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.
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.
A peek from the late-afternoon sun.
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.
Above/featured: Cemetery view facing west, from the shelter building to the Stone of Remembrance, Cross of Sacrifice, and Terrace in the distance (WCL-X70: 14/21mm).
There’s a presence from western Canada buried in eastern Germany.
In Vancouver, Canada, the H.Y. Louie family has long been a part of the Chinese-Canadian community and the overall merchant community. Their current business holdings include the London Drugs chain of stores and the IGA grocery-store chain; both are well recognized throughout greater Vancouver.
One member of the family is resting permanently 8000 kilometres away in Berlin, Germany. An important goal in my return to the German capital city is a visit to the cemetery where a member of the Louie family, Q.J. Louie, is buried. It’s never been a matter of if, but when I return to Berlin.
Fotoeins Fotografie 