PRAGUE

Bohemia, Czech Republic

VIEW FROM CHARLES BRIDGE
Construction of the Charles Bridge began at 5:31 AM on July 9, 1357. Enumerated, the year, day, month, hour, and minute appear: 135797531. This palindromic sequence of ascending (and descending) odd digits is carved out on the Old Town bridge tower.


TYN CATHEDRAL, OLD TOWN SQUARE
Tyn Cathedral was built in the late 14th century; its roof was completed in the 1450s.


CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS, OLD TOWN SQUARE
This Baroque church was built between 1732 and 1735.


KAFKA MUSEUM

“‘It’s a peculiar apparatus,’ said the Officer to the Traveler, gazing with a certain admiration at the device, with which he was, of course, thoroughly familiar.”
--Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony


ENTRANCE TO PRAGUE CASTLE
Welcome!


CHARLES BRIDGE AT NIGHT

BERLIN

Berlin, Germany (2006)

KAISER WILHELM MEMORIAL CHURCH
Built between 1891 and 1895. Destroyed during British RAF Bombing in 1943.


BRANDENBURG GATE
Commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II, and built between 1788 and 1791.


NEUE NATIONALGALERIE
Modern art museum. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, opened in 1968.


REICHSTAG
Opened in 1894. Burned down in 1933. Rebuilt between 1961 and 1964. Wrapped by Christo in 1995. Reconstructed between 1995 and 1999. Current home to German Parliament.


WRAPPED REICHSTAG (1995)
In 1995, Christo and Jean-Claude wrapped the Reichstag in 1,076,000 square feet of polypropylene fabric. The artists struggled for 24 years to gain approval for this project. The building remained wrapped for 14 days. For more information and additional photos, click here.

Photo credit: Wolfgang Volz. ©1995 Christo.

BREMEN

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, Germany (2006)

BREMER RATHAUS.
The old town hall was built between 1405 and 1409. The facade shown here was reconstructed between 1595 and 1612. During World War II, more than half of Bremen was destroyed by bombs. Citizens of Bremen protected the Rathaus by boarding up the outer walls.






TOWN MUSICIANS OF BREMEN
Based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

DRESDEN

Saxony, Germany (2006)

Dresden was founded in 1206, by Dietrich the Oppressed. In 2006, The city celebrated its 800th birthday.

HOFKIRCHE
Built between 1738 and 1751, The Hofkirche was severely damaged during the 1945 firebombing of Dresden. It was restored in the mid 1980s.


DRESDEN IN 1900

DRESDEN IN 1945
Between February 13 and February 15, 1945, Dresden was firebombed by the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force, leaving the entire city in ruins.


"I really did go back to Dresden with Guggenheim money (God love it) in 1967. It looked a lot like Dayton, Ohio, more open spaces than Dayton has. There must be tons of human bone meal in the ground."
--Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five


Photo credit: Ruins of Dresden by Richard Peter, 1945.

HAMBURG

Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany (2006)

BRIDGE, ST. KATHERINEN CHURCH
St. Katherinen dates back to 1256. The Baroque spire seen here was built in 1657. The church was all but destroyed in a 1943 air raid, and was restored between 1950 and 1957. Hamburg has more than 2,300 bridges--almost twice as many as Amsterdam (1,200).


HAMBURGER RATHAUS
City Hall, built between 1886 and 1897. Currently houses Hamburg's senate and parliament.


RATHAUS (INTERIOR)


HEINRICH HERTZ TELEVISION TOWER
Built between 1965 and 1968, this is the tallest building in Hamburg.

ANNECY

Rhône-Alpes, France (2005)