A trip to Spandau

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Berlin, like many European cities, is actually an amalgamation of what was previously several smaller municipalities. The original Berlin is now only a small section of the current city, which merged with another old, nearby town named Cöln to form Berlin. Over the years other nearby municipalities were added to the city. Today, there are 12 of these Boroughs, which actually are condensed from what were originally 23! Mostly near the center of the city, they have merged together and are little more than neighbourhoods today. However, some of the towns near the periphery maintain a fairly strong separate identity. One of these boroughs is Spandau, which is actually one of the oldest parts of Berlin, dating back as far as the 7th or 8th century (while Berlin itself dates back perhaps only to the 12th century). Of most interest to me was the fotress there, known as Die Zitadelle, which actually is about as old as the city itself, although it has been rebuilt many times over the years and today the oldest parts date back only about 700 years.

I got to the fort midday, which was quite a good day for the expedition too, I might add. It was sunny and warm, and quite comfortable. Most of the fort itself that is standing today in its present form dates back to the Napoleonic Wars, which is, I believe, the last time that it was used for military purposes. It reminded me quite a bit of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore, with a similar pointed-corner/star shape and high brick walls. We learned in our art-history class that the pointed wall system was developed as a way of concentrating firepower on enemy troops. The fort is surrounded by a rather wide (and I expect also deep moat) which connects to the nearby Lake Havel. I took a short walk around the fort on the outside of it, just to see what it looked like from the outside. The walls are about 30 feet high, apparently made from brick and earthenworks, though there is not much else to see of interest outside of the fort.

Inside the fort are a number of interesting things to see. First, I went to the Juliusturm, which is the main tower and oldest part of the fort that still stands. It is not particularly high by modern standards - perhaps 75 feet or so, but affords a great view on the top of the rest of Berlin. I did not really realize until I got up there, just how big Berlin is, in terms of land area. I checked later and found out that Berlin is about 20 km across, which is pretty big when you realize that only about 3.5 million people live here. Next to the tower is a meeting hall, dating from a few centuries later. On the inside it looked almost exactly like what I would expect one of the kingly halls from Beowulf to look like. There is also a small museum chronicling the history of the fort, which was used in a number of military conflicts until after the Napoleonic wars. After that, it was used by the Nazis as a place for testing chemical weapons, and then after WWII as a prison for several war criminals before they were deported off to Nuremberg.

Today, it is used only for cultural purposes, with concerts being held on the large parade ground. There is also an art school there. It is a rather strange place, in my opinion, for an art school, but nevertheless, it is there. I took a look in their small gallerie (which is actually an old storage bunker). It was almost entirely modern art, mainly from what I would characterize as neo-surrealism. I actually liked quite a bit of it. After the art museum, I checked out a few other museums in the complex. There was one that appeared mainly to be just about everyday objects used by people in the fort, from carriages to candle-holders to guns. It was a strange museum. I think my favorite museum, however, was an exhibition of artillery through history. They had large guns from as late as WWII there, all the way back to cannons from the 16th and 17th century. The old cannons were perhaps the most interesting. Though on the one hand, they were weapons of destruction and war, they were, on the other hand, almost true works of art. Almost every square inch of them was covered with elaborate engravings and coats of arms and pictures. Even the handles and mounts for supporting the cannon were shaped to look like pinaples or nuts or fruits of some sort. They were truly amazing.

After going throug the fortress, I took a short walk through Old Spandau, which has actually changed very little since the middle ages. It is a maze of cobble-stone streets and old buildings (that make the contemporary stores in them, like T Mobile and Burger King, seem rather anachronistic). It also has the oldest house in Berlin, which is not much to look at (small brick building) but nevertheless of historical importance. By the time I got there, unfortunately, the museum in it had closed. I will need to return at some point and check it out.

On the way back, I got out at one of the subway stops near the edge of the city, that quite possibly takes the prize as the most amazing subway stop I have ever seen. Instead of metal plating or brick or stone, every square inch of it, except for the train tracks, is covered in elaborate and colorful tiles, that make the whole stop look like a forest! There are flowers and the support columns are made to look like trees and the lights to look like stars or the sun. It is truly amazing. I took some pictures, but I do not think they came out very well.

It was a long day and I was rather tired so I headed back home and slept quite soundly.

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