Fotoeins Fotografie

25T43 Out and about in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg

E42, B37.

… and, technically, juuuuust inside Friedrichshain …

Red socialism likes `em big: this one is for Ernst Thälmann. As one surviving remnant from the DDR-KPD, the 1980s design by L.Y. Kerbel is a stylized socialist monument, which represents Communist ideals as “powerful, victorious, and surpassing the scale of humans.”

*“Die Rebellion ist gerechtfertigt.” (The revolt is justified.*)

*“If I knew the world ended tomorrow, I’d still plant an apple tree today.” Wall mural by herakut for Urban Nation One Wall, 2015.*

*“Tor zum Prenzlauer Berg” (The Gate at Prenzlauer Berg), by H. von der Goltz, 1999.*

*“Attack of the 50 Foot Socialite”, by Tristan Eaton, for Urban Nation One Wall 2014. This is Eaton’s interpretation of the 1958 movie “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman”.*

*Märchenbrunnen (Fairy Tale Fountain), completed in 1913, and surrounded by sculptures of characters from Grimms’ collection of fairy tales.*

*Schneewittchen (Snow White). On her lap is a dwarf who has spectacles. Does he have a beard, or is that a lace collar around his neck?*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 19 June 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T42 The view at Berlin Westkreuz

E41, B36.

In addition to Berlin’s central station (Hauptbahnhof) for local traffic and connections, there are 4 additional important junctions for travel in and around the city for both resident and visitor: Gesundbrunnen (a.k.a., Nordkreuz), Ostkreuz, Südkreuz, and Westkreuz: one for each cardinal direction.

On my way back into Berlin having spent the afternoon in Stahnsdorf (south of Wannsee), I transferred at Westkreuz for a Ringbahn circle-line train. During the ten-minute wait, I kept my eyes wide open.

Late-day light, facing west to the Radio Tower and the International Congress Center. Next to the tower, there appears to be a bright blob in the same horizontal line as the low-altitude Sun (behind the trees).

*The colourful blob is a “sun dog” with rainbow colours. Ice crystals in high-altitude cirrus clouds act like prisms, refracting light from red to blue.*

*Berlin Ringbahn (Circle Route): S41 clockwise, S42 counterclockwise. Each station is listed with travel time from Westkreuz and connections to other U- and S-Bahn trains.*

*Kundenbetreuerin in der S-Bahn / S-Bahn customer service representative*.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 18 June 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T41 Wall art near Berlin Charlottenburg station

E40, B35.

“Göttin” (Goddess), by AlfAlfA, a.k.a. Nicolás Sánchez, for One Wall 2017.
“See me”, by herakut 2019.

*Southeast corner of Mommsenstrasse and Lewishamstrasse: the artwork by AlfAlfA takes up six floors of the building.*

*The sceptre in her right hand is in the shape of Berlin’s Fernsehturm (TV Tower). Her face reminds me of European and indigenous heritage, and dare I say, Vulcan? 🤨*

*“See me? My life matters … let’s imagine a world in which every being is protected.” This is the east-facing wall of the Seniorenpflege Birkholz Seniors’ Care facility.*

*Adjacent north-facing wall: “Stell dir vor, wir alle könnten in Würde leben und altern” (imagine if we could all live and age with dignity.)*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 17 June 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T40 30 years to draping Berlin’s Reichstag

E39, B34.

In 1995, I had just moved from Vancouver to Toronto for postgrad studies. I knew little of the world, and even less of the natural world into which I threw myself.

In 1995, Berlin had seen some big changes over the years. Yes, this is a deliberate understatement: 2 World Wars, an economic crash in between, a Cold War complete with partition of the city within the first 60 years. In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell; a year later in 1990, the two Germanys reunified into a single nation.

In 1995, the iconic legislature building, the Reichstag, was completely enveloped in white shiny fabric: this was “Wrapped Reichstag” by Christo & Jeanne-Claude. Their enormous artwork set talking heads in both cultural and political arenas on fire in Berlin and around the world.

It’s 2025, and over 14 nights in June, a light-display every evening on the Reichstag building commemorates the 1995 “wrap”. The free show runs every 20-minutes between 930pm and 1am, from 9 June to 20 June inclusive.

*0.5x magnification, with room in the plaza below.*

Added in 1916, the inscription at the front of the legislature building is “to the German people.” The design and font were made by renowned city architect Peter Behrens; the bronze letters were made from 2 French cannons captured during the Napoleonic Wars of 1813-15.

2.5-minutes: “covering” the Reichstag with light.

1-minute: the “draping” comes down.

I made all media above with an iPhone15 on 16 June 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T39 Berlin Wall memorial to Günter Litfin

E38, B33.

The Gedenkstätte Günter Litfin consists of a former watchtower where Kieler Straße meets the Berlin-Spandau canal.

In 1961, 24-year old Günter Litfin lived in East Berlin, but worked in West Berlin. When a new wall went up on 13 August between the two Berlins, he chose to escape. But in the East, leaving was no longer an option, because new guards posted at the more-secure border had new orders: anyone trying to escape would be shot on sight without warning. On 24 August, Litfin attempted to swim across the canal from east to west, but died from gunshot wounds.

Günter Litfin is known as the 2nd person to die at the Berlin Wall, and the first victim shot dead by East German border guards.

Thanks to the efforts of his younger brother, a memorial was established by 1992 in a former East German watchtower near the location where Günter Litfin made his ill-fated escape attempt. The memorial is now managed by the Stiftung Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Foundation).

The Gedenkstätte Günter Litfin is free of charge, and open only on weekends (May-October) from 11am to 5pm. The nearest bus stops are Bundeswehrkrankenhaus (bus route 120) and Lydia-Rabinowitsch-Strasse (bus route 147).

*The west end of Kieler Straße, where an East German watchtower is surrounded by apartment buildings. The signs also show that this is part of the Berliner Mauerweg (Berlin Wall Path).*

Memorial to Günter Litfin. First person shot on 24 August 1961 – Humboldthafen/in Berlin Mitte – And to all victims of the Berlin Wall from 13 August 1961 to November 1989.
“If we forget history, it catches up with us.”

*Present-day northwest view (through protective mesh) of the Berlin-Spandau ship canal.*

In this old map with north up, the dark thick solid line represents the border between West Berlin (left) and East Berlin (right). At bottom is the old Lehrter train station (now Hauptbahnhof), and at top is Kieler Straße, at the location of the former watchtower. Note that the water in the canal was also East German territory.

*Fully covered in German, English, French, & Russian.*

*Günter Litfin, 24, shot and killed for “illegal border crossing”.*

*From “West Berlin” on the other side of the canal. The former watchtower is at centre-right.*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 15 June 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.