Where is Unter den Linden located? Unter den Linden – the famous Berlin boulevard “under the linden trees”
Most of the “normal” streets of the world have a clear external image, at some point a “become” that was defined and frozen in immobility. Everything is known about them. Unter den Linden, the main artery of Berlin, sheltered “Under the Linden Trees,” is a different matter. Like a stream of water, it shimmers every now and then, changing architecture, mood, color, direction of movement... In general, like the “classical” German character, it unites many paradoxes and extremes.
The first paradox was noticed by a complete stranger in Berlin, a foreigner. Mark Twain put it simply: “Unter den Linden is three streets in one.” Indeed, the pedestrian boulevard and the two roadways next to it are like three separate roads.
Or this: The historical quarter with the Forum Fridericianum, starting from the monument to Frederick the Great, gives way to the boulevard itself with the famous linden trees. And that, in turn, is blocked by Paris Square and the Brandenburg Gate - as a result, we again get three parts of the avenue, but “cut” across.
|
|
The traditions and spirit of this street save it from becoming a Hollywood set. They fill every ordinary action here with a certain special, playful meaning - whether you are walking, whistling a fashionable tune under your breath, sitting in a cafe or looking at shop windows, Unter den Linden gives you the right and, most importantly, the opportunity to choose - who you want to feel like Today, what role should I take for a walk? As once upon a time, when I first came to this street, my Berlin friend, historian Klaus Goldmann, asked me: “What do you choose, “the path of the king” or the “path of the merchant”?..” A weak person - at first I chose, of course, "king".
Reminiscence I
The gates of the Berlin Castle (fortress) opened, and a pack of dogs, who gave it their name, rushed across the Dog Bridge barking. Following the hounds, the Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William himself, and his retinue rode out. Just beyond the Spree River (it conveniently surrounded the fortress walls instead of a moat), the hunters found themselves on an immaculately straight alley stretching in the sands...
Friedrich Wilhelm eventually got tired of crossing this “desert” in the heat every time he wanted to shoot deer in the Tiergarten protected forest. On April 16, 1647, he ordered “to bring good soil and plant linden and walnut trees on my path from the Royal Castle to Tiergarten.” This is how Unter den Linden street appeared - one of the few that has an exact birthday.
The Elector was a thrifty owner and took care of his linden trees. For example, his decree about pigs, who in the mornings came running from neighboring villages to strip young bark from trees, is known. The huntsmen were given the right to shoot them mercilessly. Rarely did a pig escape a bullet, having the misfortune of catching the eye of Friedrich Wilhelm himself.
By the way, in addition to Unter den Linden, the brainchild of “the most cunning fox of Europe,” as the Elector was nicknamed, was the famous Prussian army (of an early model) and sovereign Prussia itself. It finally separated from the Kingdom of Poland ten years after the creation of the Berlin Linden Alley. The "Path of the Elector" became the "Path of the King" only under his son, Frederick I.
|
|
True, now the linden trees do not begin immediately behind the bridge, but five hundred meters later, after the Historical Quarter. All the main symbols of Europe’s first “ideally regular state”, Prussia, and then the German Empire, are concentrated here: the Arsenal, the Opera, the University, the palace of Wilhelm I, who in 1871, after the victory over France, turned the “royal” path into the “Kaiser’s”.
And, of course, the main character of Prussian history, Frederick II, is represented by various buildings of his memorable reign. It was he who built the Forum Fridericianum, the Catholic Church of St. Hedwig with the Royal Library, which Berliners nicknamed the “chest of drawers.” The bronze monument to “old Fritz” closes the first part of Unter den Linden, with the greatest of the Prussian monarchs turning his face (his own), as well as the muzzle of his bronze horse, to those who walk “the path of the king.” He no longer gallops carefree into the forest to hunt, but returns to the palace on the Spree - with a victory over an enemy more serious than a boar. I cannot, of course, vouch that this interpretation of the image was meant by the sculptor Christian Rauch in 1851, but this is the impression created, and it is only complemented by the four linden trees lined up behind the king in a column, like soldiers in green uniforms. So this is how the peaceful dreamers, whom the Germans were long considered to be, turned into warriors who threatened the whole of Europe... The living, and not bronze, “Fritz” was very fond of the “king’s path” along Unter den Linden and followed them many hundreds of times - at least then to get to his country residence Sans Souci. And today, if you drive along the famous boulevard, then through the Brandenburg Gate and so on, you can get to the German “Versailles”.
But it’s far away, and we’d better stay under the linden trees. It would seem that in themselves they are unremarkable: trees are like trees, only numbered with German pedantry. The faces of passers-by are remarkable. I have noticed many times that all of them, from the tourist to the native city dweller, somehow brighten up. Here even the hum of cars is muffled. Benches, greenery, ancient lanterns - and the crowd disappears, each person appears in it separately. Nowhere in Germany will you see so many “typical” - romantic, dreamy Germans - as Pod Lipami. Nowhere will such a bright and welcoming glare of sunlight hit your eyes as when exiting the boulevard onto Pariserplatz - Paris Square, where at the most famous gates of Berlin, the royal, ceremonial road finally comes to naught and the adventurous, roguish and mobile “way of the merchant” appears.
It is enough just, as in a fairy tale, to turn over your shoulder - facing back to Unter den Linden.
Reminiscence IIA long line of carts had gathered at the western gates of Berlin. Tall guards inspected the carts, and nimble customs officers collected duties for goods that were being transported to the capital of Prussia by surrounding peasants and merchants from all over Europe. However, there was nothing to take from the overwhelming majority of newcomers - what can you take from a refugee? Since the “Sun King” Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes of the “apostate king” Henry IV on religious tolerance, the time has come for the French Huguenots, who did not want to renounce their faith, to gather in search of a new homeland.
The prudent Elector Frederick William took advantage of this. After the bloody Thirty Years' War, Germany lost more than a third of its population. People have become the most valuable capital. Lutheran Prussia accepted everyone: Protestants from France, Jews from Poland, and Catholics persecuted by the British from rebellious Scotland. It doesn’t matter what nationality or religion you are, as long as you want and know how to work - this approach was truly revolutionary for the 17th century, and the outcasts appreciated it. Masons from La Rochelle, weavers from Lyon, and most importantly, resourceful merchants from all over Europe, entering the Brandenburg Gate, became Berliners with the same eagerness with which a little later they moved to the New World. And the city flourished from their vigorous activity.
The Brandenburg Gate that we see now, however, was not built during the years of the influx of immigrants, but later - in 1791 by the architect Karl Langhans. In those days, the numbering of houses did not go from east to west, but back, from the gate to the Spree and the castle. Moreover, she did not “jump” from one side of the street to the other, as is customary all over the world, but walked in a row, first along the southern side of Unter den Linden, then along the northern. Richer merchants tried to settle closer to the residence of the elector (and after 1701, the king). Here, like mushrooms after the rain, houses grew, no worse than the mansions of Paris or Amsterdam - thus, the “hunting alley” turned into a fashionable boulevard. The royal train still passed here from time to time, but the real masters of the street soon became the wandering courtiers (Germans taking their cue from the French) and bustling merchants (German foreigners) - they formed a bizarre mixture impossible in other capitals of Europe. From these joint walks, the elite of the Prussian state was then born, and most importantly, a special breed of people: Berliners.
Movement under linden trees: who is fasterUnfortunately, today no one lives on Unter den Linden, and therefore the homely charm of the “merchant's way” is lost forever. In shops and offices, as well as on the boulevard itself, there are more tourists than citizens. But still there are these latter ones.
To find them, it is best to seek help from bicycle taxi drivers, or, in Berlin jargon, pedicabs. Strong, cheerful guys, as a rule, students in search of extra work, spontaneous rebels, staunch supporters of the Green Party, experts in foreign languages and lovers of fast driving.
My current rickshaw puller, Rudy, is a typical example. His parents named him in honor of the deceased hero of the student revolution in Germany in 1968, Rudi Dutschke. And he did not let them down - he remained faithful to the spirit of youth protest, although this spirit itself has acquired calmer forms over the past 30 years. The guy is well versed in the environmental problems of our time, can scientifically substantiate all the advantages of the bicycle as a harmless vehicle and Unter den Linden knows by heart. For example, he told me, without even looking in the direction where he was pointing: “But these are the native Berliners. On this street you can meet a lot of them at once only if you go down from the pedestrian to the automobile “floor.” Cars slowly rolled along the asphalt next to us, preparing to freeze in the thickening traffic jam.
But inside her, the revival, on the contrary, is growing. A middle-aged nun in elegant car gloves dashingly turns the steering wheel of a jeep and signs to a respectable businessman in a Jaguar that it would be better if he let her through - God is still on her side. Two Bundeswehr officers in a taxi, as if they had stepped out of ancient engravings depicting the hussars of General Seydlitz (only their uniforms were more modest), smile at the girls on the boulevard. Several schoolchildren are glued to the windows of the minibus, admiringly looking at the workers in orange who are digging up the street. Outside the window of the Mercedes, driving without flashing lights or security, flashed the familiar bearded profile of the Chairman of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Thierse.
I realized that no one was seething with rage in the traffic jam. Apparently, from the point of view of Berliners, this is unprofitable and unfashionable. It’s better to do something useful or laugh, look at what’s happening outside. Let's say, two-meter red “E” of unknown purpose, installed on the boulevard, and on top of them are some smaller black letters. The all-knowing Rudi explained that this is how the main street of Berlin celebrates the centenary of Einstein's discovery of the formula of the theory of relativity: E=mc2, where E stands for energy. According to the rickshaw driver, Einstein would have made a good inhabitant of Unter den Linden in its classical times. The prudence, humor and casual elegance for which the energetic genius was famous are all signature Berlin traits.
“Doubt” over linden trees: does the republic need “ballast”?
The paths of the “king” and the “merchant” competed on the avenue for several centuries, until in 1936, before the Berlin Olympics, Hitler made a decisive choice in favor of the first of them. The numbering of houses went from the bridge over the Spree (here my Virgil on a bicycle left me) to the west - the first number was given to the Military Commandant's Office of Berlin, and the second to the Military Museum in the former Arsenal (in German - Zeichhaus). The Fuhrer planned to lay along the via triumphalis avenue - a wide highway aimed through the Tiergarten to the new Olympic Stadium. The runners then carried the Olympic flame along it, for the first time in the history of the Games, delivered by plane from Greece. At the same time, the leader of the nation, naturally, sailed along the “path of the king” ahead of them - in an open Mercedes and enjoyed the roar of the jubilant crowd.
Reminiscence III
At dawn on May 2, 1945, under the cover of a smoke screen, soldiers of the 416th Infantry Division, staffed, as they wrote in political reports of the Red Army, with “sons of sunny Azerbaijan,” crossed over the ruins of a bridge across the river. The last of hundreds of Berlin “mini-assaults” began - the assault on the main street of the capital of the Third Reich. The advanced 1373rd regiment of Colonel Saidbatalov, with the support of the artillerymen of Captain Efendiyev, captured the building of the Military Commandant's Office. Immediately after this, Captain Anisimov's sappers restored the bridge, and tanks poured into the via triumphalis. After an eight-hour battle, having captured the Opera building and other strongholds, our troops reached the house at number 63 Unter den Linden.
“So that not a single shell hits there! This is the Soviet embassy,” ordered the political officer-416, Colonel Rashid Assad-oglu Majidov. The artillerymen had to “border” the building with explosions, and the infantry went into hand-to-hand combat - onto the stairs, into the offices and corridors. The former first secretary of the Azerbaijan Komsomol Central Committee, Majidov, personally hoisted the Red Banner on the roof only when Colonel Gulmamedov’s battalion had already broken through along the street much further, all the way to Pariserplatz, and began attacking the Brandenburg Gate. Their defenders, among whom were volunteers from the Azerbaijani SS unit, in turn, had behind them the Reichstag, which had already been taken by the Third Army of General Kuznetsov. Nevertheless, they fought to the last, and all died.
This is how this whole bloody story looks like in the memoirs of General Fyodor Bokov, a member of the Military Council of the 5th Shock Army.
In the place where Elector Friedrich Wilhelm's Dog Bridge once stood, and where Soviet sappers later built a temporary one, the Palace Bridge is now built - Unter den Linden still begins here. For Berliners, this bridge is like the square of the Kazan Cathedral for St. Petersburg residents. It is customary to make appointments here, and tourist sightseeing tours depart from here. These days, by the way, they begin in an unusual way: everyone turns their backs on the Lips. The object of attention is a huge and dilapidated concrete “box” next to the Berlin Cathedral. On its roof - six-meter metal letters form a forty-meter ZWEIFEL - doubt. This word literally reigns over the avenue, it can be seen even from the Brandenburg Gate. The first guess that comes to mind is that advertising is wrong. Before us is a conceptual work by artist from Norway Lars Ramberg. He installed his “DOUBT” on the roof of the main building of the GDR - the former Palace of the Republic.The favorite brainchild of Erich Honecker was intended for party congresses, and in between, the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany met here. The symbol of the new power appeared on the site of the Royal Castle, the “schloss”, which was blown up in 1950 - I have already mentioned it several times above. The German communists clearly followed the example of the Soviets - at one time, on the site of the bombed Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior, they were going to build a gigantic Palace of the Soviets in the same way. There is even a version that our compatriots directly contributed to the death of the Royal Castle - and not the authorities, but Mosfilm. The thick-walled Schloss survived the assault in 1945, and it could have been restored, but during the filming of the epoch-making film “The Fall of Berlin” it was “taken” by filmmakers for the second time, from which it never recovered.
With their characteristic wit, the Berliners immediately nicknamed the “Palas der Republik” “the ballast of the republic”, which was now inherited by a united Germany. Despite the decision of the Bundestag to demolish the building and reconstruct the castle, the stronghold of failed socialism is still intact. The heiress of the SED, the Party of Democratic Socialism, is trying in every possible way to save it. The Berlin senator for culture, member of the pedesis, Thomas Flierl, is coming up with new reasons for the postponement, thereby giving the artists the opportunity to frolic on the “ballast”. What are they not doing there? One day they turned on the water, and everyone who wanted to help literally swim in the corridors of power - in kayaks. Even a completely ordinary fence surrounding the building is involved - now it is the most informative fence in the world. It is completely covered with texts and photographs dedicated to the history of both the castle and the palace.Opponents and supporters of the dismantling of the “Honecker chandelier store” (another nickname for the ill-fated building) are actively agitating passers-by. Moreover, among both the former and the latter there are many young people and pensioners. By the way, one of the main supporters of the idea of leaving everything as it is is a very respected person in Germany, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany Roman Herzog.
Antiquity under the linden trees: where to look for real traces of the amber room?
This year has unexpectedly provided everyone with a rare opportunity to see Unter den Linden, as they say, in its original state. The reconstruction, which was started by the city authorities before the 2006 FIFA World Cup, exposed the “inside” of the streets. In the pedestrian area of the Historical Quarter, the paving stones have been opened up, and the notorious sand, which so irritated Elector Frederick William, is flowing like a dull yellow river in the asphalt banks of the roadway.
|
|
This is what they are doing: they are expanding the pedestrian part by three meters - soon cars will have to make room. At the same time, the “plumbing” is being replaced: old, GDR-made steel pipes are cut with autogenous gas and replaced with ultra-modern ones made of ceramics and plastic. A special highlight is the filigree change in the angle of the rain runoff - it turns out that this is very important for improving the drainage system of the street. Jurgen refuses to give his last name - subordination. The authorities will probably be offended that he, and not officials from the municipality, was mentioned in a famous Russian magazine. I shake the palm of a serving German foreman, as hard as a shovel, and hurry along the torn-up avenue on my way.
Namely, to the former Arsenal-Tseykhauz, in a cafe, where I need to see the professor of archeology at Humboldt University, Armin Yehne, a strong and energetic bearded man, like all archaeologists. The meeting was both friendly and businesslike. Jene and I are both specialists in the restitution of art treasures scattered around the world during the war. He is the author of books about Heinrich Schliemann. And back in Soviet times, I managed to prove that the most famous find of the discoverer of Troy, the treasure of Priam, did not perish, but since 1945 has rested in the storerooms of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.That is, we have something to remember, especially in such a suitable place. The author of the best baroque building in Berlin, the Zeichhaus, Andreas Schlüter was also one of the creators of the Amber Room - a symbol of Russian war losses. This masterpiece of Prussian carvers was kept in the Royal Arsenal for a long time - until 1717, when, as a gift to Peter I from Frederick William I (our tsar then gave two-meter Russian grenadiers for the royal guard), he went to Russia and further into a legend that is still worries hundreds of treasure hunters. But the undeniable trace of the “eighth wonder of the world” can now, perhaps, be found only here, in the courtyard of the Zeichhaus, which is visible from the cafe window. The stone masks of dying warriors on the walls are siblings of the amber dying warriors decorating the panels of the Amber Room. They have a common father - the same Schluter.
Reminiscence IV
On March 21, 1943, Colonel Rudolf von Gersdorff entered Zeichhaus. Hidden under his uniform was a bomb with a timer set to explode in ten minutes. After this, in the closed stone sack of the Court of Dying Warriors, it is unlikely that anyone would remain alive. Several conspiratorial officers from Army Group Center managed to arrange for Gersdorff to accompany Hitler to an exhibition of Soviet captured equipment at the Zeichhaus Military Museum. The colonel agreed to die along with the tyrant.
But it didn’t work. Having barely glanced at the small arms in the courtyard, Hitler declared that he was more interested in Russian tanks and went out into the street. There, in the so-called Chestnut Grove, between the Arsenal and the New Guardhouse, stood the captured thirty-four. The Fuhrer quickly climbed into the tank to examine the mechanisms alone. Ironically, enemy armor would have saved him from Gersdorff's bomb. Realizing this, the conspirator asked the surprised Keitel for permission to go to the toilet and, at the last minute before the explosion, managed to defuse the bomb.
|
Storeroom |
After the collapse of Nazism, the Military Museum in the Arsenal was abolished by the decision of the Allied Commission as a hotbed of Prussian militarism. Many exhibits were taken to the USSR. The most valuable acquisition of the Moscow Historical Museum then turned out to be Napoleon's personal orders, captured by Prussian Field Marshal Blucher on the Field of Waterloo (they are still in the building on Red Square). Meanwhile, in the Zeichhaus a permanent exhibition was set up under a more general name - German history. Naturally, it was interpreted as a consistent path to the creation of the first socialist state on German soil in the class struggle. Nowadays, ideology has been replaced by a boring liberal-democratic political correctness, where there is a place for both militarism and socialism.
But the main exhibit, according to Armin Ehne (I don’t know a better storyteller about Berlin history than this native of the GDR, a graduate of Moscow State University and a respected scientist of the Federal Republic of Germany), was and remains the building itself, and not only its ancient, but also its modern parts. In 2003, the famous creator of the pyramid in the Louvre, the Chinese-American architect Yoming Pei, built an avant-garde exhibition complex behind the Zeichhaus. Its interior space is a real masterpiece of architecture, of which, in general, Unter den Linden is rather poor. By the way, another feature of this street: its “internal” architecture is more interesting than its “external” one. Thanks to the unusual sharp angles of the volumes and sharp shadows cast by the steel structures of the glass roof, the space of the Zeichhaus exhibition complex is very dynamic and even aggressive. And it’s hard to believe that Pei came up with all this at the age of 86...
The German spirit under the linden trees: between drill and poetry
Continuing our journey through the places of “battles for history” under Lipami, Jene and I approached Neue Wacha - the New Guardhouse, or simply “wacha”, as they say here. The classic work of the most eminent of Berlin architects, Schinkel, was originally conceived as a barracks for the Kaiser's castle guard. The last Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II, who, like all Hohenzollerns, adored ceremonies and magnificent uniforms, often himself accompanied the departure of the guard. At the beginning of the last century, this ceremony rivaled in popularity the raising of the guards at Buckingham Palace in London and, as it were, secretly symbolized the power of the German army.
And after the country’s defeat in 1918, there was nothing left to do but turn the barracks into a Monument to the Fallen. In the Weimar Republic it was called the Place of Remembrance for those who fell in the World War, in the Third Reich - the Monument of Honor to the Heroes who fell in the World War, in the GDR - the Monument to the Tragedy of the Victims of Fascism and Militarism. Now on the pediment is stamped “Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany” and just below “Victims of War and Violence.” “They chose not to indicate the specific perpetrators of violence,” comments Ehne, “but on a special board all categories of victims of German history are listed, from gypsies to homosexuals. But with the exception of the communists, who at one time also got it!”
Both under Hitler and the GDR, brave military men stood at attention at the New Guardhouse. Now there are only plainclothes policemen left, who, as a rule, are frail and inconspicuous. But, passing by this building, any German gets a little closer, and the features of a soldier begin to appear in him. Is it either Schinkel’s strict architecture or the “genius loci” that produces such a magical effect? Is it simply the proximity of the Guardhouse to the University, where many strong young blonds study?
On the other hand, it is still unknown where the cause is and where the effect is: after all, the Barracks and the University are two pillars of Prussian statehood, and their proximity is not at all accidental. The main characters of German history - the official and the officer - before getting to the Office and the Parade Ground, respectively, usually spent the required years within the walls of a higher school. And Friedrich Engels, for example, even managed to simultaneously serve in the regiment, whose apartments were located near Unter den Linden, and study at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin, which much later, in 1945, was renamed in honor of the wonderful encyclopedists Alexander and Wilhelm Humboldt (together these brothers “cover” all areas of human knowledge, from linguistics to mineralogy). “The building, as you understand, was severely destroyed during the war. All that remains of Alexander Humboldt is this,” Armin Ehne pointed out to me a beautiful ginkgo tree in the left corner of the university courtyard. The tireless naturalist brought it here from the Far East so long ago that it managed to inspire Goethe: “This leaf was modestly brought from the East into my garden and for the seeing eye it reveals a secret meaning” - the lines were written about a ginkgo leaf in the shape of a heart. “In general, this is the oldest foliage plant on earth, preserved since the Mesozoic era. And almost from the same time - a symbol of the reunion of lovers,” my companion joked. “And for the Germans of the post-war generation - also the revival of the people.”
The University of Berlin received the name of the Humboldt brothers not only because one of them founded it in 1810, but also because of the breadth of views and spiritual liberalism of these scientists. From this spirit the German student fraternity, famous throughout Europe, was born. And it is alive to this day, which is easy to feel, say, at the book stall in the university courtyard under the monuments to both Humboldts. The sellers and buyers are mostly students, which gives the whole “gathering” the appearance of a large club of interests rather than a real trade. Professor Jene's face looks younger before our eyes. Although, of course, as a historian, he remembers well both other students and other professors from another Berlin.
Reminiscence V
From the early morning of May 10, 1933, the University's largest auditorium, Auditorium Maximum, was decorated with red and white swastika flags. Professor of Political Pedagogy Dr. Alfred Bäumler, from the chair formerly occupied by Fichte and Hegel, gave a lecture on “Soldiership as a Lifestyle.” He ended it with the words: “Pacifism and humanism are not for us.” The audience, dressed in brown SA uniform, burst into applause. Immediately the Student Union of Nazi Germany began the loudest action in its history. Leaving the University, the students lined up in a column and, stamping their steps, with torches in their hands, crossed Unter den Linden in the direction of the Opera Square. There, a pre-folded stack of 20 thousand books awaited them - Remarque, Tolstoy, Heine and the like. Propaganda Minister Dr. Joseph Goebbels proclaimed: “The kingdom of Jewish intellectualism is over - we are proclaiming the beginning of the kingdom of a new man, who knows no fear of death and no chimera of morality.” To the shouts of “Sieg Heil!” students threw their torches into a pile of volumes.
Like the entire avenue, August Bebel Square (formerly the Opera House) is currently under reconstruction. There are cranes, bulldozers, trucks, piles of stones for new paving stones everywhere. Only one place is left open for passage, and indeed someone passes there all the time. The monument to lost books does not remain alone for a minute. The artist Micha Ullman created a very expressive image using simple means - just in the spirit of the unpredictable Unter den Linden. He placed it not on, but under the square. A slab of transparent glass covers a five-meter-deep dungeon, in which there are empty bookshelves. (By the way, an equally expressive memorial is the foyer of the University. When restoring the building after the war, the architects used red marble from Hitler’s Reich Chancellery, which the victors razed to the ground. After passing between the square columns, be sure to climb the marble steps to the second floor. The balustrade was entirely transferred from the Nazi citadel - only the swastika has been broken off. The marble doorposts in the auditorium are also from there.)
Festival of disobedience under the linden trees: who cares
Among other things, the current Bebel Square forms the very heart of the Forum Fridericianum. According to the king's plan, the surrounding complex of buildings was supposed to turn Berlin into a new Sparta and Athens at the same time. However, it was not possible to build the Academy, the Palace and the Opera opposite the baroque Zeichhaus in a single and strict Greek style - the brave captain Knobelsdorff, in whom the monarch saw a talented architect, managed to build only the Opera, which completely pleased his customer, a passionate music lover.
And in the 21st century, in the evenings before performances, abandoned by shoppers and tourists, Unter den Linden is filled with music lovers of the new era. If you mix with this sophisticated crowd and forget about the difference in clothing, you can even today be mentally transported to the times of Gluck and Beethoven, when the main event of the season was the New Year's Opera Masquerade Ball. No ranks or titles were recognized here, and the free Berlin spirit took precedence over Prussian discipline and subordination. Aristocrats, merchants and artisans danced together, and everyone became familiar, despite the risk of meeting a prince of the blood under the next mask.
By the way, even some Nazis tried to follow this good German tradition of the “day of disobedience” many years later. Hermann Goering loved to throw parties at the Opera, where first everyone sang the party anthem “Horst Wessel”, and then danced the forbidden foxtrot (descriptions of the Reichsmarshal’s birthday, celebrated in this spirit, can be found in Klaus Mann’s story “Mephistopheles”).
Another ingenious project that the great paradoxist Friedrich managed to implement near Lipami rises immediately behind the Opera. The Catholic Church of St. Hedwig in the heart of Protestant Prussia was intended to symbolize the Olympian breadth of the royal religious views. That is why they took the Pantheon as a model - in Ancient Rome the temple of all gods. The cathedral played its real role as a refuge of freedom under Nazism, when it became the only place in Germany where the fight against dissent was openly condemned. The local priest, Bernhard Lichtenberg, condemned in his sermons the burning of books, the persecution of Jews, and the murder of patients in psychiatric clinics. He called on parishioners to pray for concentration camp prisoners and war victims of all nationalities. In 1941 he was arrested by the Gestapo. Two years later he died in a concentration camp, and was later canonized by the Roman Church as a martyr and reburied in his native chapel of St. Hedwig. Lichtenberg is especially revered and considered one of his spiritual teachers by the current German Pope, Benedict XVI.
Among the barbaric actions on Unter den Linden, which the brave preacher had to speak out against in those years, was the burning of not only books, but also, what is less known, paintings. After the collapse of the Kaiser's Germany, the former Crown Prince's Palace housed one of the best museums of modern art in Europe - the New Department of the National Gallery. In 1937, paintings by Van Gogh, Otto Dix, Kokoschka, Kandinsky and other greats, considered “degenerate,” were confiscated from it. Some of them were sold at auctions in Switzerland to raise money for the rearmament of the Wehrmacht, and some were destroyed. After the war, the museum was never able to recover. A “copy” of the building, built on its site in 1969, was used as the Reception House of the Council of Ministers of the GDR.
Reminiscence VI
On August 31, 1990, the attention of the whole world was drawn to the building at Unter den Linden 3. In the pompous interiors of the Reception House of the Council of Ministers of the GDR, which did not fit well with the external architecture of the “antique” building, negotiations between the delegations of the two German states were completed. At 13:15, GDR State Secretary Günter Krause and German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble signed the “Treaty on the Establishment of Unity.” After more than four decades, the division of Germany is over. At the same time, the Cold War officially became a thing of history.
The former Reception House is now one of the exhibition halls of the Museum of German History, but its government neighbor, the former East German Foreign Office, was not so lucky. This building, which resembled the Moscow White House, was demolished after the unification. It was decided that it was not suitable for the ceremonial address of Unter den Linden 1. Therefore, one of the largest German publishing houses, Bertelsmann, took upon itself the reconstruction of the former House of the Military Commandant from Kaiser times. The combination of a modern glass and steel interior with a careful imitation of the old facade is considered the best example of a modernized restoration. Clerks and editors smoke peacefully at the very entrance (almost the same one) where many dramatic plots unfolded. For example, here, along with his wife and children, one of the leaders of the conspiracy on July 20, 1944 was arrested, and later executed in Pletzensee prison, General Paul von Hase. And Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler moved into the Commandant’s House with his family. Unter den Linden 1 became his last home address. Fortunately, not for long.
Actually linden trees
At the equestrian statue of Friedrich, which spent four decades in one of the distant alleys of the Sanssouci park in Potsdam and only after the unification of Germany returned to Unter den Linden - where the Lindens actually begin, we say goodbye to Armin Ehne, for whom it is time return to the University, and set off to meet the “main characters” of our walk.
Perhaps there is no other street in the world, the “face” of which would be determined to such an extent by trees, rather than houses. And Berliners are fully aware of this - in any case, they consider the preservation of the linden boulevard to be of paramount importance. Neat trenches reveal its “root system”. Workers regularly work their magic on the complex interweaving of pipes and sensors. For many years now, care for precious plants has been built on an individual basis. Cars are walking nearby in a continuous stream - without an irrigation and fertilizing system connected to each linden tree separately, the exhaust gases would have long ago killed the green area. When a tree is sick, and, unfortunately, 80 percent of the “eternal sentries” of Unter den Linden suffer from one or another ailment, “medicines” prescribed by specialists are delivered directly to the roots. Moreover, each of the five varieties of linden presented here requires a special approach. What is good for American silvers is not always suitable for Dutch ones and is not at all suitable for the so-called Kaiser ones.
All the more honor to the “gardeners” - the capricious “false international” is maintained in very good shape. The death of even one tree is considered an emergency - in this case, a seedling is immediately brought in, which is surrounded with a special lattice for the first time.
Of course, in these touching concerns one can see the usual German love of order, but also the internal resistance of the Germans to the German spirit of strict regularity. For centuries, the Berlin Boulevard has served as a haven of privacy - in the very center of the Iron State. If a capital resident felt like a soldier at the Zeichhaus, at the University - a student, a music lover-patriot at the Opera, a loyal subject at the Royal Castle, Under the Linden Trees he simply rested in the guise of a carefree flâneur. After the overwhelming Forum, the Fridericianum is truly cozy under the linden trees; the contrast between the stone bulk of the Opera or the University and the living, leafy tent commensurate with all of us is striking. I think the main attraction of Unter den Linden is still the atmosphere of equality of middle-class people of all nationalities, which today’s Germany and Europe in general are so proud of. An atmosphere created over centuries.
Hypocrisy under the linden trees: never talk to Heine
In the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, while Berlin served as the “active” residence of the Prussian kings, families walked mainly. Unter den Linden was then a residential street, and all the children and household members, including dogs and cats, came out onto the boulevard.
The southern side of the fashionable promenade was called the Palace, and the northern - Academic, since aristocrats and nouveau riche lived on the first, and students and professors lived on the second. Everyone knew each other, bowed without rank, discussed news, local eccentrics. Looking now at the disheveled guy with sideburns walking along the boulevard, I involuntarily imagine the most colorful of them, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann. The author of "Little Tsakhes" lived in the famous "Abandoned House", sung by him in a story called "The Secret of the Abandoned Castle". The house, full, according to Hoffmann, of ghosts and spirits, stood on the south side of the street at the beginning of the block where the Russian Embassy complex now lies.
Heine also performed the daily obligatory exercise according to Unter den Linden, with whom mothers forbade children and young girls to greet each other - the singer of love seemed to them a dangerous libertine. But the prostitutes from the fashionable brothels located next door, in the streets leading off from Lipovaya Alley, were almost family members for them. This family split into pairs for the walk - the girls wandered decorously back and forth, hand in hand, and Madame Schubitz, famous throughout Prussia, watched them, managing to bow to regular customers. The culture of “ceremonious prostitution” on Unter den Linden, by the way, has survived to this day. Here, corrupt women do not stand painted and half-dressed under the lanterns, as on Kurfürstendamm, but dress thoughtfully and meet interested parties in a cafe. Or, as before, during an evening walk under the linden trees.
Of course, nothing remains of the 18th-century architecture and the “family style” of life on Unter den Linden. But you can imagine what the houses here looked like in the times of Hoffmann and Heine if you use Glinkastrasse, Glinka Street, named after the founder of the Russian Opera, as a “time machine” (it was “pierced” in the southern side of Unter den Linden after the war) . If you go up it to the intersection with Taubenstrasse, Pigeon Street, you will see a small two-story yellow manor with a charming mezzanine under a baroque roof. Judging by the descriptions, this is the spitting image of “Abandoned House”.
And if, on the contrary, you want to understand what the avenue would have become if Hitler had completed his plans for rebuilding Berlin, pay attention on the way back to the boulevard, on the opposite side of Glinkastrasse, to the house at its intersection with Okhotnichya Street - Jagdstrasse. This is the former Ministry of Propaganda, a typical example of cold Nazi architecture.
Reminiscence VII
As darkness fell, the spotlights flashed, and an unusual spectacle unfolded before the Berliners. Four-meter-high pylons of the Doric order, illuminated from below, topped with imperial eagles and swastikas, rose in four rows above Unter den Linden.
For the Olympic Games, Hitler ordered the opening of a new subway station on the main street of the city. To meet the deadline, the excavation work had to be carried out in an open way - and therefore the ancient linden trees were cut down.
And then they brought three hundred new ones, American ones. They were so small that they were lost in the shadow of the Kaiser’s signature street lamps, and Berliners even playfully “renamed” their main street Unter den Laternen, Under the Lanterns. The picture turned out to be quite dull, and besides, the lanterns were decorated with cast-iron stars, which, if you look closely, could pass for six-pointed ones. It was necessary to urgently raise the symbols of victorious Nazism above both the street lighting and the linden trees. However, the Gestapo reported that bad talk continued to roam the city. According to legend, nothing threatens Berlin as long as the old linden trees stand. This is even sung in the unofficial anthem of the city, Walter Kollo’s song “Magdochka”: “... as long as the old linden trees bloom on Unter den Linden, no one can defeat us. Berlin will remain Berlin."
In 1945, Hitler again ordered the cutting down of now “his” grown linden trees. For a very short period, the avenue turned into the last runway of the Third Reich. But the Fuhrer did not dare to use it.
Four of those Hitler trees have miraculously survived to this day, and will remain on the boulevard at least until 2008, when it is planned to carry out a general reorganization of the entire linden farm. And also, perhaps, to restore some buildings that face the boulevard, for example, the State Library, located at the very beginning, on the southern (academic) side. Until 1904, one of the most picturesque buildings of Unter den Linden stood here - the Prussian Academy of Arts and Sciences. More precisely, the Academy occupied only the second floor, and on the first floor there was a stable for the Life Guards Cuirassier Regiment. Having learned about this original decision of King Frederick I, the ironic Leibniz suggested that he engrave on the pediment: Mulis et Musis: “For mules and muses.” Nowadays, in the boring-looking house of the early twentieth century, built on the site of the “stable of the muses,” there is, however, great excitement. Students from all over Berlin naturally flock to the best library in the city. Here, along the way, I again became convinced that “genius loci” is not an empty phrase. Along the entire first floor, in special racks, there are “steel horses” of visitors - bicycles. From time to time, some dashing reader jumps on her Rossinante and takes off towards the Brandenburg Gate. The union of mules and muses continues.
New times under linden trees: chewing gum instead of “truth”
The division into the Academic and Palace sides remained relevant until Berlin became the capital of the German Empire.
And then the patriarchal “family” life on the boulevard came to an end. Unter den Linden became the "melting pot" of the Second Reich. Residents from the street did not disappear completely (as they do now), but for the first time they were displaced by the Tourist. Cozy houses and small hotels like “St. Petersburg” or “Russian Court” were replaced by huge buildings with neo-Renaissance and neo-Baroque facades. Luxury, which the practical Prussians did not consider it necessary to strive for, however, became the imperial “quality mark” on the iconic avenue. And also - the passion for spectacle flared up. On the site of the “Russian Court” (north side) the Kaiser Gallery was built. In addition to luxurious shops with windows full of jewelry and delicacies, it opened a panopticon and a photo panorama. About the panopticon, the highlight of which was invariably a collection of genital organs, the townspeople immediately came up with a crude “reprise” in their own spirit: “What is the first thing you should see in Berlin? Unter den Linden. What's the first thing you should see on Unter den Linden? Panopticon. What will you see at the Panopticon? Shhhh..."
In general, the formation of a consumer and entertainment society began on the boulevard. Modest Berlin confectioneries like Fuchs's, next door to Hoffmann's Abandoned House, gave up their premises to Viennese cafés sparkling with mirrors. At the intersection with Friedrichstrasse there were three of them: “Kranzler”, “Bauer” and “Victoria”. People sat for hours over a cup of coffee with a newspaper in their hands. The expression “coffee triangle” in the Kaiser’s Berlin meant approximately the same thing as “Bermuda” now...
Reminiscence VIII
1983 Outside the Cuban goods store on the ground floor of the building, built on the site of the Kranzler café destroyed during the war, there is the usual East German queue. The luxurious Mercedes of the German Charge d'Affaires drives out to the intersection from Friedrichstrasse. Suddenly, from the side, at great speed, a military gas car of the Western Group of Forces of the USSR crashes into him, traveling along Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg Gate (he was being chased by cars of the GDR police and the Soviet commandant's office). Two deserters, badly dented in the accident, jump out of the gas station and begin to spray the avenue with Kalashnikovs.
The line outside the Cuban store was long. After a fierce shootout, the criminals were arrested. They did not reach the coveted West about three hundred meters. One of them is said to have later died from his wounds. Several people in the queue were also hit, and they were taken away by ambulance. The rest quietly, disciplinedly dusted themselves off and lined up in the same order for their cigars. The diplomat escaped with a slight fright and happily agreed to hush up the incident. Still, a reliable car is a Mercedes.
|
|
There are plenty of cafes in today's Unter den Linden, but there are two truly favorite and wonderful ones in the city. One thing, at the Opera, has been known since the days of the GDR - middle-class Berlin Russians often gather there. The other one, “Einstein,” is on the boulevard. It is this latter that preserves the old tradition of reading the latest newspapers under the linden trees. By the way, about newspapers. In the place where the Victoria cafe was, next to the most famous East German hotel, Unter den Linden, there is a strange red marble retail outlet. This is Kiosk No. 1, opened in the 80s in the presence of our ambassador and Erich Honecker, for the sale of Soviet press. Now he sells drinks and chewing gum.
And the Soviet (now Russian) embassy occupies an entire block on the southern side of the boulevard. It was in vain that Colonel Majidov in 1945 forbade the artillerymen to shoot him. It's still missing. Probably, the building was not forgiven for its “betrayal”: from 1941 to 1945, it housed the Imperial Ministry for the Eastern Territories, that is, the occupied part of the USSR. Immediately after the war, it was blown up and, taking neighboring plots, in 1951 they built a huge building that even now amazes the imagination. Those who have seen the interiors, especially the Reception Hall, do not have enough expressions to describe the pomp of the Stalinist Empire scale. The municipality then timidly opposed the demolition and proposed to restore the old house. But the “leader of the peoples” noted on the map that the Soviet embassy stood at the “edge” of Unter den Linden, aimed like an arrow at the heart of West Berlin, and demanded to “show class.”
Through the bars of the fence, several of my compatriots are looking at a strange, untidy square on the immaculate lawn of the embassy courtyard. “Lenin used to stand here, why did they turn away?” - one complained. “But they hung a board about Gorchakov,” another consoled him. The board reports that the great Russian diplomat who helped Russia "focus" (that's right) after its defeat in the Crimean War actually worked in the old Russian Empire Embassy building.
Memory under the linden trees: the price of freedom
Near the last intersection on the boulevard with Wilhelmstrasse, it seems that Stirlitz is about to appear around the corner. After all, if you go down this street, you will end up right on PrinzAlbrechtstrasse, where Julian Semyonov forced him to work. High-ranking intelligence officers often visited the restaurant of the aristocratic Adlon Hotel, where high society gathered. Recently rebuilt in its original location, it is preparing to once again take on the role of a flagship of prices and fashion, “the Berlin Grand Hotel squared,” as the English guest of the German capital, writer Jerome Klapka Jerome, liked to joke. Meanwhile, by the way, I find myself in the Square.
This is what Berliners call Paris Square - Pariserplatz. It really is an ideal square: 120 meters by 120. This is the kingdom of officials and diplomats (tourists, of course, do not count), “entrenched” around the corner (in the Bundestag) and on the square itself - in several embassies. The largest of them, of course, must be American. He was given a plot right next to the Brandenburg Gate. However, until it is built, representatives of Uncle Sam have been arguing with city authorities for several years about safety measures during construction.
Private US citizens, meanwhile, do not waste a minute, but are actively exploring the space of Pariserplatz, thereby diluting its officiality. The famous Frank Gehry erected a bank building here in an avant-garde spirit. The German Günther Behnisch “echoes” him with his new Academy of Arts, erected, as usual on Unterden-Linden, in the same place where the old one stood, and in it, from the late 30s, Albert Speer, Hitler’s favorite, nurtured his grandiose plans for updating German architecture .
Reminiscence IX
In 1939, it was officially announced that Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler had entrusted Albert Speer with the reconstruction of Berlin, which was to be renamed the city of "Germany". The capital lost not only its name, but also its main street - Unter den Linden. It should be absorbed by the so-called East-West Axis, 12,000 meters long and 200 meters wide. It will cut through the heart of the Reich from the Frankfurt Gate to the Charlottenburg Highway. To make room for columns of infantry and equipment, the Pod Lipami section will also undergo expansion. Some houses should be moved away, some should be demolished! And so on.
A huge model of the city of Germany was kept in Speer's Bureau on Pariserplatz, and Hitler often came here to enjoy the contemplation of future beauty together with his architect. Work began in 1942, but was stopped very soon, and Speer himself became Minister of Armaments. In 1943, a bomb hit the Bureau building and the model burned down. Only drawings remained from Hitler's Germany.
The Brandenburg Gate, as a ready-made and suitable symbol of military glory, the Nazis were going to leave on their Axis. Although over the two centuries of its existence, the symbolic meaning of this monument, crowned with a copper quadriga by Johann Schadov, has changed many times to the exact opposite.
Originally called the Gate of Peace, it was intended to mark the end of the turbulent era of Frederick's wars. But after Napoleon solemnly rode under them, having defeated the entire Prussian army in one day, the gates turned into a symbol, rather, of shame, especially since the unsentimental French emperor removed the copper Nike along with its four horses and took it to Paris as a trophy.
The return of the quadriga and the parade of the victorious allied troops of 1814 again encouraged the Prussians and became the prototype of all German military parades of the future. Especially many of them took place during the Kaiser’s times.
On the day Hitler came to power, the Nazis staged their victory march under the Brandenburg Gate.
After the division of Germany, however, ceremonial events here became impossible - the border between two Germanys and two Berlins ran along the Gate line. But the question did not arise about what they now symbolize - the Cold War, of course.
Now the Germans consider them a symbol of Unification and the new Germany.
...I was lucky: I saw one parade on Pariserplatz with my own eyes. It was a procession of hockey players from the Berlin club, which won the German championship. Everything was fun and un-Germanly stupid. They drank beer, bawled something, some went into the forest, some for firewood...
Who would have thought twenty years ago?.. Then the Brandenburg Gate was officially considered the most protected object in the world. In the southern pavilion of the gate, a “Museum of Provocations” operated for official use; porn magazines and Bibles thrown over the Wall by Western well-wishers were exhibited there. Now there is a tourist center in the same premises. And in the northern wing there is actually a Meditation Center. But not Indian. Absolutely nothing happens inside, people stand and remain silent. They are silent in memory of the people who died trying to escape over the Berlin Wall.
After standing among those who, like me, had traveled through the whole of Unter den Linden today, or were about to do so, I went out onto the square and walked through the Brandenburg Gate. Free.
Photo by Konstantin Kokoshkin
Unter den Linden – the famous Berlin boulevard “under the linden trees”
Category: BerlinUnter den Linden is rightly called the most beautiful, most luxurious boulevard in Berlin. At the same time, it is one of the most famous streets in the world. After all, it is here, “under the linden trees” (as its name is translated from German), that the most famous sights of the German capital are located. Walking along the boulevard is a pleasure; tourists often associate it with Broadway. And the walk itself, if you set out to walk Unter den Linden from edge to edge, will turn out to be quite long: the length of the street is 1 km 390 m, and the maximum width is 60 meters. It’s not for nothing that writer Mark Twain called it “three streets in one.”
How the horse trail became a boulevard
In the second half of the 17th century, Frederick William I ruled in Brandenburg. The Great Elector was an avid hunter and rode horseback to his grounds in Tiergarten. However, the horse trail chosen by the monarch was not particularly aesthetically pleasing and made a gloomy impression on him with some of its grayness and desolation. To give the street more “gaiety,” Frederick ordered linden and walnut trees to be planted here, 1,000 of each type. The result was a magnificent six-row alley. This happened in 1647, and this date is considered to be the “birthday” of the famous Unter den Linden boulevard.
A little-known fact: the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Federal Republic of Germany is also located on Unter den Linden (Berlin's Mitte district), occupying several buildings from the early 50s of the last century, recognized in the country as architectural monuments.
Charité (French Charité - “love of neighbor, mercy”) is the oldest hospital in Berlin, with more than 3,000 beds it is the largest university hospital in Europe. The reason for the creation of the Charité was an order from the cabinet of the Prussian King Frederick...
The Office of the Federal Chancellor of Germany is a building in Berlin and the seat of the German federal authority of the same name. As part of the relocation of the German government from Bonn to Berlin, the Department took over a new building created according to architectural designs...
The monumental equestrian statue of Frederick the Great is dedicated to King Frederick II of Prussia and is known among Berliners as "Old Fritz." The statue is located in the historical center of Berlin on the middle strip of the Unter den Linden boulevard. G...
The monument to the German ophthalmologist and professor of ophthalmology at the Charité Albrecht von Graefe is located on the corner of Schumannstrasse and Luisenstrasse and has a complex design. The initiative to create the monument came in 1872, 2 years later...
The Moltke Bridge is a red sandstone-clad road and pedestrian bridge with load-bearing steel structures on stone piers, built across the Spree River in the Mitte district of Berlin. The bridge, decorated with sculptures, was named after Helmut...
Unter den Linden is a famous and famous street in Berlin. The linden trees on it still delight the eyes of passers-by. They are beautifully illuminated in the evening. There are many restaurants, cafes, shops and shops on the street.
Boulevard "Under the Linden Trees" (Unter den Linden), photo visitBerlin
Unter den Linden (Unter den Linden - Under the linden trees) is the most famous and beloved boulevard of Berliners. Heine loved to walk here when he studied law in Moscow, and for Mark Twain this boulevard was “three streets in one.”
How did the street under the linden trees appear?
The name of the street was given by linden trees planted in 1647 by order of Friedrich Wilhelm. The “Great Elector” traveled along this road to his hunting grounds in Tiergarten from the royal palace and its surrounding view left much to be desired - sand, stones and occasionally small bushes. Frederick was tired of this landscape, and he ordered fertile soil to be poured in and linden and walnut trees to be planted. As a result, 1000 linden trees and the same number of walnut trees formed an alley of six rows. Friedrich Wilhelm did not stop there; in 1770, it was decided to supplement the alley with ceremonial buildings for the nobility and wealthy citizens. Now it was no longer a dusty road, but an elegant street, which became the hallmark of the capital of Prussia.
Street view from above, photo Nath el Biya/Niels
In the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, Unter den Linden was a residential street where entire families went for walks. Its southern side was called “Palace”, because. aristocrats and wealthy residents of the capital lived here, and the northern one - “Academic”, professors, students and teachers lived here. Many knew each other, so they bowed without rank and discussed the news.
Street today
Boulevard Unter den Linden, photo Kees Beemster
Unter den Linden extends 1.39 km in length and reaches 60 m in width. It originates from Pariser Platz, then leads to the Palace Bridge (Schlossbrücke) across the Spree River and turns into the street. Karl Liebknecht-Straße. The part of the street from and through the park is now called 17 June Street (Straße des 17. Juni).
Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great, photo Urban
Today, nothing but hunting sausages on the menus of cafes and restaurants reminds us of the Elector’s hunting grounds. From those old times, only trees and the “royal path” remained. There is now a road running through it. As soon as you leave the central part of the boulevard, you immediately find yourself among numerous attractions: the Brandenburg Gate, the Zeichhaus, the palaces of Wilhelm I, the crown princes, the princesses. Russians are pleased to see their embassy and Aeroflot office here. The boulevard ends with the Equestrian bronze statue of Frederick the Great, which Berliners ironically call “Old Fritz.” The great Prussian monarch looks at those who follow the “path of the king.”
Boulevard illuminated at night, photo by Myung Joe
Another circumstance that may disappoint a future potential tourist. On the boulevard "Under the Linden Trees" almost everything is "fake". Many buildings, including those from the Historical Quarter, were rebuilt after the Second World War. And the linden trees now begin not as before, right behind the bridge, but 500 meters from it, and many were also planted again after the war.
Famous linden trees, photo Bookmouse
How to get there
Take metro U55 or city train S1, S2, S25 to Brandenburger Tor station.
How can I save up to 20% on hotels?
It’s very simple - look not only on booking. I prefer the search engine RoomGuru. He searches for discounts simultaneously on Booking and on 70 other booking sites.
: 52°31′01″ n. w. 13°23′21″ E. d. / 52.51694° N. w. 13.38917° E. d. / 52.51694; 13.38917(G) (I)
The length of the street is 1,390 meters, the maximum width is 60 meters. The street runs from the Brandenburg Gate and Pariser Platz east to the Spree River, where Unter den Linden is replaced further by Friedrich Wilhelm Street, renamed after the Second World War in the GDR as Karl-Liebknecht Strasse (German. Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse).
Story
Linden trees appeared on the site of the modern boulevard in 1647 by order of Friedrich Wilhelm. This road was used by the "Great Elector" to travel on horseback from the royal palace to his hunting grounds in the Tiergarten. 1,000 linden and 1,000 walnut trees formed an alley in six rows. In 1770, Frederick II decided to build up the alley with ceremonial buildings. For this purpose, 44 houses were demolished that did not meet the ideas of the Elector. In their place, 33 mansions were built for the highest nobility and spacious houses for wealthy citizens. The dusty road turned into an elegant street that became the hallmark of the Prussian capital.
The western part of the street, running from the Brandenburg Gate to the west and passing through the Gross Tiergarten park, is now called 17 June Street in memory of the tragic events in the GDR on June 17, 1953 (the suppression of the popular uprising by the Communists).
Attractions
In culture
- “Indeed, I don’t know a more majestic view than the one that opens from the bridge towards the “linden trees”; one luxurious building is crowding out another here.”, wrote Heinrich Heine, who studied jurisprudence in Berlin in 1823.
- Leonid Utesov's song “On Unter den Linden” is dedicated to the life of Berliners during the Great Patriotic War - from the beginning of the campaign to the east to the devastating bombings.
- Impressed by Unter den Linden, the Tatar and Bashkir poet Nazar Najmi, who visited Berlin during the Great Patriotic War, wrote the poem “Ufa Linden Trees” (Tat. Ufa yukәlere), which formed the basis of the song performed by Alsou.
- One of the paintings by Konstantin Vasiliev is called “Sky over Unter den Linden”.
Write a review on the article "Unter den Linden"
Links
- 360° panorama (German)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Excerpt characterizing Unter den Linden
Although none of the column commanders approached the ranks or spoke to the soldiers (the column commanders, as we saw at the military council, were not in a good mood and dissatisfied with the undertaking and therefore only carried out orders and did not care about amusing the soldiers), despite However, the soldiers walked cheerfully, as always, going into action, especially offensively. But, after walking for about an hour in thick fog, most of the army had to stop, and an unpleasant consciousness of the ongoing disorder and confusion swept through the ranks. How this consciousness is transmitted is very difficult to determine; but what is certain is that it is transmitted unusually faithfully and spreads quickly, imperceptibly and uncontrollably, like water through a ravine. If the Russian army had been alone, without allies, then perhaps a lot of time would have passed before this consciousness of disorder would have become a general confidence; but now, with special pleasure and naturalness attributing the cause of the unrest to the stupid Germans, everyone was convinced that there was a harmful confusion caused by the sausage makers.- What did they become? Al blocked? Or have they already stumbled upon a Frenchman?
- No, I haven’t heard. Otherwise he would have started firing.
“They were in a hurry to speak out, but when they set out, they stood uselessly in the middle of the field—the damned Germans are confusing everything.” What stupid devils!
“Then I would have let them go ahead.” And then, I suppose, they are huddling behind. So now stand there without eating.
- So, will it be there soon? The cavalry, they say, blocked the road,” the officer said.
“Oh, the damned Germans, they don’t know their land,” said another.
-What division are you in? - the adjutant shouted as he drove up.
- Eighteenth.
- So why are you here? You should have been ahead a long time ago, now you won’t make it until evening.
- Those orders are stupid; “They don’t know what they’re doing,” the officer said and drove off.
Then a general drove by and shouted something angrily, not in Russian.
“Tafa lafa, you can’t understand what he’s muttering,” said the soldier, mimicking the departed general. - I would shoot them, scoundrels!
“We were told to be there at nine o’clock, but we weren’t even halfway through.” These are the orders! - repeated from different sides.
And the feeling of energy with which the troops went into action began to turn into annoyance and anger at the stupid orders and at the Germans.
The reason for the confusion was that while the Austrian cavalry was moving on the left flank, the higher authorities found that our center was too far from the right flank, and the entire cavalry was ordered to move to the right side. Several thousand cavalry advanced ahead of the infantry, and the infantry had to wait.
Ahead there was a clash between the Austrian column leader and the Russian general. The Russian general shouted, demanding that the cavalry be stopped; the Austrian argued that it was not he who was to blame, but the higher authorities. Meanwhile, the troops stood, bored and discouraged. After an hour's delay, the troops finally moved further and began to descend down the mountain. The fog that dispersed on the mountain only spread thicker in the lower areas where the troops descended. Ahead, in the fog, one shot was heard, then another, at first awkwardly at different intervals: draft... tat, and then more and more smoothly and more often, and the matter began over the Goldbach River.
Not expecting to meet the enemy below the river and accidentally stumbling upon him in the fog, not hearing a word of inspiration from the highest commanders, with the consciousness spreading throughout the troops that it was too late, and, most importantly, in the thick fog not seeing anything ahead and around them, the Russians lazily and slowly exchanged fire with the enemy, moved forward and stopped again, not receiving orders from the commanders and adjutants, who were wandering through the fog in an unfamiliar area, not finding their units of troops. Thus began the case for the first, second and third columns that went down. The fourth column, with Kutuzov himself, stood on the Pratsen Heights.
At the bottom, where the matter began, there was still a thick fog, at the top it had cleared, but nothing was visible from what was happening ahead. Whether all the enemy forces, as we assumed, were ten miles away from us or whether he was here, in this line of fog, no one knew until the ninth hour.
It was 9 o'clock in the morning. The fog spread like a continuous sea along the bottom, but near the village of Šlapanice, at the height at which Napoleon stood, surrounded by his marshals, it was completely light. Above him was a clear, blue sky, and a huge ball of the sun, like a huge hollow crimson float, swayed on the surface of a milky sea of fog. Not only all the French troops, but Napoleon himself and his headquarters were located on the wrong side of the streams and the bottoms of the villages of Sokolnitz and Shlapanitz, behind which we intended to take a position and begin business, but on this side, so close to our troops that Napoleon could in our army to distinguish horse from foot. Napoleon stood somewhat ahead of his marshals on a small gray Arabian horse, wearing a blue overcoat, the same one in which he fought the Italian campaign. He silently peered into the hills, which seemed to protrude from a sea of fog, and along which Russian troops were moving in the distance, and listened to the sounds of shooting in the ravine. At that time, his still thin face did not move a single muscle; the shining eyes were motionless fixed on one place. His assumptions turned out to be correct. Some of the Russian troops had already descended into the ravine to the ponds and lakes, and some were clearing those Pratsen heights, which he intended to attack and considered the key to the position. He saw, in the midst of the fog, how, in a depression made up of two mountains near the village of Prats, Russian columns, all moving in one direction towards the hollows, bayonets shining, disappeared one after another into the sea of fog. According to the information he received in the evening, from the sounds of wheels and footsteps heard at night at the outposts, from the disorderly movement of the Russian columns, from all assumptions, he clearly saw that the allies considered him far ahead of them, that the columns moving near Pratzen formed the center of the Russian army, and that the center is already weakened enough to attack it successfully. But he still hadn't started the business.
Unter den Linden Street is Berlin's most famous boulevard; several of the city's famous attractions are concentrated here. It stretches for about one and a half kilometers in the very center of the city - from the Brandenburg Gate to Museum Island.
Today, Unter den Linden street is the main “calling card” of Berlin.
The name of the street literally translated from German means “Under the linden trees.” It appeared after in the 17th century, Elector Friedrich Wilhelm decided to improve the road along which he regularly traveled to his hunting grounds Tiergarten. Following the Dutch model, a thousand linden and a thousand walnut trees were planted along the road in three rows. At that time, almost the entire road was outside the city walls.
Since the city was constantly growing, the border was moved further and further, the enterprising wife of the elector Dorothea divided the uninhabited area along the road into parts and began to sell plots. This is how the suburbs of Berlin grew, and later - the area of the city of Dorotheenstadt (the city of Dorothea) with the houses of courtiers and wealthy citizens.
Unter den Linden reached its peak under the reign of King Frederick the Great of Prussia (Friedrich der Große). The king's court architect, Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, built here the Frederick's Forum (Forum Fridericianum), today's Bebelplatz, the Opera House (Opernhaus), the Catholic Cathedral of St. Hedwig (Sankt-Hedwigs-Kathedrale), the royal library and palace of Prince Henry (Palais des Prinzen Heinrich).
In the 19th century, after the victory over Napoleon, King Frederick William III decided to make Unter den Linden a triumphal avenue. The architectural ensemble of Unter den Linden includes the Brandenburg Gate with the famous quadriga and Parisian Square, as well as the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great installed in the center of the street.
In the 19th century, the street was rapidly filled with new buildings; fashionable shops, hotels, restaurants, and office space appeared here. In 1880, a special “Linden” law was even issued, prohibiting the construction of houses on the street higher than 22 meters, prescribing a street width of 60 meters and a minimum number of linden trees growing on the street of 297 pieces.
Since the end of the 19th century, Unter den Linden has been transformed from a boulevard into the central thoroughfare of Berlin. In 1916, the emperor ordered the construction of a tunnel under the street for aesthetic reasons.
During the Nazi era, troops marched along Unter den Linden, so the linden trees in the way were simply demolished.
During World War II the street was almost completely destroyed. In 1950, the Hohenzollern palace-residence was blown up; later, in its place, the GDR authorities built the asbestos Palace of the Republic. After the unification of Germany, the Palace of the Republic was demolished, and work is currently underway to restore the royal residence palace.
During the GDR era, townspeople called Unter den Linden “the most luxurious dead end in the world” - the border zone between East and West Berlin ran here. Most of the historic buildings on the street were restored in the sixties.
Today, linden trees are again planted on Unter den Linden Street, under which townspeople and numerous tourists walk. In addition, there are museums, a theater, several embassies, including the Russian one, the building of Humboldt University, hotels, and shops.
Attractions on Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the German capital. There really is a lot of interesting things here.
Brandenburg Gate
Palace Bridge
The Palace Bridge connects Unter den Linden and Spreeinsel, on which the Lustgarten park, Berlin Cathedral and Museum Island are located.
The Palace Bridge got its name from the Berlin City Palace located here, the main winter residence of the Prussian kings, which is currently being restored.
The bridge was designed by architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1824 and is decorated with eight sculptures of ancient Greek goddesses and heroes.
Lustgarten Park
The Lustgarten park is located on Museum Island, at the end of Unter den Linden. At various times, the Lustgarten was used as a palace park, as a square for parades, mass demonstrations, and as a city park.
Berlin Cathedral
Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) is the largest German evangelical church in the center of Berlin, on Museum Island. The cathedral was completely rebuilt in the 19th century.
How to get there
Unter den Linden street is easily accessible by any type of transport; it is located in the very center of the city.
By public transport
There are two ways to get to Unter den Linden - you can go to the Brandenburg Gate station on the east side of the street or, on the west side, to the Museum Island area.
From the west side:
- By S-Bahn (S-Bahn): lines 1, 2, 25 to the Brandenburg Gate stop.
- By U-Bahn: U5 from the main train station (Hauptbahnhof).
- By bus (Bus): M 41, M 85, TXL, 120, 123,147,240, 245) to the Brandenburg Gate stop.
From the east side:
- By metro: Lines U2, U5, U8 to Alexanderplatz station.
- Bus: 100, 200 to stop Am Lustgarten.
- S-Bahn (Es Bann): Lines S3, S5, S7, S9 to Hackescher Markt station.
- Tram: M4 M5 M6 to Spandauer Strasse stop.
By car
From the Berlin Circle, follow the Centrum sign, then Brandenburger Tor (on the west side) or Alexanderplatz (on the east side of the street). There are several parking garages located near Unter den Linden.
By taxi
Unter den Linden is easily accessible by Uber or Berlin Taxi.
Video about Unter den Linden street
