Berliner Dom (Dom zu Berlin)

The Berliner Dom or Berlin Cathedral was built in 1905. It is located on the historic 'Museum Island' in the river Spree. The first church built on the site of the current Cathedral was a 1465 church. The building, which later served as the court church for the Hohenzollern family was replaced by a cathedral, built between 1745 and 1747 in a Baroque design from Johann Boumann. It was reconstructed into a classicist building from 1816 to 1822 following a design by the Berlin architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel.
On Emperor Willem II's order, this domed building was demolished in 1894 and replaced by the current Cathedral. Much larger than any of the previous buildings, it was a Protestant counterweight to the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
The baroque building with Italian Renaissance influences was designed by Julius Raschdorff. Construction of the 114m long and 73m wide Cathedral took place between 1894 and 1905.
During the Second World War, the building was hit by a fire bomb which severely damaged much of the Cathedral. A temporary roof was installed to protect what remained of the interior and in 1975 reconstruction of the church started.
The restoration of the interior begun in 1984 and in 1993 the church reopened. During reconstruction, the original design was modified into a more simplified
form.
The Dom can be visited daily. Some interesting items in the richly decorated interior of the church are the magnificent Sauer's Organ, the 1530 Elector's tomb, the neo-baroque pulpit and the stained glasses designed by Anton von Werner. The main altar, which was saved from the previous cathedral dates from 1850. For a 360° view of the Berliner Dom's interior, have a look at http://www.berliner-dom.de.

Also see the collection of the photos taken by me.

Berlin, a tale of two cities

As you may have guessed, I am in Berlin. Having spent yesterday walking around its eastern part, I almost felt sorry for the East Germans, who had such a bad luck - to be bombed, raped and killed in 1945, and then dominated and humiliated until 1989. There are very, very few advantages in having a city razed to the ground after prolonged airstrikes and ground battles. The chance to build something new and spectacular is one of those advantages. Unfortunately, Stalin's architects had very few concerns about the local colorite, history or esthetic judgment. The end result is such a depressing hodge podge of fake barocco and echt socialist realism that it must be preserved for the generations to come as a certain chic kitsch, now even more so chic with the Ostalgie in its full swing.
I have no idea how one can be happy in Berlin. Of course, there are bars and drugs and sex and vivid night life somewhere behind the closed doors, there are hip places, Russian boutiques, Turkish Döners and Thai take-outs. But it is not a pedestrian city. Even the eastern part of it, presumably built for the car-less proletariat, is not designed for walking - the distances are stupendous, open spaces vast and windy. It is a lot like Rome, though Rome was built without any plan. Berlin was built with a plan, but the plan was not about the city or its architecture, it was all about the domination and dependency. It ended up sterile, dispersed and bland.
The western part of course is just like anz other American city, endless malls, stores, McDonalds, Starbucks and Sales signs (reduziert, noch ein mal reduziert, besser preise, % % %). What was better, the Soviet or American occupation? It is a lot like a question, which is better to die - by hanging or electrocution?