Selections of architectural loveliness

The self-balanced spiral staircase in the Maechenkoepfer Haus, a building from the 1790s that was on our Schnitzeljagd (scavenger hunt) - so named for the sculptures of women's faces over the windows facing the street (in Mitte).



The Reichstag, at dusk, on my first walk around Berlin the evening after I arrived - the Brandenburg Gate is just around the corner, and in the opposite direction is the Spree, the river that I live very near. Before the Wende (the change, when the wall fell & reunification followed), the river formed part of the border between East and West Berlin. The Reichstag was in the West; my apartment was in the East.



Baroque sculptures atop the Deustches historisches Museum, which was originally the military counterpart to the 18th-century royal residence on Unter den Linden, Berlin's grand boulevard.



The Inner Courtyard of the Deutsches historisches Museum, with a canopy designed by I.M. Pei - it was restored within the last 15 years, and feels a lot like the grand court in the British Museum; Pei's extension for modern exhibits is very similar to the East Wing of the National Gallery in Washington DC. It is an incredibly quiet, warm space - totally peaceful, full of light.



A good example of characteristic old Berlin architecture - the Hof, or courtyard, originally lay behind the building closest to the street, which was built in the 18th century. Then, a bigger building was added, filling in part of the Hof in the early 19th century, and finally an industrial building added again behind it in the later 19th/early 20th century. The tallest structure was a butter and milk products factory. The result, where the architecture survives, is an old building facing the street, and then a doorway or passage leading to a courtyard with offices, galleries, restaurants, and then another beyond. One famous set, the Haeckescher Hoefe, have more than 10 of the courtyards, full of shops and theaters and such (in Mitte).