From the roof of the Reichstag. A member of staff has a smoke break. A slightly less common street detail nowadays for LAPC #371.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The last time, before this visit in September, I saw this part of Berlin was in November 1989. This side was West Berlin, the Spree and across was East Berlin. The Berlin Wall cut straight to the right. It was just 20 meters from the East wall of the Reichstag.
Now the Bundestag offices connect both sides of the river. The tension of the Berlin Wall is literally out of sight. But not forgotten. Seven crosses are just outside this frame on the right side. They remind us of the people who tried to flee East Germany and were killed.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version. The monochrome photo of 1989 was shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX.
This high rising can be found near the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
On the corner of the former Checkpoint Charlie (on the West Side).
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
A beautiful, hospitable hotel in the center of Berlin, Adlon. A wonderful place for tea and scones after a walk.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
A street in Charlottenburg.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
During the days of the Berlin Wall, the central transport hub of West-Berlin was Zoo station (Tiergarten). In 2006 the new Hauptbahnhof opened. In front of it is this 3XN Cube.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Berlin has a wonderful (and cheap) public transportation infrastructure. One of the building blocks is the U-Bahn. Station Hausvogteiplatz.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Every big city has its own mall, a big shopping center. Most of the times the shops and brands are the same as in the mall next to where you live. And the food court can be slightly different. The Mall of Berlin is no exception to that rule. The location (Leipziger Platz) makes it interesting, as does the architecture.
As always I can not choose: color, or mono?
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Food in Berlin is cheap (and in the right places) good!
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
A landmark you can not overlook. The TV Tower (Fernsehturm) at Alexanderplatz. Here seen from the Paul Löbe Allee, next to the offices of the prime minister of Germany.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Views from the roof of the Reichstag. The panorama in the middle of the topline is from the iPhone15promax. On the bottom row on the left, you can see several notable ‘towers’. There is the television tower on Alexanderplatz, the International Trade Center, Berlin Cathedral, and the Red Town Hall. On the top right on the left the dome of the Französischer Dom, and on the right the Deutchser Dom (on Gendarmenmarkt).
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Panorama shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The dome on the Reichstag offers a wonderful panoramic view on Berlin. And you can walk the rest of the roof as well to look over the city. Here an impression in monochrome.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
The front of the Reichstag. A visit was on the top of my list. In 1989 the Berlin Wall was right next to the building; and since 1989 this area was completely developed. So we booked a visit to the dome. On this photo I left the dome out consciously. I wanted to have an image like the building looked in November 1989 below.
The history of the Reichstag is connected to my hometown and Leiden. In 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe was accused, tried and sentenced by the Nazi-regime for setting fire to the building. He was born in Leiden en lived in Oegstgeest, as did his family.
About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version. The monochrome photo of 1989 was shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX.
A view from the roof of the Reichstag, overlooking Tiergarten. On the left The Victory Column. On the right side is the Carillion, a 42 meter hight bell tower. And in the background the Teufelsberg.
I am not sure this photo is dreamy enough to enter Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #369 ‘dreamy’.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Human measure on Potsdamer Platz. During the time of the Berlin Wall people were a spic in a vast open space. Now they are a spic being over towered by high rising.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Brandenburger Gate (Brandenburger Tor) is a much used backdrop for photos in Berlin.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Checkpoint Charlie, symbol of the cold war.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Berlin has a wonderful (and cheap) public transportation infrastructure. One of the building blocks is the U-Bahn.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Another impression of the the Memorial to the murdered Jews in Europe.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max and Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Last September I revisited Berlin after 46 years. One of the reasons to come back was to visit the Memorial to the murdered Jews in Europe. I had read stories and seen photos, and I wondered how I would take photo’s of it. And what it would be like to wonder through it. This visit I had my first experience with the monument. Here is the first impression (and the coming days I will publish some more).
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The Bahntower on the Potsdamer Platz, headoffice of the Deutsche Bahn.
Potsdamer Platz was the vivid heart of Berlin. During World War II, it was almost completely destroyed. Since 1961 Potsdamer Platz was a no man’s land, a death strip as part of the Berlin Wall. After the fall of Berlin Wall this was the biggest property developing area in a major city in Europe.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Brandenburger Gate (Brandenburger Tor) is a symbol of unity for Berlin and Germany. Nowadays the Pariser Platz (Paris Square) is a pedestrian and bicycle area.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Brandenburger Gate (Brandenburger Tor) in Berlin was an iconic point at the time of the Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer). The gate then stood in no mans land, and showed the alienating effects of division through the city. Now the Brandenburger Gate is a symbol of unity of Berlin. It was a pleasure to walk through the gates, and enjoy the people and streets around it. And the see the gate back at its splendor.
About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.
The monochrome set of 1989 was shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX. The colorfilm was Fuji, and shot on Pentax Espio 115M. 2025 photos shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the pictures for a larger version.
One of the beautiful squares in Berlin: the Gendarmenmarkt. On one side you find the Deutscher Dom a.k.a. Neue Kirche (German Cathedral), and opposite the Französischer Dom (French Cathedral). The top photo reflects the latter in the doors of the Deutscher Dom.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
One of the memorial landmarks of Berlin is the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche. In its simplicity it is a powerful landmark and memorial.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Walking through Berlin was sometimes causing some disorientation. Lots of places that were ‘void and empty’ in November 1989 are now (re)build. In 1989 I just saw a small part of former East Berlin. It was a challenge to figure out what I was looking at. An old building, a refurbished one or a new build? I have a slight preference for old buildings. Lots of them are beautifully restored. This is one of them: the Bundesrat in the former Prussian House of Lords. As seen from the Mall of Berlin.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
September 2025 I visited Berlin for the second time. My first visit was in November 1989. That coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall. After 46 years I wanted to see how Berlin had changed since ‘die Wende’.
In 1989 we just spent one day in East Berlin. This visit the first day we looked around in the former East Berlin area. The television tower still towers over the city at Alexanderplatz. There is still a lot of construction activity, and along the roads you see pipes in blue and pink. First I thought that it was a smart concrete transport system. In reality it is a way to pump out groundwater from construction sites into the Spree river.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
September 2025 I visited Berlin for the second time. My first visit was in November 1989. That coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall. After 46 years I wanted to see how Berlin had changed since ‘die Wende’. The coming days I will publish some photos of this trip.
Friends had ‘warned’ me about the changes I would see. What in 1989 was a vast open space (e.g. the Potzdamer Platz) is now completely filled with modern architecture. But what struck me the most was the vibrant vitality the city breathes now. It is cosmopolitan and a magnet.
One of the landmark squares of Berlin is Alexanderplatz. On a building just a few hunder meters away I saw this text ‘Allesandersplatz’. Everything is different square? German humor? Or the basic conclusion after the first day. A lot changed. At face value.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The view on the Moltkebrücke over the river Spree on an Autumn morning in November 1989. The world was waiting for the Berlin Wall to open formally. Further upstream the Spree was part of the border between East and West. We are walking towards the transitpoint for foreigners in the Invalidenstrasse (link to interactive map of the former Berlin Wall) to enter East Berlin.
About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.
Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Leann Cole suggested ‘tourist attractions, near and far’ as LAPC’s 307. My motivation for going to places changed in my life time. From ‘active’ holidays (including climbing some big mountains by bycicle) to complete leisure (eg seeing the Greek Isles with lots of lazy moments). And in between the travels to dig into the culture and essence of a place on earth, to learn and experience it. But wherever I went as a ‘photographer’ I tried to capture where I was. To be stunned by what is just there in front of you, the unexpected. And yes, the times I did visit an ‘iconic attraction’ I tried to find my own way of framing it, trying to keep away form the cliches that are so widely known. For this challenge I dig into my blogs archive, all the photos are here published already.
Over the years I learned to value and appreciate my own way of looking, being surprised by my own views of what I saw and how I saw it. To appreciate simple things of beauty that stuck out or the composition of objects. If you travel far, you are only there for a moment, if you stay close to home you have access all of the time. But being close to home the challenge is bigger to stay open, to see what is there, to not take it for granted.
After the ‘near’ version yesterday, today is the ‘far’ version. My blog archive here goes back to 2018 so that is de scope of picking. I started picking them in a big gallery, and doing that it got quite big. But I leave it as it is. I hope you bear with me and browse through them.
You can see randomly photos from England, Greece, France, Germany (some are from Berlin in november 1989), Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Tibet, Nepal, Belgium, Ireland, Malta, Italy (Rome), Spain. Occasionally you wil see an iconic object, but most of the time I was there for the landscape, the street encounters, nature etc. And I cheated a bit: there are some photos of Tourist Attractions from far that came to Amsterdam in the Ziggo Dome: Genesis and Peter Gabriel.
I hope you do enjoy the gallery, and if you want to plunge deep into more of it I invite you to search by category or countries if you are interested in more.
This week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge (#167) is Colors of Autumn.
At the moment there is not much Autumn colors to be seen in The Netherlands, so one from the archive near Heimbach.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
This week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge (#167) is Colors of Autumn.
At the moment there is not much Autumn colors to be seen in The Netherlands, so one from the archive near Heimbach.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
This week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge (#167) is Colors of Autumn.
At the moment there is not much Autumn colors to be seen in The Netherlands, so one from the archive. The river Rur near Heimbach.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme for Weekly Lens Artists 126 is ‘A stands for … ’. Aachen, the Christmas market.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme for Weekly Lens Artists 125 is ‘you can pick it’.
A view from the ‘red house’ in Monschau. Yesterday I posted the colored version of this photo. Like earlier this week I like to know if you prefer the color or the mono version. Leave your comments with your choice! After all: this week it is your pick.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme for Weekly Lens Artists 125 is ‘you can pick it’.
A view from the ‘red house’ in Monschau.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme for Weekly Lens Artists 125 is ‘you can pick it’. Any way.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme for Weekly Lens Artists 125 is ‘you can pick it’.
Yesterday I posted the monochrome version of this photo. They do differ, not only in color. I wonder which one you prefer.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme for Weekly Lens Artists 125 is ‘you can pick it’.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme for Weekly Lens Artists 125 is ‘you can pick it’.
Where fiction, art and reality meet. I googled for some more information about this fountain and found it on the site of the Aachen tourist service. It is called ‘Kreislauf des Geldes’ aka Money Cycle.
In this cycle money goes from hand to hand. The fountain was created in 1976 by Karl-Henning Seemann. The people shown symbolise avarice, greed, patronage and begging. Just like money, the water in the fountain flows all year round, since it is fed by the thermal springs. In the summer in particular, the fountain is a popular meeting point for Aacheners and visitors to the city, and for young and old looking to cool down in the flowing water. (source: Aachen Tourist service)
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme of Lens-Artists #124 is ‘Now and then’.
Meeting a cow in the main street can be a surprise. During Covid pandemic the cow might be the only object in the street.
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The theme for Lens-artists Weekly Photo Challenge #110 is ‘Creativity in a time of Covid’.
Looking back to our history we have known barriers and borders, preventing us to do what we wanted, or keeping us in. The Berlin Wall in November 1989, just before it ‘fell’.
About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.
Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The theme for Lens-artists Weekly Photo Challenge #102 is ‘A Quiet Moment’.
Germany, Monschau – November 2016
The theme for the weekly Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #83 is ‘future’
When you look at the past you can see the future in Monschau
If you want to join or participate in the weekly Lens-Artists Photo Challenges just follow the link above
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
Germany, Aachen – November 2016
The theme for the weekly Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #83 is ‘future’
The past reflected in the future.
If you want to join or participate in the weekly Lens-Artists Photo Challenges just follow the link above
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
On November 9 1989 the Berlin Wall opened. A few days later I happened to be in Berlin for a short holiday. The Wall was open. There was a an opening in the Potsdamer Platz. A long row of people was waiting in the big empty space. On the east side the atmosphere was still spooky and depressing. The Wall had opened, but the infrastructure that kept East-Germans inside was still there. The guards, the towers, the barb wire, the mines, the ‘no man’s land zone’, the spooky and unrealistic atmosphere of separation and repression. On the west side spirits were high; people were attacking The Wall to get memorabilia, tearing it down with hammers and chisels. There was the anticipation of change, everybody (including the press at the Brandenburger Tor) was waiting for The Big Opening. It was the principal press area for reporting from Berlin in those days. People selling t-shirts, buttons. Here an album of pictures of these days. Some I published earlier some are new. I will never forget how it felt to walk through East-Berlin which was still in its old state. In a way I am happy I did that, before it all disappeared. I am looking forward to a long weekend in Berlin to visit these places again and going to one of the most vibrant cities in the world.
The theme for the weekly Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #70 is ‘monochrome’.
If you want to join or participate in the weekly Lens-Artists Photo Challenges just follow the link above.
The weekly theme is ‘relax’. Show something that means relaxation.
Beauty is soothing. Einruhr, a little town in the Eifel.
Germany, Einruhr – November 2016
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
The weekly theme is ‘relax’. Show something that means relaxation.
Trees on the shores of the Rurstausee in Autumn near Heimbach in the Eifel.
Germany, Heimbach – November 2016
Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
What's (in) the Picture? 