Tiergarten and Moabit
SIEGESSÄULE, SCHLOSSPARK BELLEVUE, STRASSE DES 17 JUNI

Tiergarten is one of the localities in the West part of Berlin's city center borough, Mitte. Große Tiergarten (Greater Animal Garden, literally) is a very large park in the Tiergarten neighbourhood. It borders Brandenburger Tor and Potsdamer Platz to the East and City West and Moabit districts to the West. It is known for the zoo with the same name, Tiergarten.

 

Großer Tiergarten Park:

Großer Tiergarten, known just as Tiergarten is a huge park that covers a large part of the Tiergarten locality. I had picnic/dinner in Tiergarten this late august afternoon.

Potsdamer Platz seen from Tiergarten's east end.

Once a hunting ground of the Electors of Brandenburg the Großer Tiergarten park of today was designed in the 1830s by landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné. Source: Wikipedia

Brandenburger Tor seen from Tiergarten.

Photo session at Strasse des 17 juni.

Strasse des 17 juni is a wide avenue that goes right through the Tiergarten park. It begins at Brandenburger Tor in the east, pass Großer Stern/Siegessäule (Victory Column) and ends at Ernst-Reuter-Platz in the west.

Soviet War Memorial, one of several war memorials in Berlin erected by the Soviet Union to commemorate the 80 000 Soviet soldiers who died during WWII.

The Soviet War Memorial was erected in 1945, just a few months after the capture of the city, before a long periode of Eastern Germany communist regime. It is situated just next to Strasse des 17 juni, in the Großer Tiergarten park. Some of the memorial's marble is taken from destroyed government buildings.

This tank is part of the Soviet War Memorial.

Part of the North part of the Tiergarten park, that is divided into two parts by the Strasse des 17 juni.

Strasse des 17 juni, looking West towards Siegessäule, surorunded by the park.

Strasse des 17 juni, looking East towards Brandenburger Tor, surorunded by the park.

 

Siegessäule (Victory Column):

Siegessäule, the Angel Monument, was featured frequently in the 1987 movie "Heaven over Berlin".

Siegessäule, the Victory Column. It stands at the traffic circle Großer Stern in the middle of the Tiergarten park. It was designed by Heinrich Strack to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War. It was originally placed in front of the Reichstag (the parliament building) but was moved to this location.

It is sometimes called Goldelse by Berliners (the golden lizzy). The Victory Column is a major tourist attraction to the city of Berlin. As it symbolizes the German military of the past, it is by some Berliners still seen as a Nazi symbol. In 2008, Barack Obama spoke at the Victory Column in front of a crowd of over 200 000 people. It also served a significant role during the Love Parade festivals.

Details of the golden angel at the top of the Victory Column.

 

Schloß Bellevue in Park Bellevue:

Schloß Bellevue, the official residence of the president of Germany since 1994. It is located in the Park Bellevue, next to the Großer Tiergarten Park and Siegessäule.

Bellevue means "scenic view" in French and derives from the view over River Spree from the palace. The palace was built in 1786 as the summer residence of Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia. It was a guesthouse for the Nazis in 1938. It was refurbished in the 1950s after the WWII bombings.

A fire post in front of the Bellevue Palace.

Moabit:

The border to the Moabit locality, seen from the Tiergarten locality.

River Spree, around the Moabit locality and Schloßpark Bellevue, the park of the Bellevue Palace.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesinnenministerium des Innern).A postmodern federal office building built in 1999, just next to River Spree.