Berlin is a fascinating city with a complex history and a proud yet scarred soul. It is a fascinating urban study and an architecturally rich city full of many facets. As the former capital of Prussia, Berlin shines with the old order of a monumental state. Glimpses captured through war ravaged buildings tell the story of a proud time in Berlin's history, one that dots the landscape of an otherwise rebuilt urban fabric. The richness of Berlin's Prussian era architecture and urbanism are beautifully told in the platz and parks of the city. The work of Schinkel embues the city with the solemnity and purity of the Greeks reborn in the 19th century German mind. 20th century Berlin tells a very different tale, one of nazis and war torn decimation, of communism and divison, and later of a city reunited and reborn in a new wave of capitalism. Each of these facets in the history of Berlin has had profound impacts on the urban and cultural landscape of the city. Perhaps the most well known of these architectural facets is the Berlin wall. The wall caused a divided city to be broken into two distinct parts which is evident to this day though the urbanism and architecture of the east and west. This is very evident when one walks along Karl Marx Allee and sees the architecture and propaganda of the DGR goverment. The Berlin of today is a fascinating blend of these different times in the history of the city. The many areas of the city that have been rebuilt since the war are a showcase in the evolving stages of modern architecture. The city of today is a canvas for notable architects as they reimagine the fabric of the city for the present and the future.
