Urban Photography | Fotoeins Fotografie

25T44 Berlin Karlshorst: the museum of complete capitulation

E43, B38.

As Nazi Germany turned Europe to ruin and ash, fighting on two fronts became infeasible: it was only a matter of time. When Allied troops began converging onto Berlin by late-April to early-May of 1945, the German military would be given zero options: the Allies demanded unconditional surrender.

One signing took place in France’s Reims on 7 May 1945 in the presence . On the night of 8-9 May, a second signing took place in the presence of Soviet military leaders in Karlshorst, about 11 km southeast from Berlin’s Reichstag parliament building. Both signings meant total surrender by Germany, and hostilities on all fronts in Europe had come to an end, which is why 8 May is remembered annually as V-E day or Victory in Europe day.

Today, the modest officers’ club building for the occasion of the second signing is now the Museum Berlin Karlshorst, which has seen plenty of changes from war’s end to the partition of Germany, to East Germany’s political ties to the Soviet Union, and to subsequent reunification of the 2 Germanys in 1990.

In line with evolving educational needs for the 21st-century, the museum commemorates not only the building and its grand hall, but also aspects of the 2nd World War specific to the Soviet Union: the prelude to war, massive losses of both soldiers and civilians, actions and abuses by the Soviet Red Army, trauma on survivors lingering from years to decades.

The museum is free of charge, and open to the public Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm.

*The 2nd signing for Germany’s unconditional surrender took place here on the night of 8 May 1945.*

*If symbols are key, flying the Ukraine flag today is definitely one of them.*

*This memorial plaque appears on the exterior front wall: “On 8-9 May 1945, Germany signed their unconditional surrender within this building.”*

*The building’s grand hall, where the Karlshorst signing for Germany’s unconditional surrender took place.*

*At the head table (background-centre) with the Allied nations, from left to right, respectively: United Kingdom, Soviet Union, United States of America, and France.*

With the shell of the Reichstag in flame and ruin, Red Army soldiers (lower centre) carry the Soviet flag towards the Reichstag in a picture dated 2 May 1945. As a big prize in conquering and securing Berlin, the Red Army had already raised the Soviet flag on the Reichstag on 30 April 1945. Photo correspondent Ivan Shagin.

Raising the Soviet flag over the Reichstag is a famous photograph, but this photograph had been restaged for political and military purposes on 2 May 1945. Photo correspondent Yevgeniy Khaldey, bpk/Voller Ernst, Berlin

Children’s shoes from Majdanek concentration camp near Poland’s Lublin, 1944. An estimated 170-thousand people were murdered at Majdanek between 1942 and 1944, before Soviet forces liberated the camp on 23 July 1944. Soviets also secured various pieces of physical evidence, including these shoes. (Military Medicine Museum, St. Petersburg)

*Near the building’s front entrance are a memorial and ex-Soviet army tank T-34 with two words painted in white:*
“за родину!” *(for the homeland!)*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 20 June 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

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.

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.

25T38 Berlin’s Westend: a few features

E37, B32.

Located in Berlin’s Westend on Masurenallee between Theodor-Heuss-Platz and the big bus station (ZOB) are:

RBB TV Centre (RBB Fernsehzentrum)
Broadcast House (Haus des Rundfunks)
Berlin Radio Tower (Berliner Funkturm)
Messedamm underpass (Unterführung)
International Congress Centre (Internationales-Congress-Centrum, ICC)

The entire length is easy to walk for under 1 kilometre, from Theodor-Heuss-Platz (U2 station) to the intersection of Masurenallee and Messedamm. The area has provided good memories as I’ve stayed twice here before.

RBB TV Centre (RBB Fernsehzentrum): completed in 1970 and used by the former West Berlin broadcaster SFB, an important voice for West Berliners in a city cut off and surrounded by the DDR. The building is now listed as an architectural monument. To the right in the background is the radio tower.

The beautifully distinctive Broadcast House (Haus des Rundfunks) was completed in 1931 with designs by Hans Poelzig. This building is also listed as heritage and is home to a number of RBB radio channels. Building access within is only for registered employees of RBB.

The Berlin Radio Tower (Berliner Funkturm) opened in 1926 on the grounds of the Berlin Trade Fair (Messe Berlin) and is nicknamed “the lanky lad” (der lange Lulatsch). Although the tower is no longer used for broadcast and presently closed to visitors, the structure is under heritage protection.

The Messedamm tunnel or underpass (Unterführung) is used as pedestrian and bicyclist passage underneath two very busy roads: the east-west Masurenallee and north-south Messedamm. Built primarily for access to the Messe Berlin, there is access to the big bus station (ZOB) and an S-Bahn Ringbahn station nearby. The setting with those orange columns and walls has been used as television and film backdrops. Compared to past archival images, all the bulbs from the large circular overhead lamps are either out or off.

As a giant addition to Messe Berlin, the International Congress Centre (Internationales-Congress-Centrum, ICC) was completed in 1979 with designs by U. Schüler-Witte & R. Schüler. The nickname given by Berliners for this structure is “Quasseldampfer” (chatterbox steamboat) or “Raumschiff” (spaceship). While the Messe Berlin remains open for trade fairs, the ICC awaits “renewal in dry dock.”

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 14 June 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

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