Berlin 2011 - 17 January

Today I decided to go out to the end of the U7 subway line, the Rathaus Spandau (Spandau City Hall) station. From there, it is a short walk to the old part of Spandau (Alt Spandau), where I got these pictures.

Brown brick two-story library building Three-story brick building with large clock tower View down old Spandau street; church in background, stores at sides View of Spandau through archway Stone arch near church View down street in Spandau, church in background Statue of seated man; church in background Fresh fruit on display outside a store

Along the way are power boxes that have been painted. From the text on the side of one of them, I gather that it was a school project in 2010.

Power box painted with outline of two people walking down the street conversing Painted power box with pictures of outline of men filled with multiple colors Power box painted with outlines of people filled in with pastel colors

Walking further away from Spandau, you get to the Juliusturmbrücke, the Julius Tower Bridge. It is just a short walk to the Zitadelle Spandau (Spandau Citadel). See also this German-only website.

View of town and river from Juliusturm bridge Dirt path at left; trees and river at right Statue of seated man; statue is on grass near trees Long view of fortress; tower at left German eagle seal in archway to fortress Bust of Rochus Guerrini, Count of Lynar View of fortress courtyard and brick buildings on either side.

Of course, I had to go to the top of the tower. The stairs up to the first level are a tight spiral. From there to the top, the stairs wind around the inside of the tower wall. The view from the top was good today. If you go there, a note of warning: there are pigeons nesting inside the tower, so they may fly around you as you climb the stairs. Wear your hat just to be safe :)

Round brick tower photographed from steep upward angle Spiral wooden staircase inside tower, leading to first level of tower View of newer section of Spandau city from top of tower View of part of citadel from top of tower View of more of the fortress from top of tower View of fortress brick buildings from second floor interior railing

And here are views from inside the fortress. The first one is a modern fountain, part of an art exhibition in one of the buildings.

modern brown ceramic fountain near art exhibition at fortress Round brick wall interior of fortress Brick wall with archway cobblestone street; fortress buildings and tower in background brick buildings interior of fortress Interior fortress; three brick archways Half-frozen moat outside of fortress

In one area off to the side, you can see statues that used to line the Victory Boulevard and were damaged during World War 2.

Statues of warriors and famous germans lined up Line of statues facing the other set of statues, ruined blocks of marble in foreground Close up of statues facing towards left of screen Pedestal marked Friedrich der Grosse, 1740-1786

And then, the walk back to Alt Spandau for lunch.

River view showing navigation channel Cottage between two more modern buildings Child's playground area: Wooden cart on springs and wooden donkey Houses dating from 1700s Sunlit stone arch in foreground; ivy-covered library in background

I stopped for curry wurst and french fries for lunch, and then went on to Konditorei Fester (Fester Pastry Shop) for dessert. I had the chocolate cream cake. The first picture shows some marzipan animals.

Cartoon-like marzipan deer and bears in bakery window Red pastry valentine hearts labeled “Ich Liebe Dich” (I Love You) in bakery window Plate with chocolate cream cake and fork

From Spandau, I took the S train (above-ground). My plan was to go around the city using the S-ring. The following rather blurred picture shows each station and how long it takes to get around each quarter of the ring. About the only good picture I got from the train was the picture of the hotel with the odd cylindrical shape.

Subway sign showing stations going around Berlin main city Hotel with blue glass windows; left section is cylindrical with a narrow “gap” in the center with plain transparent windows
Because the photo opportunities weren’t very good, I didn’t go all the way around the city. I got off at the Wedding (pronounced “Vedding,” and has nothing to do with marriage, which is Hochzeit in German) station and then took the subway down to the Französiches Straße station, where I stopped in at the Ritter Sport Schokowelt (Chocolate world). I was on chocolate overload from the cake, so I did not buy anything there. At least, not today.

Here’s the sort of advertisement you wouldn’t expect to see on a truck:

Small truck with advert for Galerie Atelier Outlet; abstract painting of spiral on display Other side of small truck with advert for Galerie Atelier Outlet; abstract painting of flower on display

On the other hand, this is exactly the sort of thing you would expect to see in Germany. These are for Restaurant Maximilian.

Pickup truck for maxilimians-berlin.de, in back is a large sculpture of a man in tyrol hat with beer stein Large statue of man in lederhosen hoisting beer glass; in front of Maximilian's restaurant

At that point, I was very close to the Museum House at Checkpoint Charlie, which was a crossing zone from West to East Berlin. No photographs from there; it’s very much worth visiting, though.

Near the museum, at the corner of Mauerstraße and Schützenstraße is this immense sculpture. It’s called Houseball, by Claes Oldenburg.

Immense sculpture by Claes Oldenburg; large ball of burlap with household objects wrapped in rope Another area of sculpture by Claes Oldenburg; large ball of burlap with household objects wrapped in rope Another area of sculpture by Claes Oldenburg; large ball of burlap with household objects wrapped in rope

The Jewish Museum Berlin was nearby, so I went there as well. I wasn’t in the mood to take pictures, so all I have from there is this area over the entrance.

Area above entrance to Jewish Museum, showing heraldic shield

I returned to the hotel, put down my stuff, and then went out to the Potsdamer Platz Arkaden where I had some not-very-outstanding chicken and noodle dish at an Asian restaurant.

Postdamer Platz train station entrance and curved Deutsche Bahnhof skyscraper at night Interior Postdamer Arkaden mall; shopws on either side

Odds & Ends

At one of the S-bahn stops, I bought four one-day passes for 6.30€ each. They become valid when you put them in a little stamping machine on the bus or at the station, so you can conveniently buy them by the bunch. Having the day pass gives me the freedom to go anywhere I want to at any time without having to dig for change or spend time buying a transit ticket.

I am reading German advertisements, speaking to people in German, and hearing their responses in German, but I’m processing the results in English. That is, I can tell you what people said to me, but I can’t reproduce the German words they used. I can communicate, but the feeling is vaguely unsettling.

Today’s Typography

What do you do when you don’t have the vertical space to put the umlaut dots above a letter? You put them to either side or inside the letter.

Sign showing an umlaut A with umlaut dots on the sides of the letter Umlaut U with dots inside the U

Yet another example of inconsistent use of Fraktur. Notice the lowercase “s” in the word “straße,” written in two different styles on two signs in the same city. Go figure.

Part of street sign with word “straße” using old-style letter “s” Street sign section showing modern lowercase “s” in word “straße”

Today’s Signage

Herewith a variety of signs I encountered during my travels today. I really liked the artwork on the first one; the text was nothing important.

Minimalist cartoon drawing of a postman Passion boutique logo; capital P in shape of a lion head 3-d lifesize Spiderman crawling on side of Video World sign Wiedemann bakery; with “NN” going upwards at an angle as if there's not enough room on the sign Subway ad: “My cat [outline of cat face] Whiskas” Sign for “drospa” with balloon-like letters

OK, this one is just so god-awful I had to show it. It’s a campaign poster, no doubt, and the text reads “My voice in the Bundestag (National Parliament) / Kai Wegner / In the Bundestag for you.”

Poster of child whispering in politician's ear. Text: “My voice in the Bundestag/Kai Wegner/In the Bundestag for you.”
Sign for Napapijri clothing store; top half is black on white; bottom half is white on black

The divided black/white sign for Napapirij (a clothing store) is visually a bit jarring. Warning: web site has sound


Sign for Quartier 206 department store; the tail of the Q becomes the digit 2

I really like the way that the tail of the Q becomes the 2 for this upscale department store (Quartier 206)

Poster with small yellow car and words “The perfect rental car package”

This ad isn’t visually great; it’s just the word “Mietwagen,” which means “rental car” but is pronounced like “meat vahgen.” This, of course, always conjures up the uncomfortable English phrase “meat wagon.”


Today’s Bears

Bear titled “Fielius”, painted gold with pink and pastel stripes on chest and stomach Bear painted in white apron with wedding cake and heart-shaped necklace reading “Süsse Susi” (Sweet Susie) Bear painted as exotic female

Today’s Typography

This sign for a konditorei (pastry shop) shows an interesting cursive style.

Sign for Konditorei Fester in unusual script

I like the curvy letter “k” in this sign for the Orthopedic Center Kurfürstendamm

Curvy letter “k” in sign for ok: Orthopedic Center Kurfürstendamm

And finally, this sign for a men’s clothing store.

Sign for Wöhrl clothing store; the o part of “ö” is in the shape of a button

Today’s Google Ad

Bus stop advert for Google chrome: “Fast is: not always having to wait for the next photo.”

Text reads: “Fast is: not always having to wait for the next Photo.”