Around Berlin, part 2

The following gallery features more shots from my recent visit to my daughter, Angelika, in Berlin. I included some beautiful entry doors that caught my eye, indoor pictures of the Van Gogh Piano Bar where we spent a really enjoyable evening listing to one of the best piano players I’d ever had the pleasure of hearing, as well as shots of the beautiful * Viktoriapark in the region of Kreuzberg. Angelika had given me directions on which public transport to use (I went while she was at work), and I was so proud to have arrived without detour. As you can see from the final shots in the gallery, there’s quite an elevation climb within the park to reach the monument up top. What a view! ~SueBee

* History of the Viktoriapark (per the website). The year 1888, when Berlin decided to create a park in Kreuzberg, was a fateful year. In March, the liberal-minded Emperor Frederick III. (1831-1888) had ascended the throne. His English wife Victoria, daughter of the legendary Queen Victoria, was a critic of Prussia’s military tradition and hegemonic ambitions. After only 99 days of reign, however, the hope for liberalization of the young German Empire was gone: the level-headed monarch died, and under his son and successor, Wilhelm II (1859-1941), the arms race that would eventually lead Europe to disaster began. In memory of the empress from the English royal family, who was granted only a short lifetime, the park project was given the name Viktoriapark.

The National Monument in Victoriapark

(per the website) At the top of the Kreuzberg hill stands the National Monument, which commemorates the victory of the Alliance against Napoleon in the Wars of Liberation. The spectacular surrounding landscape setting is a perfect match for the monument, which is considered a masterpiece of romantic neo-Gothic architecture.