces had being bombed out of existence.

 Potsdam City Palace in 1945. It was rebuilt completely in the last 5 years and is now the Parliament of the State of Brandenburg.

Since 2000 a vast plan to re-build the historical streets, water canals of the city centre, historical bridges and churches is underway. The Finance Faculty of the University which was built in the 1960’s has been demolished and on this site the former buildings with historical facade will be rebuilt with modern interior for today’s use as businesses, apartments etc. Rebringing the baroque charm of Potsdam.

The City Palace today.

Across the street at the moment is a very large vacant lot where the Financial Faculty building was,  as of next year the area will be redeveloped with buildings along what was there previously.

This view shows 3 yellow squares of what was once the Faculty buildings, they were demolished a few years ago. The green dome is St-Nicholas church, the City Palace is in front. Behind the Palace is the Hotel Mercure with the former gardens of the Palace. It is hoped that this modern hotel will be demolished and the area returned to what it was once a garden space and parade grounds for the Grenadiers of the King.

Here are some views of the proposed new buildings in keeping with historical street scape.

More of the same idea has been developed in Dresden where the entire old city centre was rebuilt.

I remember the old Financial Faculty on this site and how ugly it was and out of place with the historical buildings. Though this kind of re-building may be seen by some critics as Disneyesque, the will and vision for the future is to allow Potsdam to re-claim its former baroque charm with its canals as the Venice of Prussia.

Here is a photo showing the entire area rebuild, green roof is the Palace, the colonnade connects the Palace to the former stables. By 2023 this should be done. The understanding being that though all buildings are historical renditions the inside are modern and adapted to the plans of each owner. It is very costly to rebuild in this fashion, many artisans and stone masons are required many of whom work on the nearly completed City Palace in Berlin and on many other sites in Germany.

If you wondered what the East German Finance Faculty looked like before it was demolished, here is a picture

No washing machine

Tags

art., beijing, Berlin, history, life, Rome, St-Petersburg

Our washing machine died with a clunk and a whine last Thursday, we were able to secure a new washing machine almost within one hour. The drawback delivery takes 7 days, oh my! So the clothing has been piling up as well as sheets and towels. We are really dependent on this machine, now we know. But the delivery will be made by Friday so patience and no panic.

I really miss good conversation with friends face to face and the laughs and gossip. Zoom is NOT the same thing.

Scaffolding coming down this week at the main gate portal of the City Palace. Friday is the capping off of the building which can be followed on webcam. Starting at 6 am Berlin time, weather permitting.

https://cam01.berlinerschloss-webcam.de

For the last few postings I have been writing about the City Palace in Berlin and its final phase of re-construction. You may have wondered why so much interest in this one building. In fact I have been following several other projects in Europe.

One such projects is Buckingham Palace in London, the Official Residence of the Queen. There is little info on what is going on, but it is a major refit of the place from plumbing to electrical system to cleaning and painting and general repairs. Rooms have been dismantled and furniture and paintings removed for safe keeping. The Queen left London because of the pandemic but also because her London Residence was under repair and not fit to live in due to all the noise and workmen etc… Windsor is her real home, private and comfy. She and her husband only live in a suite of rooms in one wing of the Castle and not in the entire place as you might see it from the outside, still it is pretty grand. Many other people live at Windsor in what is term Grace and Favour apartments. The Queen also has other relatives live in London at Kensington Palace and St-James Palace again in apartments, all are at the pleasure of Her Majesty.

Another project is the Alexander Palace built in 1793 in an Italian/Palladian style in Tsarkoye Selo outside St-Petersburg, the work is now reaching completion after many years of complete reconstruction of what was essentially a ruined building. The last private home of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children before their arrest and deportation in 1917. This has been a massive work of research and archeology, restoration of furniture, original fabrics, flooring, tiling, etc. all this made possible because of voluminous archives kept on the building. This site has a huge following in Russia and around the world.

The Roman Forum is another place I love to explore and read about, about 95 years ago it became the pet project of Benito Mussolini who poured financial resources and had the best academic work on unearthing this area of what was ancient Rome. To this day several Universities and team of archeologist work for years and sometimes a life time on one area. Even now with the building of the new Metro Line crossing the Forum under Via Dei Fori Imperiali more treasures are discovered. I had the good fortune to visit some of those sites being under study and excavation, it is a real marvel.

While in Beijing, I visited various sites around the former Imperial Capital, temples, palaces and the Forbidden City compound. I lived there about 3 years prior to the Olympics. The City itself was under massive construction and re-building. Entire neighbourhoods of 3 million people each would be vacated in a matter of 48 hours with the help of the Police and Army. The Temple of Heaven and the great park around it was a favourite site. The Communist Party with the increase in tourism re-discovered the roots of Chinese culture and its historical past. So recreation was the name of the game, unfortunately so much had been lost between 1967-1976 under Mao ills advised but politically convenient cultural revolution, that doing studies and repairing the damage proved difficult, so the repairs were done very quickly and often of poor quality. What really mattered to the Communist party was money from Western tourists and pushing a re-written history of China always glorifying the Party and the leadership.

In Jordan, I would visit just outside Amman about 35 km away the antic city of Jerash or Gerasa in the Bible. Built by the Romans and prospering as an important commercial link and military city, the Jordanian Government had archeologists work at restoring the extensive ruined city, its temples and theatres. There was a lot of archeological material artefacts just lying on the ground forgotten by time.

Istanbul and the Topkapi Palace grounds is also well worth exploring and how well preserve it is, including the treasury with its incredible amounts of precious stones. If you take a look in the once private areas you will discover a Polo Pavilion and grounds enjoyed by the Sultan, the entire place as a very Oriental feel. The Turkish people migrated from Central Asia one thousand years ago, keeping their Oriental culture.

I am endlessly fascinated by architecture, archeology and factual history. It has always been a hobby of mine.

More reconstruction

Tags

art., culture, Germany, history, Potsdam

As I have written previously I follow reconstruction projects in Europe of various gardens and palaces and churches mostly destroyed between 1939-1945. Army of artisans, fresco painters and stonemasons work on such projects for years to bring back to life beautiful buildings lost in the madness of war.

There are projects like la Chapelle Royale at Versailles which has been undergoing a complete reconstruction of its roof, no maintenance or work had been done since it was built in 1710. The design was presented to the king by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1699. It is fascinating to see the work done on the wood skeleton of the roof and on the slate tiles and decorative elements of the roof. The funding for such projects comes from the public, Friends associations and the Government.

Other projects one in London is the complete refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, plumbing, mechanical and electrical needs to be redone. This is paid for by the Queen and the Government. The Palace is largely used for ceremonial and representational purposes. For all intent and purposes the Queen lives at Windsor or on her Estate at Sandringham or Balmoral. Many family members live at Kensington Palace, the Heir Prince Charles lives on the Mall at Clarence House and others have apartments at St-James Palace. It should be remembered that the size of their living quarters depends entirely on the rank at Court, the larger the living quarters the more important you are. Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall have after the Queen the largest living quarters in London and several other homes across the UK.

Other projects I have been following for years are the refurbishment and reconstruction of the City Palace in Berlin (1445), The FrauenKirche (1726) in Dresden and the rebuilding of the historical centre of Dresden.

Potsdam city centre was destroyed in April 1945, 2 weeks before then end of the second World War. When I first saw Potsdam in 1998 the centre was still a field of ruins except for the Church of St-Nicholas which had been repaired by the Lutheran Church. A strange sight amongst empty fields in what was before 1944 a royal city. Potsdam is often called the secret capital of Germany. It was preferred by the rulers to Berlin, a Venice of the North with its beautiful Italianate buildings, parks and canals.

The City centre of Potsdam has been restored and so are the numerous palaces and parks. There is a sense of esthetics to recreate what was in the original.

Now in Potsdam the Garnison Kirche is being rebuilt.

The Garnison Church (full name: Court and Garnison Church Potsdam, German: Hof- und Garnisonkirche Potsdam) is a protestant Baroque church. It was a parish church of the Hohenzollern royal family until 1918. Originally built as a Calvinist church for Prussian monarchs, it became a United Protestant church with both Clavinist and Lutheran participation after the 1817.

The architect Philipp Gerlach was commissioned by king Friedrich Wilhelm I to build the church for members of the court and for the soldiers garrisoned in Potsdam. It was consecrated on August 17, 1732 and was soon well-attended by both the civilian and military communities. Friedrich Wilhelm I was buried at his request in the crypt of the church in 1740. In 1786 his son, Frederick the Great, was buried there, against his will. He is now buried at his palace of Sans Souci with his dogs as he wished.

Both Tsar Alexander I and Napoleon visited Frederick II’s grave. It was here that the first freely-elected Potsdam City Parliament met and the Lutheran and Reformed Churches celebrated their union. In 1933 Adolf Hitler used the church for his Day of Potsdam, and this is what caused the controversy to this day about this church.

The nave and bell tower were destroyed by fire during an air raid in the night from April 14 to April 15, 1945. Only the outside walls remained standing. In 1950 the Holy Cross Chapel was built within the cruciform walls of the bell tower. A new congregation met there for services until on a summer Sunday in 1968, the GDR head of state  Walter Ulbricht and his Communist government ignored widespread protests and ordered the remaining walls left standing to be torn down. In its place in 1971 an ugly Computing Center was built, now derelict

Since 2004 the Garnisonkirche belongs to the International Community of the Cross of Nails (founded in Dresden, Germany in February 1991).

In 2004 a group of citizens formed the Promotion Committee for the Reconstruction of the Garnison Church, a non-profit organization. In June 2008 followed the Garnisonkirche Potsdam foundation. Both organizations work together for the reconstruction of the Garnison church not only as a parish church for its citizens but also as a reminder that future German-European cooperation is possible and essential. In 2013 the German National Committee for Cultural and Media Affairs named the Garnison church Potsdam an important cultural monument and offered 12 million Euro towards the funding of its reconstruction. Reconstruction work began in 2017 with the aim to complete the tower first.

Photo from the German Federal Archives, 1928 the stables behind the Garnison church. Partial view of the side wall of the Garnison Church. Today only the facade we see here of the Stables remains.

The tower and its musical carillon are now under construction. The tower once completed will be 89 meters high or 292 feet. In the background of this 18 century painting, you can see the Royal City Palace rebuilt recently and now housing the Parliament of Brandenburg province.

Currently the base of the tower is progressing rapidly.  The building behind on the left known as the old computing building will be demolished. In the background the facade of the old Stables with its baroque architecture.

Artist rendition of the area with the park that once existed behind the church.

In a few years when the carillon at the top of the church tower in re-installed we will be able to hear this piece from the Magic Flute by Mozart which historically played in the old church.

 

 

City changes

Tags

humanity, life, London, photos, Travel, UK, urban

This photo taken in London just recently shows how the city is changing in terms of its architecture and urban design. The photo shows a cluster of tall modern towers next to the ancient Tower of London, it is utterly strange to me and not an image shown in tourism promotion. If those modern towers had been built across the river I would have said ok there is distance and perspective but in this case, no I do not like it at all.

Things in the future

Tags

art., Berlin, Germany, Humboldt Forum, James Simon

Today I got my certificate for bartending from the PEI Liquor Control Commission. Why on Earth would I want to do that? Well I thought it would be a practical thing to have, I do not intend to work in a bar but at the Club if we should have a last minute emergency then I could help out. I got a 90% success rate on my exam. Because of my family hotel background I have worked in Hotels in Europe and North America while I was still in school. It was a good thing to learn and my work experience has stayed with me all these years. Doing the exam was easy, a lot of the concepts I understood and knew, so this is just another feather in my cap.

So I have been surfing the net for pictures of another topic I have been watching for more than 20 years. That is the reconstruction of the City of Berlin, both the East and West sector of what was once a divided city. There are  several blogs both in German and in English on reconstruction in the German Capital.

It is interesting to read about the work of artists, stone masons, archivists, historians and politicians. Some very good photos are taken to show what is being done. Historical places are being re-born some 75 years after they were destroyed by war.

Many other cities in Germany have been through a re-birth since reunification in 1989. Dresden, Potsdam, Hamburg, Frankfurt, etc. In all cases armies of artisans are at work and the public not only in Germany but in the world give donations to help with the restoration efforts, the EU and the Federal Government of Germany are actively involved.

But while many historical buildings are being re-built, they are not returning to their old usage or made up to look like museums to life under the Hohenzollern Dynasty. In most cases the interior of such buildings are totally re-imagine to fit into our world today.  The Humboldt Forum will be housed in the newly re-built Imperial City Palace,  the outside is the original  Baroque architecture but the landscaping around it will be reflecting a modern urban green landscape, recently Honey Locust Trees measuring 5 meters have planted on the North Side of the Palace. The inside is ultra-modern and will be a museum to World civilization.  The Princesses Palais built in 1773 and destroyed in 1944 was rebuilt and is now called Palais Populaire. Again the outside is original Baroque reflecting the other building around it, but the inside will be presenting modern contemporary art. Many churches have also been rebuilt on the outside in the original style of the 18th century to reflect their history but the inside is modern to reflect what happened and what lesson to draw from destruction and war.  Few in Germany today wish to celebrate either the Bismarck era or the two disastrous world wars. Germany today looks forward with a progressive view of itself. Along Unter Den Linden, a palatial avenue with the Fredericanus Forum, which is an ensemble of buildings on the avenue  built at the time of the reign of Frederick II the Great, so every building has his imprint. The Zeughaus or Arsenal is a pinkish baroque building, now the German History Museum, the State Opera c.1742, recently renovated is also in that pink colour with baroque statues. Other palaces like the one occupied by Prince Henry, brother of Frederick II is the seat of the Humboldt University since 1810. So in many ways Berlin is not what people expect, it is a city of the Arts, music (techno is very popular) and Culture, parks, lakes and greenery.

So here goes:

The dome of the City Palace under completion, a little film about it explains that each sheet of copper some 1000 square meters of it  must be hammered into place, it should be completed in about a month. Then the great lantern will be brought by helicopter to be installed on top, that should be quite the feat of engineering given its size. The same was done in Dresden for the lantern of the FrauenKirche at 80 meters above ground.

One of the honey locust trees being re-planted on the North Side of the reconstructed City Palace now called Humboldt Forum slated to open in October 2020. Trees did grow in that area prior to 1939.

Immediately across the street is the Lutheran Cathedral and the Lust Garten and 5 museums. One new museum has opened in the last few months, the James Simon Museum dedicated to the collection of James Simon (1851-1932) who was a great benefactor to the Berlin Museums through his lavish donations. The famous Nefertiti bust was a gift from James Simon and is on display in the gallery amongst many precious objects he donated. His family were Jewish entrepreneurs in cotton and textiles. He was also an advisor to Kaiser Wilhelm II on art and archeology.

Many of the works of reconstruction or new buildings are the work of non-german architects like David Chipperfield, Franco Stella or Norman Foster. They bring a new modern view and an international spirit, a goal the Federal Government of Germany is pursuing.

The James Simon Gallery in front of the Neues Museum rebuilt and re-interpreted by David Chipperfield. This international spirit also extends to museum directors like Neil MacGregor Director of the Humboldt Forum formerly of the British Museum. He has recently retired and replaced by Hartmut Dorgerloh formerly of the Prussian Palaces and Garden Foundation.

I really like Berlin for all that it has to offer and for its atmosphere, a very dynamic city.

 

 

Dresden, Potsdam and other cities

Tags

Dresden, GDR, Germany, Potsdam

What is very interesting from an architectural point of view in Germany today and since re-unification in 1989 is the amount of reconstruction in various cities in what was once East Germany also known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR) under communist rule. From 1946 to 1989 the Communist government of the GDR did very little to preserve and protect historical monuments, palaces and the architecture of Germany prior to 1939. In many cases like the city of Leipzig in Saxony, where Bach spent most of his life working and where he is buried in the famous St-Thomas Church, the Communist authorities rebuilt the city in modern realist style and simply destroying buildings they did not like because they belonged to a part of history they simply wanted to erase.

Cities like Dresden the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony which was fire bombed by the Allies twice on 14 and 15 February 1945 and totally destroyed was not rebuilt but left in ruins, some modern buildings were built by the authorities but are ugly and soulless. Potsdam the Capital of Royal Prussia and the State of Brandenburg was equally re-modelled and rebuilt with little care for history. It is as if for the communists the past had no meaning or they had no past, only a future along a Soviet vision of the world.

We visited Dresden several times in the last 25 years and each time to our astonishment we saw more and more building resurrected, the Federal Government of Germany in an elaborate program sought to rebuild the historical past in an effort to reunify the country and its people and recreate a Germany dating to a time prior to the horrors of the Nazi dictatorship.

Here are some photos of Dresden taken in the last 12 months.

The old historical centre with its art museum and academy, we walked in this area along the river Elba.

On the left of the picture the 93 meter high dome of the Frauenkirchen (Lutheran Cathedral) and on the right the distinctive lemon grate glass dome of the Art academy with its gold leaf angel of victory.   All of these buildings had to be rebuilt in some case from scratch only rubble was left in 1945. The art collection in Dresden including the celebrated Meissen Porcelain collection is well worth the visit.

This famous panorama was painted by Canaletto in the 18th century

However inside the building you will find this look of undressed and stark reminder of the destruction of war. It is done deliberately so that people will not forget what was lost.

Some buildings were more protected from the war and the February 1945 fire bombing like the treasury rooms of the Royal Palace because the windows had steel shutters. But that was not the case for other buildings all around.

The rebuilding of the Old city of Dresden has been extensive and I often wonder if the memory of what happened is not somewhat erased by this re-birth of all the old buildings including the street scapes.

Dresden was the capital of the princely Wettin family who are relatives of the British royals, the family name Wettin was considered by the British government in 1917 when it was suggested to King George V that he change the German family name of Saxe-Cobourg Gotha to Wettin, in the end the name Windsor was chosen  to hide the german origins of the British royals. Dresden is also linked to the French King Louis XVI whose mother was Maria-Josepha of Saxony. Louis spoke fluent German something that is not widely known.

Potsdam which is a suburb of Berlin in Brandenburg was the royal capital of the Hohenzollern dynasty. The city had many canals and was extensively built by the Kings of Prussia in an elegant baroque and rococo Italianate style. A city of palaces and gardens but also of military monuments. Under King Frederick Wilhelm I, it became known for its garrison of soldiers, his son Frederick II the Great continued this tradition but also favoured the arts and progressive policies like general education for all and the abolition of the death penalty.

I visited Potsdan several times in the last 22 years. Currently the Garnison Church is being rebuilt with funds from the private sector and the Lutheran Church.

City Palace Potsdam rebuilt today as the seat of the Parliament of Brandenburg

The GarnisonKirche of Potsdam as it will look in a few years with its tower at 57 meters in height.

Potsdam has seen enormous rehabilitation work in the last 20 years and the old communist era buildings are being demolished and replaced by historical buildings brought back from oblivion. Including street scapes and gardens from the 18th century. Work that will require many more years to complete, employing an army of stone cutters, artists, painters, historians and archivists. In all cases voluminous archives of paintings and drawings, architectural design of the time and photography help in the re-building effort.

Berlin is another example of massive re-creation of the city as it was before 1930 and more along the lines of the 18th century in the age of enlightenment. Mixed in new modern buildings that blend in but also offer a contrast to the older architecture.

In the case of Berlin entire neighbourhoods and city squares have been rebuilt in what was the Eastern Sector of the City, in some cases street lighting of the 1920’s was re-created to replace the communist rusting lamplights made of aluminium. The wall is gone, don’t go look for it, and small touristic sections are left but are a poor reminder looking insignificant. In Berlin the City Council, the Government of Brandenburg and the Federal Government with the Parliament have all worked together to remake the image of Berlin as a unified city, dedicated to the ideals of the 18th and 19th century like the Humboldt brothers, Wilhelm and Alexander, proponents of Liberal Classicism ideals.