The morning call., 1890-08-10
IMPRESSIONS
OF BERLIN.
Theodore Child Tells of the PriR-
eipal City of Germany.
The Public Baildirgs-Uuter den Linden, the
Famous Avenue-An O.6-Fashioned Con
ditore."-In the Museum.

Harper's Magazine for August, of Berlin,
the capital of Germany. from which tina
following extracts are taken:
Our first wanderingS through the streets
of Berlin did not fill our souls with that
thrill of joy and that sympathetic trepida-
ton of the whole being which we expert
enced when we first visited Venice, for
instance, or Florence, or Constantinople;
nor aid they excite that wonderment and
eager desire to appreciate which we had
felt in the great American cities, like CHI
cage. Berlin is absolutely wanting in
charm. whether of situation, of general as
pect, or of historical souvenirs. 1t is a
modern city. but its modern aspect has
no marked character, and next to
no originality. From the time of
Frederick the Great, who was the
founder of its prosperity. down to the pres
ent period of active transformation, which
dates from the Franco-German War, the
architectural history of Berlin was almost
entirely one of imitation and adaptation.
The street architecture, until within the
past ten years, has been absolutely null
mere rows Of boX-like habitations pierced
with the necessary openings for light, in
greSs and egress, but conceived absolutely
as packing case is conceived, without any
regard for agreeableneSs of proportions,
lines and distributions of masses. The
public buildings. of which several are
grandiose have been erected, for the most
part, under the influence of mistaken ad-
miration of the models of ancient Greece.
WONDERS OF BERLIN.
The great sights and wonders of Berll n
are concentrated along the famous avenue
Inter den Linden and in the vicinity of the
old Schloss, whittier the visitor Will newt
ably direct his steps, and where he VIII
certainly acquire MS most imposing and
durable impressions of tho German capital.
We will suppose that he reaches Inter den
Linden through the frledrlchstraSse, one
of the largest busiest, and most brilliant
streets of Berlin, lined with shops of all
kinds, and interspersed with several re-
markable new buildings in the old German
style, devoted to the sale of beer. Gam
brinus is the most liberal and enlightened
patron CT architecture in modern Berlin.
The intersection of Friedrichstras5e and
Inter den Linden is peculiarly busy and
characteristic spot On one corner Is an
old-fashioned conditorei," or pastry
cooks shop. with little terrace
barely two feet wide, which forms
a pleasant vantage-point whence to
view the spectacle of the street
as you sip coffee and eat cakes. On the OPP
posite corner is the Cafe Bauer which tue
BerlinerS hold to be one of the sights of the
capital-a modern Niennese cafe arranged
in the most approved style, lighted by cleo
tricity, and decorated with brilliantly col
ored classical frescoe5 by A. de Werner and
Wilberg, representing the joys and luxury
of the Greeks and Romans At another
corner, under the trees, is a Trinkhalle for
the sale OF non-spirituous drinks, such as
syrups. settler, and soda, presided over by
patient Gretchen of the class called by
the Berliners "Sodalisken," in contradis-
tinetion to the "Kellnerinnen and
.'Shankmamsells," who serve in beer sa-
looms and kneipen," or tap-rooms of low
degree. The traffic here is crowded; there
are vans, drays. omnibuses, small carts
drawn by dogs, few private carriages, and
quantities of cabs, or "Droschken," as they
are called, the last of two categories first
and second class, the one as undesirable as
the other. In the middle Of the roadway a
mounted policeman sits his horse with an
air of corpulent authority and austere use
lessneSS. Inter den Linden stretches to
the right and left, 160 feet broad, 1900 yards
long. planted with four rows of chestnut
and lime trees, and divided into roadways,
foot paths aud riding tracks. AT one end
of this avenue is the Brandenburg Gate,
which forms the entrance to the Thiergar-
ten, very much as the Arc de Triompha at
Paris marks the entrance to the great fash
ionable promenade of the Bots de Boulogne.
AN EFFECTIVE GATE.
The Brandenburg Gate is effective,
whether we look at it from the
pretty PariserplatZ or from the Thier-
garten side, where its architectural lines
contrast with the surrounding yerdure, and
form the background of familiar scenes of
elegant life in Berlin, such as the eques-
trian groups of brilliantly uniformed Off
GERS and smart ladies going to or returning
from the morning ride in the park. The
reader will not be astonished to learn that
the Brandenburg Gate is built on the model
of the Propyl8a, Athens; that it is sur
mounted by Il quadriga driven by Victory;
that it is thanked by guard-house. whose
guard is kept busy saluting and presenting
arms to the numerous military big-wigS
who are constantly passing; and, finally,
that all It's Spiend0r Is sham, and It's D0rlc
columns simple stuccO. Let US note also
that the Thiergarten is traversed by lines
of horse-cars.
Turning eastward, we will stroll along
Inter den Linden, and note such things as
may strike our eyes. The first observation
that we make is that the famous linden
trees are not so regularly planted or so
flourishing as we expected to find them,
and the second Is that Inter den Linden is
badly kept lnditferently paved, aud mere
quagmire when the rain falls. The divid-
ing posts and rails are even more ele-
mentary and unpleasing than those which
disgrace Rotten Row in London, while the
benches are the most primitive that could
be imagined. On the right we notice the
handsome palace Of CeHnt Redeem, re-
production OF a FlOrentine building. Then
come some picture-shops, where something
pink and delicate by Gabriel Max attracts
the eye. Here is terra-cotta store, full of
busts of the Kaisers, of Bismarck, and of
Moltke. We reach the Kaisergalleris fine
arcade, less splendid than the Victor EN-
manuel arcade at Milan. but still a laudable
effort in the Renaissance style, and as good
as yellow brick and terra-cOtta can make it.
The Kaisergullerie is lined with shops that
do not seem prosperous; in the middle Is
Wiener Cafe, which has marked import
~ in the uf tho VOnnO hlOnHS Of Rpr-
lin; on the upper floors Of the arcade is the
waX-work show, called Castan's Panopti-
cum, the Musee Greyin of Berlin. We cross
the FriedrichStraSse and note the quaint as
pect of the drivers of the yellow parcels
post vans, who seem lost in their vast seats
Oh the top, and much hampered by the bra
zen horn slung under their arms with a red
and white rord. Then we take a cup of cof-
fee at the Cafe Bauer, glance around at the
various types at the tables discreetly shell
tered from the gaze of curious passers by
thick hedge of shrubs and after this brief
rest we stay to look at nothing until we
reach the monument of Frederick the
Great, at the eastern extremity of Inter
den Linden.
THE BANKS OF THE SPREE.
In the very heart of Berlin. on the banks
of the Spree, which is still so picturesque
with its forests of stakes to which are
attached floating fish reservoirs, nets and
creels, and with its Old World boats pushed
painfully along Dy sturdy bargeeS, who
lean their weight on long poles MS they
walk the length of the deck, the Chateau
de Monbijou is situated in the middle of a
park. 1t is ro0my country house, dating
from the beginning of the eighteenth CEN
tury, the summer residence of the old
Prussan sovereigns. and now the historical
museum and royal portrait-gallery of
Berlin. In these elegant and tasteful
rooms, with their tall French windows
opening on to green lawn, we may
study the features, the wardrobes, the
arms, the personal kniek-knacks and
souvenirs of the precursors and found
ers of the German Empire. from the
old kurfurstS down to the Emperor Frede-
rick the Noble. Here is the armor, the
hat, and the walkng-stick of the Grosser
Kurfursf; here is a wax model of Frede-
rick the Great as a baby; here is his fayorite
horse Condo, stuffed with straw, ana ms
hair has fallen off; here is his Majesty's
ivory flute, his eye-glass. his travelling tea