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Tuesday 31 January 2012

Golden Gate


This is definitely the most common landmark in Germany, mainly because of the history behind it. It is located in Parisier Platz, replacing one of the former entrances to Berlin (specifically, the road to the town of Brandenburg an der Havel, which gave the name to the building). Nowadays, it is considered a memorial for Europe’s sad history but also its later unity and peace.

It is very nice to see at night, since it is less crowded and the lights make it golden. The boulevard starting right in front of it is Unter den Linden, famous for being one of the largest. This long avenue goes from Parisier Platz until Museuminsel, a piece of land between the Spree river where five internationally important museums gather: Bode-, Altes-, Neues-, Pergamonmuseum and the Altes Nationalgallerie. Along the boulevard, you can find other buildings as important as those, such as the Berliner Dom, Deutsches Historisches Museum or the Stadtschloss.

On the west side of the gate, Tiergarten park spreads over 210ha being the third biggest urban park in the country. Right before getting into the park, the "Reichstag" rises up, an interesting building which I have fully dedicated another post.

Home to the Bundestag


As I have already introduced in a past post about the Brandenburger Tor and its surroundings, the west side of the commemorative building leads you to one of the biggest urban parks in Germany, named Tiergarten.

Right before getting into the park, the Reichstag building rises up, another spot full of history. It used to be home of the German Empire, but it soon got ruined after fires and wars - specially during the II World War. When Germany was divided (1933-1990), the parliament of the German Democratic Republic (communist Germany) met in the "Palast der Republik" in East Berlin, while the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany met in the "Bundeshaus" in Bonn - federal city which was the former capital of the democratic Germany from 1949 until its reunification in 1990. Once Germany got reunified again, the German Parliament met back in the Reichstag, being called Bundestag from then onwards.

It is possible to visit the inside for free – which I highly recommend, specially getting to the rooftop of the glass dome while enjoying the views over Berlin. The dome has been provided with a circular ramp around the glass structure on the pic above that will take you to the top meanwhile offering information, pictures and old documentation about its past. The purple seats point out the main chamber where the legislative issues are debated.