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Ehem. Sowjetische Botschaft /Former Soviet Embassy

The setting of the former Soviet and current Russian Embassy stands out from those of the other structures on the street Unter den Linden. Its central section with the main entrance is set away from the street, creating the space for a green honor court. A tower structure breaches the unified height of the other buildings on the boulevard. This was the building to demonstrate all features of what was known as Stalinist architecture, erected in the heart of the capital of the former enemy. Political motives led to the construction of this magnificent Soviet palace. The GDR, founded on October 7, 1949, was to be supported in its quest for international recognition as an independent state through the establishment of formal diplomatic relations. With this building, the great Soviet Union set an unmistakable signal in a prominent location in the capital of the GDR. Moreover, it also demonstrated how socialist architecture was supposed to look. In their search for an architectural style for the new socialist state and the reconstruction of the capital, the government and party leadership of the GDR and its architects had the perfect model right in front of them.

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Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate)

The Brandenburg Gate is the trademark of Berlin. The main entrance to the city, surrounded by the wall for thirty years, was known throughout the world as a symbol for the division of the city and for the division of the world into two power blocs. Today's international visitors to Pariser Platz come to re-experience this first gateway to the city, and to enjoy the long-denied freedom to walk through this magnificent work of art and look at it up close.
It was built as the grandest of a series of city gates constituting the passages through the customs wall encircling the city at the end of the eighteenth century. It is the only gate which survived, because it constitutes the monumental termination of Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees which led directly to the residence of the Prussian kings until the destruction of the city castle. The entire construction and ornamentation of the gate reflect the extraordinary importance it was granted by its builders. The architect selected as the model for his design the Propylaea in Athens, the monumental entry hall of the Acropolis. Just as the Propylaea led to a shrine of the Ancient world, this gate was to represent the access to the most important city of the Prussian kingdom. This reference to Antiquity made it the structure which founded the Classic age of architecture in Berlin, an epoch which brought the city its sobriquet "Spreeathen" ("Athens of the Spree" -- Berlin's river is called the Spree). The most important sculptor in Berlin during this period carried out the accompanying agenda of visual explanation. The Brandenburg Gate is crowned with a quadriga depicting the goddess of victory, "who brings peace", marching into the city. The relief on the pedestal portrays her again with her attendants. Personifications of virtues like friendship and statesmanship are represented, along with symbols of arts and sciences, because they make a city like Berlin bloom in times of peace. Reliefs with the exploits of Hercules in the passages allude to the time of the wars and the subsequent period of reconstruction, during which Friedrich II made Prussia into a European power and laid the foundation for flourishing trade and crafts. The gate thus is also a memorial for the king who died a few years before its construction.
The Brandenburg Gate is not only a symbol of division and reunification; it was also the site of many other events in German history, a history characterized by so many peaks and troughs. In 1806 Napoleon marched triumphantly into Berlin and carried the Quadriga away with him to Paris as a spoil of war. In 1814, after the victorious conclusion of the wars of liberation, Schinkel replaced the oak wreath on the goddess' scepter with an iron cross, changing the figure's interpretation from a courier of peace into a goddess of victory. In 1933 the National Socialists marched through the gate in a martial torch parade, introducing the darkest chapter of German history, ultimately leaving the city destroyed and Germany divided.

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Palais Prinz Heinrich (Prince Heinrich Palace)

The open courtyard across from the Opera is the honor court of the broad three-winged structure of the Humboldt University. The palace was built in 1748-53 as a city residence for the brother of Friedrich II, Prince Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig of Prussia. The architect was Johann Boumann the Elder; the first preliminary drafts were presumably produced by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. In 1809 Friedrich Wilhelm III transferred ownership of the palace to the newly founded Berlin University, where it continues to serve as the main building today.
In 1913-20 city architectural commissioner Ludwig Hoffmann added on lateral and rear extensions to the university. "Consideration for the historical structure and the entire vicinity demanded strict adherence to the graceful and dignified architecture of the palace for all extending structures" was his elucidation of the design. In 1943-44 the central building was destroyed down to its external walls, the eastern wing was gutted all but completely, and the western wing suffered partial destruction. Reconstruction was undertaken in two phases in the years 1947-54 and 1958-62. The representative decor of the rooms in the central wing with neo-Classical wall and ceiling modeling is one of the highest quality examples of the architecture of the 1950s in the GDR. The university was of particular importance to the official GDR as it was here that Karl Marx studied under the philosopher Hegel. This also explains the quotation of Marxist thesis of Feuerbach, "Philosophers only interpreted the world differently; the point is to change it" in golden letters in the main stairway.

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Zeughaus (Armory)

"When we step into [the square at the Zeughaus] from the southern part of the island, we face the great, beautiful Zeughaus, of which is said that its excellent architecture, external ornamentation and interior layout and furnishings make it one of Europe's most beautiful buildings." This unique radiance described by Fidicin in 1843 is still projected today by the Zeughaus Unter den Linden constructed from 1695 until 1706 by Johann Arnold Nering, Martin Grünberg, Andreas Schlüter and Jean de Bodt. The building was contracted by the Great Elector Friedrich III, who became the first Prussian king in 1701. The structure, erected as a weapons arsenal and repository for the Berlin fort, is the oldest building on Unter den Linden and, along with the castle lost after the war, one of the city's most important Baroque structures. The monumental, two-story, four-winged structure with its square ground plan rests majestically on a sandstone base. The façade structure, fully committed to the French Classical school of the seventeenth century, is largely the work of Jean de Bodt. The rich sculpture ornamentation, completed in accordance with the general conception of the sculptor Andreas Schlüter, depicts martial themes in keeping with the original use of the building. The helmets and heads of dying warriors on the exterior façade of the ground floor and in the inner courtyard, based on models by Schlüter, are pinnacles of Baroque sculpture in Berlin.
The reconstruction of the building after damage in the Second World War began in 1948. In 1950 the Zeughaus became the "Museum for German History".