My 2013 Project

THE RIVER WALK 
 ALONG THE SPREE IN BERLIN

In 2013 we went back to Berlin to visit family and friends. 

I felt I had to go on walkabouts again to explore anew the place where I grew up. 

No harbour here to walk around. But there is a river which flows right through the middle of Berlin, the Spree. And that river  was in large part the divide between East and West during the Cold War.   

Yes, it would be good to walk along the banks of the river Spree.

So I did. 

I had to do the walk in stages. I could have walked it all easily in a day. It is about 10 km only to walk from Oberbaumbruecke to Hansabruecke. But I never had that much time to myself. And I wanted to walk alone again. It feels better, one notices more what is going on all around. So I fitted bits of river walks in between visits whenever I could. 

I would have liked to walk a longer distance, from Koepenick to Spandau, from Mueggelsee to the river Havel. But there was just not enough time to do it. Maybe next time I can do that. 

I did my River Spree Walks from end of April to beginning of June 2013

1

I started my River Walk at Oberbaumbruecke,
in the suburb of Friedrichhain. 

It is easy to get there by suburban trains. The S-Bahn and U-Bahn stop at Warschauer Strasse station near Oberbaumbruecke. 

The Oberbaum Bridgre has a long history. It was built in 1896, destroyed at the end of World War 2 in 1945, rebuilt and became one of the few border crossings between East- and West-Berlin when the Wall was put up in 1961 till it fell in 1989.

The bridge crosses the Spree, 

and the Berliner Mauer was right there.

One of the few still standing remnants of the Wall is here.

This over one km long section of the Wall is known as the East Side Gallery. Soon after the fall of the Berlin Mauer artists from many countries painted the concrete panels and creating the largest open air gallery in the world, a memorial to freedom.

                   

 

Tourists and Berliners like walking along this heritage listed artwork in Muehlenstrasse.

Each time I am in Berlin I have to come here.

2  

The other side of the Wall is free for all and filled with ever changing graffiti.

Here like everywhere else in Berlin is a lot of building activity is going on. Recently a 30m section had been moved to make room for a new development. There is talk that more of the East Side Gallery may be moved, and that causes a lot of protest.

A little further on is a kind of  a ‘Beach Resort’ of sorts. Any chance ever to use that surfboard there?  

From here it is easy to catch a train at Ostbahnhof station to the city.

3

I kept walking along the northern side of the Spree, still in the former East-Berlin. 

Further on Muehlenstrasse turns into Holzmarktstrasse and there is not easy access to the Spree. Fenced off building sites, some industry and business establishments, old and new apartment blocks go right down to the river.

This building site was not long ago a little  temporary waterside bar like the one on the opposite bank.

From the many bridges across the Spree one gets a good view over the river.

From Schillingbruecke I looked  back over the Spree to 

Oberbaumbruecke.

The viaduct was built end 19th century to carry the railway. 

 

Further along  from Michaelbruecke I looked back to Schillingbruecke, 

 and ahead towards Jannowitzbruecke.

Back on Holzmarktstrasse,

it takes only a few minutes to get to Jannowitzbruecke and the train station.

4

From Jannowitzbruecke I walked along Rolandufer 

and got soon to Muehlendamm Schleuse.

This is one of the locks regulating the river flow.

 The Spree splits in two before Muehlendamm Schleuse.  The smaller binnacle is called Kupfergraben and joins the Spree again near the Monbijoubruecke.

It is interesting to observe the coming and goings at the lock.

5

 The next bridge is Rathausbruecke. 

Looking back from this bridge I can see the lock again, and with the tele-lens even better than before when I walked so close to it along the river bank.

From Rathausbruecke one gets a good view right around.

Looking towards the city one can see the Dom,the cathedral in the distance. 

It is interesting to watch from the bridge the channeled overflow of the Spree rush by.

Most buildings in his area were destroyed during World War 2. 

The Nikolai Viertel was rebuild in an older style, but not quite how it used to be. I know how it used to be. My father took me there in 1943 to watch artists paint the quaint street scenes before they may get bombed too. He bought two paintings then and I own them now. 

Here they are: 

Before I walked to the next bridge I fleet I need a drink. Kaffee? Wein? Bier? Yes, "eine Weisse mit Schuss"!

                                       

6

I decided to walk quickly across the Rathausbrücke and back a bit to have a look at the oldest still standing bridge in Berlin, the Jungfernbruecke which crosses the Kupfergraben. 

This bridge was  built in 1798 and could be opened up to let    bigger (!)  boats pass.

It is fun to walk over this old bridge and imagine how life must have been some 200 years ago.

Not far away is another bridge crossing the Kupfergraben. 

Actually two bridges, an old and a new one, although both not that old and not that new,

the Gertraudenbruecke.