BERLIN. 



BERLIN. 



or aide-paths for foot passengers, are narrow, and some of them are 

 paved with sharp rough stones. There are upwards of 40 bridges in 

 Berlin; the principal are the Schloss-briicke, or Bridge of the Palace; 

 the Marshal Bridge : and Frederick's Bridge, which is of iron, 245 

 feet long, about 32 feet broad, and consists of 8 arches of 27 feet 

 diameter and 5f feet in height. There are upwards of 30 squares, 

 open spaces, and markets ; and the streets, lanes, and passages are in 

 number about 200. The Lutherans, Reformed Lutherans, and 

 Roman Catholics have in all upwards of 30 places of worship ; the 

 English Episcopalians have a chapel, which has been recently fitted 

 up for them in connection with the Hotel du Nord ; the Jews have a 

 sjmagogue ; and besides the numerous literary, scientific, and educa- 

 tional institutions noticed in a subsequent part of this article, there 

 are in Berlin several public hospitals, military infirmaries, barracks, 

 riding-schools for the soldiery, royal magazines, and cemeteries. The 

 number of public buildings in Berlin ia about 200 ; many of these 

 are spacious and elegant buildings, but owing to the scarcity of stone 

 in the <listrict, the greater number are built with brick and plaster. 

 The wine and bear-houses of Berlin vie in splendour with the gin- 

 palaceK if London. 



The Spree receives, at what is called the ' ship-builders' dam," the 

 Panke, which flows through part of the suburb of Spandau ; and 

 without the walls is the Sheep, or Militia Fosse, which runs out of the 

 Spree near the Silesian Gate, winds along the skirts of Louisa and 

 Frederick's towns, skirts the Thier-garten, which is a sort of open 

 park, and rejoins the Spree in the vicinity of the village of Lietzow. 

 Three canals also, namely, the former ditch of the ramparts, with 

 King's Fosse and the Sluices' Fosse, are of much utility to the 

 inhabitants of Berlin. 



Of the fourteen land-gates of Berlin there is none to be compared 

 with the Brandenburg Gate on the west side of the town, next the 

 Square of Paris, in the Dorotheen-stadt. It is a copy of the Propylsca 

 of the Acropolis at Athens, but on a much larger scale. It was con- 

 structed in 1780, and exhibits a double colonnade of twelve columns 

 of the Doric order, each 44 feet in height and 5 feet 8 inches in 

 diameter, which occupy the centre, with five entrances between them, 

 that in the centre having an iron gate 18 feet high; the structures on 

 each side of it have their roofs supported by eighteen smaller columns, 

 24 feet in height. The pediment, which rests upon the twelve larger 

 and central columns, is surmounted by a Victory standing upon a 

 car drawn by four horses 12 feet high. This was carried off by the 

 French in 1807, and brought back from France seven years afterwards. 

 The entire breadth of the Brandenburg Gate is 199 feet (195 Berlin 

 feet), and its elevation including the pediment rather more than 

 65 feet. The bassi-rilievi on the pediment represent Margrave 

 Albert Achilles capturing a standard with his own hands from the 

 Niirnberg troops ; and the sculptures in the metopes represent the 

 combat between the Centaurs and Lapithse. Immediately outside of 

 this gate lies the Thier-garten, which is laid out in walks, avenues, 

 and labyrinths. It contains several country residences and gardens, 

 stationary zelte, or tents for refreshments, a fine flower-garden, public 

 gardens, the great area for military exercise, and the handsome palace 

 of Bellevue with spacious grounds attached. In this park is a statue 

 of the late king, erected in 1849, near the Louisen Insel a spot 

 changed from a desert to a garden by the efforts of that prince. 



Among the most remarkable buildings in the Berlin quarter are 

 the Town-hall ; the Royal Gymnasium, called the Joachims-thai ; 

 St. Nicholas* church, built in 1223, the most ancient church in the 

 city ; the Landgchafte-haus, or provincial house of assembly of Branden- 

 burg ; St. Mary's church, which has a handsome pulpit of alabaster, 

 and a steeple 292 feet high ; the Lager-haus (storehouse), in which 

 are several royal manufactories ; the King's Gewerb-haua (handicraft 

 establishment) ; the Royal Gymnasium of the Gray Friars, attended 

 by more than 400 youths ; the Garrison church, the largest in Berlin ; 

 the parochial church, a cruciform edifice, 102 feet long by 51 feet 

 broad ; Frederick's Hospital, or Orphan Asylum, which maintains 

 more than 350 orphans, provides board for 650 other children, and 

 has a royal inoculating institution attached to it ; and the Stadtvogtei 

 (prefecture of the town), which contains the police offices and the 

 prisons for all offenders within the jurisdiction of the civic authorities. 

 Old Cologne, on the left bank of the Spree, the most central quarter 

 of Berlin, is approached by the Long Bridge, a structure of stone, of 

 five arches, 165 feet in length, with an iron balustrade. On this 

 bridge stands a massive equestrian statue of the great Frederick 

 William, elector of Brandenburg. This monument, moulded by 

 Schliiter and cast by Jacobi, was erected in the year 1703. The 

 quarter of Old Cologne contains the Cathedral, 337 feet in length by 

 136 fee tin breadth, in which are the places of sepulture of several 

 members of the royal family ; the Town-hall for the quarter, in which 

 the deputies of the town hold their meetings ; the Royal Exchange; 

 the armoury ; the royal stables ; and many other public buildings. 

 But the chief ornament of this quarter is the Royal Palace, which 

 stands in the Schloss Platz, or Square of the Palace, an area 1450 feet 

 in length and 450 feet in width. The north-west side of the square 

 is occupied by the Palace, an oblong rectangular building composed 

 of four courts and containing 500 habitable apartments. It is 474 

 feet in length, 284 feet in breadth, and 104 feet in height. It contains 

 the great library the royal treasury and archives depdt ; the White 



Hall, which has been recently fitted up at a cofct of 120,000?. in this 

 hall are marble statues of four emperors and of sixteen electors of 

 Brandenburg : it was the place of the first meeting of the Prussian 

 parliament, in April 1847 ; and the museums of natural history and 

 mechanical arts, as well as of the fine arts. Three great reservoirs 

 are placed over the principal entrance, which is an imitation of the 

 triumphal arch of Severus in Rome : these reservoirs are kept con- 

 stantly filled with 7000 tons of water. The gardens at the back of this 

 magnificent edifice are surrounded by an allde of poplars and chest- 

 nuts, but derive their chief attraction from the noble Museum, which 

 stands at their north extremity. This splendid structure, the work 

 ofSchinckel, the architect, was opened in August 1829. Owing to 

 the swampy nature of the soil it is built on upwards of 1000 pine- 

 piles from 48 to 50 feet in height. Its form is a rectangular oblong, 

 281 feet in length and 182 feet in depth. The principal front, which 

 faces the gardens, is broken by a flight of twenty-one steps, leading to 

 a vestibule 16 feet deep, which is formed by eighteen Ionic columns. 

 In this spacious building are the picture gallery, consisting of a 

 fine hall 208 feet long and nearly 31 feet wide ; two smaller halls, each 

 125 feet long and 29 feet wide, and several apartments adjoining ; 

 with collections of ancient sculptures, vases, ancient and modern coins, 

 ancient bronzes, and pottery. In front of the edifice is a colossal 

 vase, 22 feet in diameter, chiselled out of native granite, 75 tons in 

 weight, resting on a handsome pedestal. There is also a New 

 Museum for collections of ethnological antiquities, casts, engrav- 

 ings, and drawings. On the stairs are several fine sculptures and 

 frescoes. 



The principal building of the New Cologne quarter is the Salzhof, 

 or Royal Salt Magazine, in which are storehouses for salt and for 

 millstones. 



The Friedrichswerder quarter contains the Principal Mint (Haupt- 

 Miinze) ; the Prince's House ; the Royal Bank ; the Huntsmen's 

 House (Lager-haus) ; the Palace Court, with a prison for offenders of 

 higher rank ; the College, or French Gymnasium, combined with a 

 theological school ; the Tax Office for the metropolis ; the Palace of 

 the Princess ; the Werder church, a handsome edifice, built in the 

 old German style after the designs of Schiuckel ; a splendid Arsenal ; 

 the Royal Foundry ; and the Royal Guardhouse in the King's Square, 

 a quadrangular structure designed by Schinckel, in the style of an 

 ancient castrum, close to which are colossal statues of Scharnhorst 

 and Bulow, two celebrated! commanders in the campaigns between 

 1812 and 1815. A handsome bronze monument erected to Prince 

 Bliicher, consisting of a statue, which with its plinth is 11 feet, 

 and an appropriately -decorated pedestal, which is 13 feet high, the 

 work of Rauch, stands between the Royal Palace and the Opera 

 House. On the front side of the pedestal is an alto-rilievo of Victory 

 bearing a tablet between her hands, with the following inscription : 

 Frederick William III. to Field-Marshal Prince Blucher of Wahl- 

 statt, in the year 1826." 



The Dorotheen-stadt, or New Town quarter, lies to the north of the 

 preceding, between the Friedrichswerder quarter and the northern 

 bend of the Spree. Its most striking feature is the celebrated street 

 called JJnter-den-Linden, which contains two double lines of linden 

 or lime-trees ; it is 2744 feet in length, 174 feet in breadth, and affords 

 the most attractive promenade in Berlin. This quarter likewise con- 

 tains the university buildings, opposite to which is the equestrian 

 statue of Frederick the Great, modelled by Rauch, recently erected 

 by the Prussian government ; the Opera House, which was burnt 

 down iu 1843 and rebuilt in the following year ; the Catholic church 

 of St.-Hedwig, an imitation of the Pantheon in Rome; the Royal 

 Library, founded in 1661, which contains 500,000 volumes and 11,000 

 manuscripts ; the Vocal Academy ; the Royal Academy, containing 

 balls and rooms occupied by the academies of the arts and sciences, 

 and a clock illuminated at night, which serves as a regulator for the 

 other public clocks in Berlin ; the Observatory, a lofty quadrangular 

 tower, raised on a platform 86 feet above the pavement ; and the 

 Paris Square, oMao west side of which the Brandenburg Gate opens, 

 and the east side of which opens on the Unter-den-Linden. The 

 Weidendammer Bridge, which is wholly of cast-iron, and with a flat 

 roadway, rests on two arched openings at each end, with a passage 

 for boats in the centre about 27 feet wide. This bridge leads to the 

 Voigtland suburb northward across the Spree. It is 180 feet in length, 

 about 35 feet in width between the balustrades, and weighs 400 tons. 

 The Frederick's Town quarter is the largest in Berlin. The western 

 part of it is traversed in its whole length by the handsome street 

 called William's Street, which is nearly 9200 feet long. The other 

 'rincipal objects are the octagonal Leipzeger Platz; the Donhoff 

 Jquare, with its obelisk or milliarium, from which all the post-office 

 distances are measured ; the Royal China Manufactory : the Gymna- 

 sium of Frederick William ; the Collegien-haus, which is the seat of 

 the law commission and of the judicial courts; the Ansbach Palace; 

 the Palace of the Minister of War, to which a fine garden is attached, 

 and several other palaces occupied by royal and ministerial personages ; 

 the Manufactory of Gold and Silver Works ; the Palace of the aucicut 

 Knights of St. John ; the Theatre ; the Maritime Trade Company's 

 House ; the House of the Society of Naturalists ; some open squares 

 adorned with buildings and statues ; and the Kreutzberg, on which 

 stands the military monument erected in 1820 a turretcd gothic 



