Fotoeins Fotografie

25T20 Berlin’s great physicists

E19, B14.

It’s channel 1: the national broadcaster ARD (*), known informally by many as “Das Erste” or “The First”. Their studios look grand, modern, and imposing, and hide a grand piece of history in physics.

Like most places of higher learning, they start modestly, and in Berlin’s case, the late-19th and early 20th-century at the University of Berlin (now: Humboldt University) burst at the seams with ideas flowing in the natural sciences and social sciences, at a time when the city itself welcomed openness and creativity.

Berlin is best known for its history, decades of extended trauma, its architecture, and a cultural centre with contemporary art and electronic music. I know Berlin as a place of world-changing science with renowned scientists, whose names massively stamped the last half of my undergraduate years.

(*) ARD: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland; translated as “Association of Public Broadcasting Corporations of the Federal Republic of Germany”. It’s something like Canada’s CBC, Australia’s ABC, or Great Britain’s BBC.

ARD Hauptstadtstudio

*ARD (national channel no.1) radio- & tv-studios at Wilhelmstrasse next to Marshallbrücke. On the right side (west-facing wall) is a memorial plaque near the back corner, hidden behind the tree.*

*Left panel: From 1996 to 1998, the building owner association SFB & WDR led construction of the Berlin radio- & television-studios for the broadcaster ARD.*

Right panel: Built for Hermann Helmholtz, the Physics Institute of the University of Berlin once stood at this spot from 1878 to 1945. Key physicists worked here, including James Franck, Gustav Hertz, Walther Nernst, Wilhelm Wien, Max Planck. In his institute lecture on 14 December 1900, Planck described the early principles of quantum theory.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

*“From 1914 to 1932, Albert Einstein worked here as a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.” State Library of Berlin is located at Unter den Linden 8.*

The Einstein plaque appears at left in this image, next to the doors of the former Prussian Academy of Sciences. On 4 November 1915, Einstein presents his “field equations” for general relativity in a lecture to the Academy.

Humboldt University

Max Planck, who discovered ‘h’ the elementary quantum of action, taught in this building from 1889 to 1928. This memorial plaque is on the outer wall of the main building’s west wing. Planck is also honoured with a memorial statue in the main building’s front courtyard. Today, a massive German network of research institutes is named in his honour as the Max Planck Gesellschaft; I had the great privilege of spending 2 years at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg.

In 1931, American physicist Millikan was invited to Berlin. In this incredible image of a dinner-gathering in Berlin on 12 November 1931, seated from left to right, respectively, are: Walther Ernst, 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Albert Einstein, 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics; Max Planck, 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics; Robert Millikan, 1923 Nobel Prize in Physics; and Max von Laue, 1914 Nobel Prize in Physics.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 27 May 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T19 Berlin’s own piece of the Commonwealth

E18, B13.

In Berlin’s Westend is a 4-hectare site on Heerstrasse that is administered by an international commission under the protection of the British Crown. To that end, the site is a little piece of the United Kingdom, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

The British 1939-1945 War Cemetery is managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) whose members are Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The cemetery is home to about 3600 burials, most of whom were aircrew killed in action over Germany in World War II. Of those buried, 75% are from the United Kingdom, but the next group are Canadians at 15%.

I’ve returned here on a warm overcast late-spring evening; feels different than my first visit here in late-November 2021 when the world slowly returned to travel and autumn prepared its cold continental grip. I’ve come back to re-engage with a Vancouver connection.

*Known also as “Britischer Soldatenfriedhof” (British Soldiers’ Cemetery), the location is 1.5 km (1 mi) from Olympic Stadium.*

*Stone of Remembrance: “Their name liveth for evermore.”*

*Q.J. Louie was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 420th “Snowy Owl” Squadron* 🇨🇦*. On an Allied bombing raid over northern Germany, their plane was shot down, killing 5 of the 7-man flight crew, including Q.J. Louie, who was a member of Vancouver’s Louie merchant family.*

“Per ardua ad astra – Flying Officer Q.J. Louie – Air Bomber – Royal Canadian Air Force – 16th January 1945”. The graves for the other 4 crew killed on the same mission are found along the same row 5G: A.K.Parker 🇬🇧*, W.J.D.Partridge* 🇨🇦*, E.W.Watson* 🇨🇦*, and C.W.Way* 🇬🇧.

*Register of all persons buried at the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, April 2024 version.*

*On page 131 is the entry for Quan Jil Louie; his listing in the CWGC database is located here. He died 2 weeks shy of his 24th birthday.*

Q.J. Louie’s final fatal mission: Royal Canadian Air Force Bomber Command 420 “Snowy Owl” Squadron: 16 January 1945, evening takeoff from Royal Air Force base Tholthorpe (England); nighttime bombing raid with over 120 Allied Halifax bomber planes targeting Magdeburg in northern Germany; their Halifax III plane NA192 PT-Q shot down; 5 dead and 2 captured as prisoners of war. See Aircrewremembered.com and 6BomberGroup.ca.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 26 May 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T18 Polaroids: Helmut & Heather

E17, B12.

Another favourite place in Berlin (and there are many) is the Museum für Fotografie, near Zoo station.

Yes, there are “Big Nudes” (literally), and there are many other nudes, many of which I can’t post here. However, what is unmistakable are the long threads connecting Helmut Newton’s photography with fashion and his focus for the power of women in image. I return to his Berlin foundation and the Museum for Photography for sharp reminders of that Newton perception.

The idea of an “instant image” (and branded successfully by Polaroid) has been around since 1947. In an age of film cameras and mobile tech was decades away, Polaroids became handy. In the intervening years and decades, artists and photographers used Polaroids as working tools and experimental testbeds for ideas. Helmut Newton used Polaroids as part of his preparation for many fashion photography sessions.

The “Polaroids” exhibition includes Newton’s collection of images, as well as works by 60 other artists and photographers. They document the allure and longevity of the “instant” medium, which is still in use today.

On Instagram, I found the creative work by Heather Malesson and Charles Johnstone. I’m pleased for them, because their recent work using the medium is also recognized in the “Polaroids” exhibition in Berlin. If my feelings about “single stationary images” remain true, then I’ve got to be grateful to Instagram as an open venue through which I’ve found many creative artists.

Berlin’s Museum für Fotografie (Helmut Newton Foundation): “Polaroids” 2025 exhibition & group show, 7 March to 27 July. A display room on the ground floor. On the opposite wall is a small collection of Polaroids.

*June Newton (aka Alice Springs) & Helmut Newton. Polaroid by Aline Cheung at Restaurant Davé in Paris, 1990.*

*The moment I saw this, I thought of Veruca Salt’s “American Thighs”: can’t fight the seether. Polaroid by Helmut Newton for “Vogue”* 🇺🇸 *in Monaco, 1979.*

*Cindy Crawford for “Vogue” 🇺🇸 . Polaroid by Helmut Newton in Saint-Tropez, 1991.*

*Cindy Crawford for “Vogue”* 🇺🇸*. Polaroid by Helmut Newton in Monaco, 2003.*

*“The Girl in the Fifth Floor Walk-Up”, by Charles Johnstone & Heather Malesson, 2014.*

*“Escape”, by Charles Johnstone & Heather Malesson, 2021.*

*Museum für Fotografie, from Berlin Zoologischer Garten station (track 4).*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 25 May 2025. I received neither request nor compensation for this content. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T17 Among U-stations & murals

E16, B11.

I’ve long admired the street art by Hera+Akut, whose collaborative work between 2004 and 2020 was seen around the world; and now by Hera solo, whose work conveys clear messages about the universality of women’s strength and perseverance and their accomplishments. Their murals usually span the height of several storeys along the outside wall of a building (usually, an apartment building).

Today, I hopped into Berlin’s Wedding and Moabit to chase down a couple of murals, and in between, I found a representation of design variety for which Berlin’s U-Bahn stations have long been identified. Long-time residents and urban transit geeks have always known about this, but I feel the station interiors are worth showing.

*as long as you are standing, give a hand to those who have fallen. // solange du aufrecht stehst, stütze die, die Dich brauchen. In Moabit: 2018, by Herakut, Wes21, & Onur.*

*Note how the tusks extend beyond the building’s edge, and how there’s a tiny car suspended in mid-air at the end of the elephant’s trunk.*

*U6 station Wedding. Around 1200 CE, the village of Weddinge was founded by nobleman Rudolphus de Weddinge.*

*U9 terminus station Osloer Straße, also intersects with the U8 line.*

*U8 station Gesundbrunnen, which is a major suburban- & regional-rail junction, also known informally as Nordkreuz (North cross).*

*“Generation Equality” 2023 mural by Hera, for Street Art for Mankind, located in Wedding.*

*“Not caring is no option.” The protagonist is a health worker in green scrubs, her two daughters on her left shoulder.*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 24 May 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T16 A swath through the city

E15, B10.

It’s already my 10th day in the German capital, and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface for all the good plans and intentions I drew up months in advance.

Brisk west winds carried cool temperatures that felt a lot like winter than late-spring. The mid-May chill afforded opportunity which brought me to the city’s 2nd Jewish Cemetery and to the city’s Technical Museum by mid-afternoon. What lies in between are the moments I have to be especially keen and focussed.

*Plattenbau block & Fernsehturm Tower, an East German view* *from Schönhauser Allee.*

*“In the middle of the city.” There are about 22-thousand here.*

*“Der Himmel über Berlin”: west, from Torstraße & Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße.*

*I’m staying “outside” the Ring in Pankow, which formally is a part of the federal city-state of Berlin.*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 23 May 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.