The postcard from c.1910 shows on the left part of the old Berlin Palace, the main residence of the royal house of Hohenzollern, which was famously detonated in 1950 with the aid of 19 tonnes of high explosive, having been declared a symbol of Prussian militarism by the East German government.
The image from 2020 shows part of the 600+ million Euro reconstruction.
On the right is the “Hotel König von Portugal”, dating from the end of the 17th century, it unfortunately sustained heavy damage during WWII, the result of allied bombing, as did much of the surrounding area and was unable to be rebuilt.
The area is now part of the Nikolaiviertel, a DDR prefabricated concrete reconstruction of late-medieval Berlin, which on completion became derisively known as “Honeker’s Disneyland”.
The Berlin Cathedral in the background also suffered substantial damage during the war and was later rebuilt, which accounts for the altered appearance between the images.
- Frobenstraße Bridge
- Lietzensee Park
- Gendarmenmarkt 1951
- Goethe-Schule-Wilmersdorf
- Berlin Cathedral
- St. Hedwig’s Cathedral
- Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in the Hasenheide
- Brandenburg Gate, 1951
- Charlottenburg Palace
- Stadtpark Schöneberg
- Straße des 17 Juni
- The Brandenburg Gate
- Berlin Cathedral
- Bülowstraße
- The Altes Museum
- Palace Bridge
- Old Fritz
- The Gendarmenmarkt
- The Bode Museum
- The Anhalter Bridge
© Andrew James Kirkwood – 2024