So, after I’ve showed you Sony’s sparkling tree-formed decoration, it’s time for a real Christmas tree. I can’t say how many trees I’ve seen on my way through the City, but this one is definitely the prettiest, standing in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
As I mentioned yesterday, today was Berlin’s 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Many World leaders and dignitaries were invited.
Chancellor Merkel said some Words in front of the Brandenburg Gate, she herself grew up in East Germany and was one of thousands to cross into the West on Nov, 9, 1989 – “Today marks a truly happy moment of the German and the European history,” She said. “Twenty years ago the door to freedom opened up and a seemingly invincible wall that divided a people and an entire continent suddenly became permeable. For me, it was one of the happiest moments of my life.”
The Main Event was a symbolic Fall of the Wall in form of 1,000 dominoes to symbolize fall of the communist regimes and iron curtain in Eastern Europe. The first stone was pushed by the former Polish politician Lech Wałęsa.
The 1,000 Stones, 2,5m high, all hand-painted, were lined a 1,6km long portion of the route once occupied by the wall. I took a couple of pictures from some very interesting Stones.
A new Trailer for Berlin’s image campaign “be Berlin” will be aired on CNN International in 148 countries worldwide. The 30 seconds clip shows a few of Berlin’s landmarks, people and shall show Berlin’s transformation to a unique and dynamic metropolis, 20 years after the fall of the Wall. Continue reading
The fifth Festival of Lights has ended, during the last two weeks, you were able to see Berlin in a different light.
Since 2005, every year in October, Berlin turns into a sparkling metropolis,
about 5000 LED-lamps, 750 LED-spotlights and 900 Fluorescent lamps, were used this time to illuminate 59 world-famous historical landmarks and spots in Berlin,
for the biggest festival in the history of the Festival of Lights.
After the Big Giant and the Little Giantess woke up this morning in the Pariser Platz and passed the Brandenburg Gate in front of an enthusiastic crowd of onlookers, they are now strolling along the Straße des 17. Juni, happily reunited.
To send its giants off on their travels, Royal de Luxe needs skill, flair and organization. Otherwise the two giants, 15 meters and 7.5 meters tall respectively, would not move. Both marionettes are supported by vehicles which enable their massive bodies to walk through the streets. The giants move in an unbelievably lifelike way, as if by magic, but it takes 30 “Lilliputians” (actors) just to bring the 2.5-ton Big Giant to life. Though lighter than her uncle, the Little Giantess also weighs in at no less than 800 kg. The bodies of both giants are works of art, made of steel, lime wood and poplar wood.
Just to give an idea of their dimensions: the Big Giant has a European shoe size of 237, and the Little Giantess’s wig was made out of 50 horses’ tails. It takes an enormous effort to make these marionettes look human – a work of art far beyond the grounds of technical feasibility alone.
Now, after 3 Days of hard work, the Giants and their court are finally back in France, they left Berlin by water on their big boat.
Today on Reunification Day in Berlin, the Deep Sea Diver appeared out of the Humboldtbecken near the Hauptbahnhof.
Surrounded by enthusiastic spectators, this deep sea diver dripping with water has set off across the Moltke Bridge and through the government quarter in search of his niece.
Uncle and niece are searching each other, walking though the western and eastern part of Berlin. They got separated many years ago and maybe, they will find each other today.
A giant’s tale, narrated by Royal de Luxe,
during the next 3 days, the City of Berlin will be the stage for a “giant” open-air theatre spectacle.
“She’s here at last! Sleepy and confused, the Little Giantess opened her eyes this morning alongside her ocean-going boat in front of the Rotes Rathaus to see many sets of eyes staring at her.”
The fairy tale for Berlin begins, the story about losing and finding relatives was only written for Berlin by Jean Luc Courcoult, related to the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Today the Little Giantess will investigate the surrounding area of the Rotes Rathaus, from the Bebelplatz as far as the Gendarmenmarkt and the Lustgarten with wide-eyed curiosity.
The Main Tropical Greenhouse in Berlin’s Botanical Garden was reconstructed from 2006 until 2009 and is now again open to the public. After over 100 years, the technical equipment was obsolete and the framework was heavily damaged from rust, so the Greenhouse had to be refurbished. It has a ground surface of 60 x 30 m and a height of 23 m, thus ranging among the largest greenhouses of the world.
Taxonomic groups, like orchids, ferns and bromeliads, or to plants requiring similar cultivation techniques, like succulents, water plants, and insectivorous plants, are grouped together in some houses. Within the main tropical glasshouse, the left half contains plants from tropical America, the right half plants from tropical Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific region.
The Greenhouse contains about 1.300 plants from different continents and pylons are explaining facts about the different kinds of plants to the visitors.
Sometimes, a simple sand castle isn’t enough.
“City of the Future” – Yesterday, the 2. United Sand Festival, Germany’s biggest and most established sand sculpture festival came to its end. Over 2,000 tons of sand were used to create 18 fragile sculptures of up to 8 metres in height. They all were made by the best sand artists of the world.
Here are some pictures from the most interesting sculptures of the festival:
Due to the Men Marathon Finals with a 10km loop through the heart of Berlin, a lot of people (100.000) have gathered to watch the event, some of them to cheer for their own friends, that’s right, people had a chance to register themselves for the marathon, to run together with all those athletes from around the world.