Berlin and Potsdam, Kurfürstendamm Straße, Reichstag, Straße des 17. Juni, Siegessäule, Sansoucci

Pictures from a weekend trip to Berlin and Potsdam in mid May 2006. I stayed just off of Kudamm and hit most of the attractions while in Berlin. Below are pictures from Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, the Reichstag and everything in between.

Potsdamer Platz, in central Berlin, this is one of the main hubs - it is near Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. Below Potsdamer platz is a large subway terminal. The square building that says 'Bahnhof Potsdamer Platz' is one of the entries to the underground, there are 4 others around the plaza.

The Deutsche Bahn headquarters near Potsdamer Platz

Luxury hotels on the Kurfürstendamm

Kurfürstendamm Straße, one of Berlin's high-end shopping districts

Straße des 17. Juni (Avenue of June 17th) a very, very, very long street near the Berlin Zoo that ends at the Brandenburg Gate. It is Berlin's Champs-Élysées.

Siegessäule, the Victory Column, in the middle of a roundabout intersection along the Straße des 17. Juni. It commemorates the Prussian victory over the Danes in the 1860s

A Soviet War Memorial in the Tierpark along the Straße des 17. Juni halfway between the Siegessäule and the Brandenburg Gate.

The monument is dedicated to the Soviet soldiers who died in the Second World War.

The Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), formerly closed as part of the Berlin Wall, this was West Berlin, the previous pictures were along the street on the far side of the Gate.

Behind me, to the left is Dan from Australia, he's talking to some protesters who had signs complaining about the healthcare system.

The statue on top of the Brandenburger Tor is of Viktoria the goddess of victory driving a quadriga. The statue faces east.

The Reichstag, seat of the German parliament, to the left of this picture is a big replica of the Olympic Stadium where the World Cup games in Berlin are being held. There are huge projectors setup for people to watch the games.

Near the Reichstag is a memorial to East Germans who died trying to cross the Berlin Wall

The Holocaust Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

The American Embassy is across the street from the memorial, behind where this picture was taken.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Memorial Church to King William I), destroyed during the war and only partially restored.

Inside there is a cross made of nails from the Coventry Cathedral in England which was destroyed by German Bombers, also there is a Russian Orthodox cross and Madonna. It is an exhibit of reconsiliation between Germany and the Allies

The Berliner Dom (Cathedral of Berlin)

The Cathedral was built in 1895 and is Lutheran, not Catholic

In the middle of the Spree River lies Museum Insel, an island with alot of state museums and palaces.

Deutsche Historisches Museum

'FRIDERICVS GVILELMVS III STVDIO ANTIQVITATIS OMNIGENAE ET ARTIVM LIBERALIVM MVSEVM CONSTITVIT' Antiquities Museum

Humboldt University

Berlin State Operahouse

Friedrich Schiller

Berliner Symphoniker, State Symphony

Egyptian Embassy

Austrian Embassy

Lenin, on the side of the old Soviet Embassy

U.S. Embassy, across from the Holocaust memorial, near the Brandenburg Gate

Wittembergplatz, a major commercial shopping district in West Berlin.

Berlin, a sculpture in the middle of Tauentzienstraße, near Wittembergplatz.

Statue of Friedrich der Große (Frederick the Great) in the middle of Unter den Linden Straße, the statue is 40+ feet tall and literally in the middle of the street.

Olympia Stadion (1936 Olympic Statium), home of several Weltmeisterschaft (World Cup) soccer games this summer.

Sign counting down to the game of the World Cup, 51 days, 16 hours, etc.

The river Spree and the East Berlin Skyline

Karl-Marx-Allee in the former East Berlin, it is lined with imposing Soviet style buildings

Straussberger Platz at the end of Karl-Marx-Allee, near the Fernsehturm

Two Trabants, East German cars

Alexanderplatz, near the Fernsehturm (Television Tower)

The Fernsehturm, nicknamed Alex because it's in the Alexanderplatz, Europe's 2nd tallest structure. It was built by the Soviets in the late 60s in East Berlin, it is painted like a soccer ball to mark the upcoming World Cup, it's pink because the tower is owned by Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile)

Below the Fernsehturm is a fountain of Neptune in the middle of Alexanderplatz.

Graffiti in the Prenzlauer Berg

Old folks waiting for the bus near Lustgarten, the park in front of the cathedral.

Straßenbahn

Inside the U-Bahn 'Untergrundbahn' - there are multiple cars per train but often times they were not seperated, it was all one long compartment, which looked cool going around corners.