This is a bit gimmicky but some are very effective. On the odd occasion, Berlin and its bullet-holed buildings can feel a bit like this anyway. There are a few other cities featured too.
Interesting, the figure on the Reichstag steps is, I think Georgy Zhukof, hero of the Soviet union and Butcher, arguably the Reichstag looked better in mid 1945 than it did in 1992 when Norm had finished it. A good way to see Berlin is to take part in the half marathon, every May, register at the sports hall in Spandau. The riverside scene I thought was either Bonn or Köln, at the site of the present Deutzer Brücke but it can't be, the Russians weren't there, any ideas?
I think that's right Gaw, I should have clarified, it was the second riverside although upon reflection the Rhine isn't as wide as the photo. A German friend used to compare notes with me, we were born the same month in 1942, he on the Unter den Linden, me within earshot of the Tyne and its shipyards, although most was what we had been told, rather than any of our own, out of pram memories, it was sobering. His mother had worked at the Berlin Opera and frequently came into contact with the crazy gang, his father died on the retreat out of Romania, his mother, he and his sisters survived the final days and luckily? ended up in what became the French zone, his mother fell for a French officer who remarkably, officially it was banned, took the family back to Rheims. Erich went through the French education system and ended up at the Sorbonne. He eventually returned to Germany and lives contentedly near Mannheim. He never visits Berlin.
I'm breaking my self-imposed prohibition on 'wow, fascinating!' comments because that comment by Malty is amazing - the way the story is told as much as the content. What an excellent site this is. And now I shall go back to lurking until someone mis-identifies a doubtful Elizabethan marmoset or something ...
Interesting, the figure on the Reichstag steps is, I think Georgy Zhukof, hero of the Soviet union and Butcher, arguably the Reichstag looked better in mid 1945 than it did in 1992 when Norm had finished it. A good way to see Berlin is to take part in the half marathon, every May, register at the sports hall in Spandau.
ReplyDeleteThe riverside scene I thought was either Bonn or Köln, at the site of the present Deutzer Brücke but it can't be, the Russians weren't there, any ideas?
The river shots look like St Petersburg to me. But I'm not certain.
ReplyDeleteI think that's right Gaw, I should have clarified, it was the second riverside although upon reflection the Rhine isn't as wide as the photo.
ReplyDeleteA German friend used to compare notes with me, we were born the same month in 1942, he on the Unter den Linden, me within earshot of the Tyne and its shipyards, although most was what we had been told, rather than any of our own, out of pram memories, it was sobering. His mother had worked at the Berlin Opera and frequently came into contact with the crazy gang, his father died on the retreat out of Romania, his mother, he and his sisters survived the final days and luckily? ended up in what became the French zone, his mother fell for a French officer who remarkably, officially it was banned, took the family back to Rheims.
Erich went through the French education system and ended up at the Sorbonne. He eventually returned to Germany and lives contentedly near Mannheim. He never visits Berlin.
Great story Malty.
ReplyDeleteT and I reckon they're all Berlin or St P except for two: one of Vienna (#3) and one of Prague (the last one).
I'm breaking my self-imposed prohibition on 'wow, fascinating!' comments because that comment by Malty is amazing - the way the story is told as much as the content. What an excellent site this is. And now I shall go back to lurking until someone mis-identifies a doubtful Elizabethan marmoset or something ...
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