A few notes on FREDRICK THE GREAT OR FREDRICK THE SECOND.He never got along with his father and ran away with his friend HANS HERMAN VON KATTE and he was caught and bought back,his friend was executed in front of his eyes and FREDRICK was given a small government job so that he would understand what work is like.He married because he was forced by his father and was separated after a few years.He had many male friends and used this palace for enjoyment.He had a close contact with VOLTAIRE a FRENCH writer ,but later he came into lot of conflict with him.FREDRICK was a lover of music and used to play flute well.He had a passion for fauna and had lots of gardens in his palace.His palace especially that of SANSSOUCI was used for entertainment ,many guests stayed here.He was very fond of dogs and had many of them here.His dogs were buried along with him. We saw many people placing flowers and POTATOES on his tomb.The reason for placing potatoes is because he was the one who introduced the cultivation of potatoes in PRUSSIA and it became a staple vegetable.After his death he was not buried here according his last wish ,by his nephew who succeeded him,but near his father's tomb elsewhere in POTSDAM.Then during HITLER'S time his coffin was excavated and taken to a place in POLAND.Then when the AMERICANS captured GERMANY they found his coffins along with three other,then many years after it was buried here,along with his dogs which were buried years earlier...... He was the one who bought a great change in PRUSSIA in early days.............
From POTSDAM we went back to the city of BERLIN. BERLIN is the capital of GERMANY and the second populous city .It is known for its great historic importance as well for its commercial growth. We plied past CENTRAL BERLIN SQUARE known as ''WEST POLE'' because of its location in WEST BERLIN.Then the FAIR GROUNDS where fairs took place.We also saw COMMERZ BANK BUILDING ,4 ELEMENTS OF SCULPTURE owned by the AMERICANS ,BRITISH,FRENCH AND RUSSIANS.We also saw a sculpture representing half arc and half circle which was a gift from the PRESIDENT OF FRANCE.Then we went past the EMBASSY areas which housed the EMBASSIES LIKE SAUDI ARABIA,JAPAN,ITALY INDIA,SOUTH AFRICA etc,.,Then ST.MESIVUS church which survived the bombing of the world war two.Then we passed by KAISER WILHELM GEDACHNISKIRCHE ,the memorial church built during the time of KAISER WILHELM TWO ,IT IS NEO ROMANSQUE church ,a PROTESTANT one which houses large mosaics.
Just uploaded the photos taken by my daughter into my computer,they also look good,but I am not able to upload them here,can anyone help me,please?
Then we moved on to see MARK OSCHEN PLATZ CITY CENTER built in the year 1805 then renamed as ALEXANDERPLATZ .It has several bulky buildings and a TV TOWER. FERNSEHTURM is the TV TOWER tallest tower in BERLIN .It is 360 meters built in 1958.It was designed by HERMANN HENSELMANN .In the 1960s tower of signals was built by SWEDISH ENGINEERS.It has large pavilion covered with white roof enclosing the tower and a shaft topped by a steel clad sphere and antenna.It has a viewing gallery at 203 and there is revolving restaurant at 207 meters. Then we saw the WORLD TIME CLOCK showing number of time zones.Then the FOUNTAIN OF FRIENDSHIP which is 23 meters.Then we saw ROTES RATHAUS which is city hall of red bricks.GENDARMEN MARKT,the new classical square in BERLIN,theHOME OF SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA.
The the bus went past by NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOR VICTIMS OF WAR. Then we got out of bus to walk to ''CHECK POINT CHARLIE ''.It seems the German Government built the BERLIN WALL in 1961.So JOHN F KENNEDY ordered 3 checkpoints for the allied forces to enter into WEST BERLIN.CHECK POINT CHARLIE was the most important of them.It was named in AMERICAN ALPHABETS ALPHA,BETA ETC,It is only place through which visitors could enter WEST BERLIN AND EAST and back back again.There were stand offs between EAST AND WEST ,In 1961 AMERICAN AND SOVIET TANKS faced each other.KENNEDY AND KRUSCHEV met after that.Then finally in 1990 check point was removed and the now find a booth of CHECK POINT CHARLIE. Then we were given free for photo shots and lunch and to shop.We had the yummiest cheese sandwich,coffee and cake at a cafe down the lane.There were many vegetarian cafes and souvenir shops nearby.
