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Opernpalais<br />
The charming building<br />
next to the Staatsoper,<br />
built in 1733–7,<br />
served as a palace for<br />
the princesses.<br />
Russische<br />
Botschaft<br />
The gigantic Russian<br />
Embassy, built in Stalinist<br />
“wedding-cake style”,<br />
was the first building to<br />
be constructed in Unter<br />
den Linden after World<br />
War II (see also p118).<br />
For more on Unter den Linden see pp112–21<br />
Humboldt-Universität<br />
Berlin’s oldest and most highly regarded<br />
university was founded in 1890, on the<br />
initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt. Twentynine<br />
Nobel Prize winners were educated<br />
here, including Albert Einstein.<br />
Neue Wache<br />
The central German memorial for all<br />
victims of war was created in the years<br />
1816–8 and designed by Karl Friedrich<br />
Schinkel. An enlarged reproduction of the<br />
moving Pietà sculpture by Käthe Kollwitz<br />
stands in the centre of the room.<br />
Kronprinzenpalais<br />
The Neo-Classical<br />
Palais, built in 1732–3 by<br />
Philipp Gerlach, was originally<br />
a residence for the<br />
heirs to the Hohenzollern<br />
throne. After World War I<br />
it became an art museum,<br />
and after 1948 the<br />
East German government<br />
housed state visitors<br />
there. Until 2003 it was<br />
used for exhibitions of the<br />
Deutsches Historisches<br />
Museum opposite.<br />
Frederick<br />
the Great’s Statue<br />
One of Christian Daniel<br />
Rauch’s grandest sculptures,<br />
this statue shows<br />
the “Old Fritz” (13.5 m/<br />
45 ft high) on horseback,<br />
wearing a uniform and tricorn<br />
hat (see also p113).<br />
Bebelplatz<br />
Originally named<br />
Opernplatz, this wide,<br />
open space was designed<br />
by Georg W von Knobelsdorff<br />
as the focal point of<br />
his Forum Fridericianum.<br />
The elegant square was<br />
meant to introduce some<br />
of the splendour and<br />
glory of ancient Rome to<br />
the Prussian capital. In<br />
May 1933, it became the<br />
scene of the infamous<br />
Nazi book burning.<br />
Berlin’s Top 10<br />
13