City Map Graffiti – 775 years of Berlin


The City of Berlin created a huge, walkable city map which presents the Berlin of today, as part of the upcoming festivities of the 775th anniversary of Berlin which will take place on October 28th. The map is covered with huge colored pins, each one of them telling a story about the places they are stuck into and visitors can read about events happened there during the last 775 years.

The open-air exhibition called City of Diversity can be found on Schlossplatz in Berlin Mitte right beside the Humboldt Box where the new Stadtschloss (called Humboldt Forum) will arise in future.

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The Castle of Berlin and the Humboldt Box

The Stadtschloss, in English the Berlin City Palace, was a royal palace in the centre of Berlin. It was the principal residence of the Hohenzollern Kings of Prussia from 1701 to 1918 (the German Emperors from 1871 to 1918) and a museum following the fall of the German Empire in 1918.

Damaged by Allied bombing in World War II, although possible to repair at great expense, the palace was demolished in 1950 by the GDR authorities, despite West German protests. Following the reunification of Germany, it was decided to rebuild the Stadtschloss.

The new Castle will be named Humboldt Forum and will be rebuilt as a replica of the former Baroque building. In the meantime a big blue box, called HumboldtBox, will cover the empty space right beside the Berlin Cathedral. If you want to know more about the whole project, just visit the exhibition on the first floor, or if you just want to relax, the restaurant on the fifth floor provides you a 360° panoramic view over Berlin.

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