Potsdam’s Sanssouci (“care free”) palace and park are very popular places for visitors in summer. However, a couple of days with severe thunderstorms and high winds in the past week forced the closure of the entire grounds, as announced earlier today on their website and as seen with signs on their locked gates. Downed branches and tree segments needed clearing. By mid-afternoon, some of the grounds opened to foot traffic, bicycles, and motor vehicles. It’s no surprise there were far fewer number of visitors observed on the grounds today.
In 1990, selected gardens and palaces in Potsdam including Sanssouci were inscribed by UNESCO as a single item onto their list of World Heritage Sites.
Locked gate on the grounds’ southern perimeter in morning hours.
Orangerieschloss: 1851 to 1860/1864, by Stüler and Persius.
Neue Kammern: 1748 by Knobelsdorff; first an orangery, then guest palace.
Hauptallee, facing west to Neues Palais.
From Hauptallee up to Sanssouci palace.
Weinbergterrasse (vineyard terrace), facing north to Sanssouci palace.
Weinbergterrasse (vineyard terrace), facing south to the Great Fountain.
On the terrace steps, up to the palace.
The final spots for Friedrich the Great (below) and his beloved dogs (above center).
Grave for Friedrich the Great (1712-1786) who ruled as Prussia’s monarch from 1740 until his death. Yes, those are spuds on the plaque; legend has him responsible as the first to getting potatoes into German hands and bellies.
The visual jewel that is the centre portion of Sanssouci Palace.
I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 27 June 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
The international UNESCO body recognized the importance of Berlin’s Museumsinsel or Museum Island by inscribing the site onto the list of World Heritage (WH) Sites in 1999.
The Berlin Museumsinsel is an island consisting of five museums built between 1824 and 1930: Alte Nationalgalerie, Altes Museum, Bode-Museum, Neues Museum, and Pergamonmuseum. These museums represent individual artistic and historical significance, the continuing development of what museums should mean to society, and the achievement of a grand central civic project.
To coincide with Germany’s annual World Heritage Day on the 1st Sunday in June, the entire Museum Island celebrates its 200th anniversary with a weekend festival. I’ve chosen to visit the Altes Museum (Old Museum) and the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery).
Altes Museum
Altes Museum: construction 1823-1830, to designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Berlin’s oldest museum now specializes in Greek and Roman antiquities.
Natural light through the cupola in the rotunda illuminates Roman statue-copies of deities from Greek mythology.
Hera (Juno), queen goddess.
Hygeia (Salus), goddess of health.
Nike (Victoria), goddess of victory.
Tyche (Fortuna), goddess of chance.
Aphrodite (Venus), goddess of love.
Demeter (Ceres), goddess of agriculture.
Artemis (Diana). goddess of wild animals and the hunt; however, she’s missing a bow and arrows.
Alte Nationalgalerie
Alte Nationalgalerie, constructed 1866-1876 from designs by F. Stüler & J. Strack; now houses paintings and sculptures mostly from the 19th-century, including important works by C.D. Friedrich and K.F. Schinkel.
“Gothic Cathedral on the water”, by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, 1813.
“Castle by the water,” by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, 1820.
“Rock arch”, by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1818).
“Deep in the forest by moonlight”, Caspar David Friedrich, c. 1830.
“Greifswald Harbour”, Caspar David Friedrich, 1818-1820.
“Moonrise over the sea”, by Caspar David Friedrich, 1822.
“Woman at a Window”, by Caspar David Friedrich, 1822.
I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 1 June 2025. I did not receive any request or compensation for the content here. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
Brühl is the home of the Augustusburg and Falkenburg Castles and their associated garden-parks. For its unique and intact early-example of Rococo architecture from the 18th-century, these castles were inscribed by UNESCO as World Heritage Site in 1984. A regional-express train from Bonn Hauptbahnhof (central station) to Brühl Bahnhof (train station) is only 10 minutes, and upon leaving the latter station, Augustusburg’s sunlit golden yellows lies straight ahead on the walking path.
Schloss Augustusburg.
My father would have loved this French garden.
(1) 8000 km to the other side of the world, and Canadian geese are everywhere. (2) The geese seemed to disagree over who has the most rights to this pool of water.
One last reflection from Schlosspark Augustusburg, for personal reflection. “Not bad” for a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
BRD buildings in the Bundesviertel
As a product of the 1970s and 1980s, I knew of two Germanys and, thanks to the 1976 Olympics, I then learned their abbreviations in both English and German. West Germany was known as FRG / BRD, and East Germany GDR / DDR. Looking back now, this became a starting point towards a long journey over the Atlantic, as I learned too that Bonn was capital of West Germany.
From 1949 to 1990, Bonn was capital city of the BRD: Bundesrepublik (West) Deutschland; FRG: Federal Republic of (West) Germany.
Former parliament building between 1992 and 1999. With German reunification and (re)declaration with Berlin as capital, many federal departments move from Bonn to Berlin. The final session of the German Bundestag in Bonn takes place in this building on 1 July 1999; all subsequent sessions take place in Berlin.
“Deutscher Bundestag” (German Parliament). Today, this building is part of the ensemble for the World Conference Centre Bonn.
1933 former Pedagogic Academy building built in Bauhaus style, converted in 1949 to meeting space for the Parliamentary Council, German Bundestag, German Bundesrat. This is the south part of the former parliament building.
The German Bundesrat meets in this north part of the parliament building. Plenary sessions take place here from 1949 to 2000, after which the Bundesrat moves to Berlin.
Deutsche Welle (now: DW), in Bonn. From 1994 to 2001, I watched Deutsche Welle from my apartment in Toronto’s North York. In late-2001, I moved sight-unseen to Heidelberg, Germany.
Two important flags.
I made all photos above with an iPhone15 on 30 Jul 2024. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
In 2021, UNESCO recognized the cultural and historical significance of the great popularity of spa culture and spa towns in Europe from the 18th-century to the early 20th-century. Today, we have The Great Spa Towns of Europe, as 11 towns across 7 nations were inscribed as a single transnational World Heritage Site. Baden-Baden is one of the 11 towns, and is only 30 minutes from Karlsruhe by train.
Baden-Baden is 1 of the 11 “Great Spa Towns of Europe”.
Steinbrunnen (stone fountain), 1871; in the Lichtentaler Allee green-space.
Staatliche Kunsthalle (State Art Gallery), completed in 1909. The present exhibition has the tagline: “What would the bottom of the ocean tell us tomorrow, if emptied of water today?”
Kurhaus (Spa House), completed in 1824.
Front entrance.
Trinkhalle (Pump House), side entrance.
Trinkhalle, colonnade.
Trinkhalle, 1842.
Stiftskirche Liebfrauen (Collegiate Church of Our Lady).
Left to right, respectively: Stiftskirche Liebfrauen (pink); Altes Dampfbad (Old Steam Baths, yellow); Friedrichsbad (Frederic’s Baths, beige-green).
Festquelle: water still flows through the tap from the hot springs. People used to collect water for home use; no longer encouraged because of high arsenic content (yikes).
At the far end of Rotenbachsee Park is a statue of Russian author Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, whose 1866 novel “The Gambler” is set in Baden-Baden. The 2004 statue is by artist Leonid Baranov.
Dostoevsky casts his gaze down towards Baden-Baden. He was not shy about gambling (and losing) in the city‘s casinos.
“The Great Spa Towns of Europe”, as a transnational serial nomination: 11 towns, 7 nations.
I made all photos above with an iPhone15 on 24 Jul 2024. I received no support from an external organization. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
In 1993, UNESCO recognized the cultural and historical significance of the 12th-century Maulbronn monastery complex with inscription as World Heritage Site.
Monastery church, first began c. 1147.
Late 14th-century Madonna made of oak.
Cross, secondary altar.
Back of the cross: “1473” (first row).
Main altar space.
Madonna, c. 1300 CE, by Kölner Werkstätte.
Choir, c. 1450.
Ceiling above the main altar.
Former dining hall for monks, c. 1225 CE.
Former dining hall for monks, c. 1225 CE.
Keystone/capstone (Schlußstein) from the cloister (Kreuzgang), northeast wing, c. 1300 CE. At centre is a 1-Euro coin for comparison.
Keystone/capstone (Schlußstein) from the cloister (Kreuzgang), east wing, c. 1300 CE. At centre is a 1-Euro coin for comparison.
In 1993, UNESCO inscribed the 12th-century Maulbronn monastery onto the list of World Heritage Sites.
From Karlsruhe or Stuttgart, it’s a little tricky to reach Maulbronn with public transport. With my base moved to Karlsruhe, it’s first an RE or S4 train to Bretten, before hopping onto VPE bus 700 to stop “Alte Post” in Maulbronn. Finally, there’s about 600 metres remaining on foot to the ticket office on the monastery grounds.
I made all photos above with an iPhone15 on 23 Jul 2024. I received no support from an external organization. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
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