Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
November Revolution of 1918, commemorated by a statue of a
Rote Matrose
or
“Red Sailor” at the cemetery entrance, reflecting the role played in the revolution
by Imperial navy sailors.
The Bunkerbergs
he
Grosser Bunkerberg
and
Kleiner Bunkerberg
are two artificial hills created when a
million cubic metres of rubble from bombed-out Berlin were dumped over the ruins
of a flak gun and control tower respectively. In between the two is a small, tree-shaded
lake, Sport und Erholungszentrum
(sports centre), and giant outdoor chess sets. Set on
a grassy slope a little to the east is a
Polish Resistance Monument
commemorating the
joint fight of the Polish army and German resistance against the Nazis. Given the
feelings most Germans and Poles had for each other, the sentiments expressed seem
rather unconvincing.
St Georgen Cemetery
Opposite the westernmost corner of Volkspark Friedrichshain and on the other side
of Greifswalder Strasse lies the
St Georgen cemetery
, a venerable and overgrown affair
dating back to the early nineteenth century, with some elaborate tombstones and
vaults. Many of the memorials bear shrapnel and bullet scars, an indication of just
how intense the fighting during the Battle for Berlin must have been; even the city's
graveyards were fought for inch by inch.
Ernst-Thälmann-Park and around
At the northeastern end of Greifswalder Strasse is the
Ernst-Thälmann-Park
, a prime
example of former-GDR civic window-dressing. Here a model housing development
is set in a small park fronted by a gigantic marble sculpture of the head and clenched
fist of Ernst hälmann, the pre-1933 communist leader who was imprisoned and later
murdered by the Nazis. Floodlit and guarded around the clock by police in pre-
Wende
days, his likeness is now daubed with gra
ti, and the concrete terrace on which it
stands is favoured by local skateboarders. About four thousand people, mostly from
the ex-GDR elite, live here in high-rise buildings with restaurants, shops, nurseries
and a swimming pool all immediately at hand.
8
Zeiss-Grossplanetarium
Prenzlauer Allee 80 • Tues-Thurs 9am-noon & 2-4pm, Fri 9am-noon, 2-4pm & 4-9.30pm, Sat & Sun 2-9pm; show times vary -
call or check online • €5 •
T
030 421 84 50,
W
sdtb.de • S-Bahn Prenzlauer Allee
A massive silver golf-ball set back from bustling Prenzlauer Allee, the
Zeiss-
Grossplanetarium
was, when it was built in 1987, one of Europe's largest and
most modern stellar theatres, with a giant silver dome measuring 23m across.
Today its auditorium, with artificial projection of the starry skies into the roof,
is host to entertaining and impressive astronomical, film and music programmes.
he “Wonders of the Cosmos” astronomical show can be booked in advance in
English or Russian.
Flamensiedlung
Northeast of Prenzlauer Allee's distinctive, yellow-brick 1890s S-Bahn station -
one of the best-looking in the city - is the so-called
Flamensiedlung
(Flemish
Colony), a model housing development built between Sültstrasse and Sodtkestrasse
in 1929-30 according to plans by the architect Bruno Taut. With his associate
Franz Hillinger, Taut wanted to create mass housing that broke away from the
tenement-house concept. Basing their design on work already done in the
Netherlands, they diffused the angularity of their apartment blocks with corner
windows and balconies, and left open areas between them to create cheerful,
bright back yards.
