Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
tomes while waiting for the Russian Revolution, and, even though only the building's
facade survived the war, it has all been immaculately restored.
Frederick the Great statue
Just north of the Alte Bibliothek and in the middle of Unter den Linden is a
nineteenth-century statue of
Frederick the Great
by Christian Rauch, showing
Frederick astride a horse. Around the plinth, about a quarter of the size of the
monarch, are representations of his generals, mostly on foot and conferring animatedly.
After World War II, the statue of
Der alte Fritz
, as Frederick the Great is popularly
known, was removed from Unter den Linden and only restored to its city-centre site
in 1981 after a long exile in Potsdam. Its reinstalling reflected an odd revaluation by
Erich Honecker's GDR of the pre-socialist past: no longer were figures like Frederick
the Great, Blücher, Scharnhorst
et al to be reviled as imperialistic militarists, but were
to be accorded the status of historic figures worthy of commemoration. Even Bismarck,
the Iron Chancellor of Wilhelmine Germany, was recognized as having “in his
Junker
way played a progressive historical role”.
Humboldt Universität
Over Unter Den Linden from the Frederick statue, the restrained Neoclassical
Humboldt Universität
was designed in tandem with the buildings around Bebelplatz
and built in 1748 as a palace for Frederick the Great's brother. In 1809 the philologist,
writer and diplomat Wilhelm Humboldt founded a school here that was to become the
University of Berlin, and later be renamed in his honour. Flanking the entrance gate
are statues of Wilhelm and his brother Alexander, famous for their exploration of
Central and South America. Wilhelm is contemplating the passing tra
c, book in
hand, and Alexander is sitting on a globe above a dedication to the “second discoverer
of Cuba” from the University of Havana. Humboldt Universität alumni include Karl
Marx, Friedrich Engels and Karl Liebknecht, the socialist leader and proclaimer of the
first German Republic who was murdered in 1919 (see p.251). he philologists Jacob
and Wilhelm Grimm (better known as the Brothers Grimm) and Albert Einstein are
some of the best-known former members of staff.
Staatsoper
Knobelsdorff's Neoclassical
Staatsoper
, on the east side of Bebelplatz, is among its
plainer buildings, though it represented the pinnacle of the architect's career and was
Berlin's first theatre. he building is best viewed from Unter den Linden, where an
imposing portico marks the main entrance. Just under two centuries after its
construction it became the first major building to fall victim to World War II bombing,
on the night of April 9-10, 1941. he Nazis restored it for its bicentenary in 1943, but
on February 3, 1945, it was gutted once again. Now, like virtually everything else in
the area, totally reconstructed, it is one of Berlin's leading opera houses (see p.219).
Sankt-Hedwigs-Kathedrale
Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm • Free •
W
hedwigs-kathedrale.de
Just behind the Staatsoper is another Knobelsdorff creation, the stylistically
incongruous
Sankt-Hedwigs-Kathedrale
, which was built as a place of worship for the
city's Catholic minority in 1747 and is still in use. According to popular legend it owes
its circular shape and domed profile to Frederick the Great's demand that it be built in
the form of an upturned teacup. his probably stems from the fact that the monarch
“advised” Knobelsdorff; in truth, the building's shape was inspired by the Pantheon in
Rome. Reduced to a shell on March 2, 1943, the cathedral was not reconstructed until
1963, a restoration that left it with a slightly altered dome and a modernized interior.
he
interior
, once you get past the hazy biblical reliefs of the entrance portico, is
perhaps the most unusual aspect of the whole building. he greatest feature of the
