Hotel Adlon
by alancollins
The Hotel Adlon is one of the famous hotels of the world. Used by heads of state and the famous, mentioned in books. Located close to the Brandenburg Gate on Unter den Linden. The first Hotel was built on the site in 1907 and kept its doors open during both world wars. It survived the allied bombing of WW2 only to end up with the main building being burnt done by a fire started by marauding soviet soldiers visiting the wine cellar. The parts that survived became run down and eventually the buildings were demolished in 1984. After reunification a new Hotel Adlon was built on the site and complete in 1997. For a hotel it must have one of the best locations in Berlin close to the main sights.
Trashy slogans
by Nemorino
Photos:
1. ... what you can dispose of today.
2. We'll give your cigarette butt a home.
3. Wow! Wow!
Somebody at the Berlin Street Cleaning Company BSR is very creative about inventing slogans to be put on the streetside trash receptacles.
The one in the first photo is part of a saying that also exists in English: Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today -- but they changed the do to dispose of (=entsorgen).
"Wow! Wow!" (third photo) is what dogs say in Germany, unlike English speaking dogs that say "Bow Wow".
The rest of the text in the third photo reads: "Magnificent, the way you bagged the Business of your four-legged friend and disposed of it with us."
But my favorite slogan is one that I neglected to take a picture of: Corpus für alle delicti -- a play on words with the legal term corpus delicti, which is something that proves a crime has taken place, for instance a dead body. But on a trash bin it means a container (corpus) for things you want to get rid of.
On all the bins there is another line at the bottom that reads: So orange ist nur Berlin which means "Only Berlin is this orange" -- which at first I thought was just a joke since the bins are all painted green, but it turns out that all the BSR trucks are orange, their website is orange, their posters are orange and all their employees are dressed in orange.
Another one of their slogans looks and sounds almost like English: We kehr for you!
The German word kehr is pronounced like the English word care, but means "sweep". So the slogan means not only "We care for you" but also "We sweep for you."
French (Französische) Cemetery
by yooperprof
Some people might be surprised to learn that there's a French Cemetery in the heart of Berlin. These would be the same people surprised at the existence of a French Cathedral here, and at the fact that "French Street" is one of the major thoroughfares through the heart of old Berlin.
In the late 17th Century Berlin welcomed thousands of exiles from the harsh religious repression of Louis XIV of France. In fact, for a while, these Huguenots (French protestants) made up a fifth of Berlin's population.
It's fascinating to walk through the French cemetery and see all the French names on the tombstones. Many were important Berlin illuminaries. For example, Ludwig Devrient was a much loved actor in early 19th century Berlin. It was Devrient who was responsible for the naming of the region's favorite crisp wine, "sekt." One evening, as the Shakespearean actor dined at the fashionable "Lutter und Wegner" restaurant, he fell into a Shakespearean mode and demanded "sack" be brought to his table. (They brought him a riesling instead.) The misunderstanding and mispronunciation was widely imitated, and is still in use 190 years later.
And Lutter and Wegner are still serving "sekt" as well. Check out my review in the restaurant section.
Shop Berlin
by Cham about Ku-Damm (Kurfürstendamm)
Ku-damm is comparable to oxford street in london... it's basically the shopping centrale of berlin. You can find pretty much anything you need here. from hot chocolate to haute couture it's a great place to just come and browse and shop til you drop. Oh germans know how to make dessert and chocolate... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it all
Wintergarten
by aliante1981 about Wintergarten
One of the best known variety theatres in Europe, where mimes, circus artists and conjurers are featured every evening at 20 sharp. You can also see the shows on Saturday at 23:45 and on Sundays at 15:30. Consider evening dress for the (naturally!) evening shows.
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Bustenhalters
3. Trains to Life, but only for the children
A view of the Reichstag
Victory Column
