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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.

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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.

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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.

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 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"!

                                       

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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. 

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Back to the Rathausbruecke bridging the Spree.

A huge building project is underway between Rathausbruecke and Karl-Liebknecht-Bruecke.

The palace of the Prussian Kings and the Kaiser stood here once. It was damaged in the war and later demolished by the communist regime for a prestige government building and a square for their parades. 

After the fall of the Wall it was demolished because of its asbestos content. 

The old Schloss is now being rebuilt and will be used as a new Art Centre. 

At the Liebknechtbruecke, where the Berliner Dom stands the boulevard Unter den Linden, starts, leading to the Brandenburger Tor, the Brandenburg Gate.

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The promenade along the Spree from Karl-Liebknecht Stasse/Unter den Linden to Friedrich Strasse is very popular for its cafes, bars, restaurants and museums, galleries.

The Dom, Alte and Neue National Gallerie,  Bode-Museum, Pergamon-Museum, with its unique collection of treasures from the Antique are within easy walking distance to each other on the Museums Insel. The Spree on on side and Kupfergraben on the other side form this island in the city.  

The DDR Museum with memorabilia from the East-German regime is nearby. 

Crossing two more bridges, Friedrichsbruecke and Stadtbahnbruecke. The next bridge, the Monbijoubrueke is outstanding, it spans over the Spree and Kupfergraben, just where the two join again. And right there in the water stands the Bode-Museum. 

One could spend days just exploring all these interesting places. 

Along the Gartenufer you find always people relaxing, especially if the weather is fine, enjoying a 

drink and music till late.

                                           

Walking under the Ebertsbruecke along the promenade, one gets soon to Friedrichstrasse,

at the Weidendammbruecke.

At the Stadtbahnbruecke is Friedrichsstrasse railway station

Right next to station entrance is the "Traenenpalast", the Palace of Tears, the infamous boarder crossing point during the time of the Wall, 1961 -1989, now a memorial to the once divided city.