New-York tribune., 1902-02-13
SUCH A SURPRISE !
THE GERMAN CAPITAL.
RAPID VIEWS OF A STATELY CAPITAL,
AN IMPROVED MUNICIPAL MACHINE
AND A CENTRE OF ART.

Berlin, January 25.
Berlin IS seen TO great advantage a dull
winter day in hard times The gilded domes.
ordinarily garish rather than brilliant under
strong light, are toned down by a gray sky, and
the architecture seems less massive and top
heavy in half lights. One effect of a protracted
period OF commercial depression has been the
suspension Of building operations. The streets
are almost entirely free from scafolding and
rubbish heaps. and the city has an air Of being
finished and in perfect order. When 7 was last
in Berlin II was when the country was at the
height Of industrial prosperity. and the capital
in the transition stage Of reconstruction. The
gangs OF workmen have disappeared from the
principal streets old buildings are not in process
OF demolition; new structures are not approach
ing completion at every turning OF tie way;
and there are few breaks in the lines OF street
architecture II Berlin lacks the brightness and
grace Of Paris and the quaint simplicity and
grim antiquity OF stored London, II is a stately
capital. nodernized in the highest degree and
virtually complete and thoroughly in order. The
finished aspect OF the city deeply impresses a
traveller like myself coming within a few weeks
from New-York. where revolutions are in prog
ress above and under ground. and starting di-
rectly from London. where the streets are con-
stantly In repair and where there are great gaps
in Whitehall. the Strand Fleet-st. and other
thoroughfares caused by building operations
and Improvement schemes
Unless all outward signs fail Berlin Is the
best example Of administrative efficiency in Et-
rope. It's streets are the best paved and the
cleanest. The art Of making a durable asphalt
pavement and Of keeping it as smooth and as
clean as a drawing room floor has been mas
tered here Fredrichs strasse and most Of the
thoroughfares have been laid with asphalt and
STR ~.
Europe. Scavengers are employed night and
day in sweeping them and collecting refuse So
scientific is the construction that the pavernents
DO not require incessant patching and repairing
and IN rainy weather there is no mud from
curb TO curb. The streets are as we'll lighted as
those Of Paris, and poIiced as effectively as
those Of London. The traffic is light in COM
parison with the swollen current of London
thoroughfares, nut the lack Of congestion is due
in large part TO the regularity Of the street
lines and to the ample facilities for rapid tran
sit. There is network OF electric surface lines
admirably managed and the stadtbahn, a via
duct Of masonry and ronwork twenty feet
above street level relieves the pressure Of
traffic. The suburbs easily approached
and traffic facilities adequate to meet the
requirements Of A large industrial population
Berlin may be the least picturesque OF tho
European capitals, but it is also the best recu-
lated and the most modern among them Eve-v
detail Of civic administration is worked out
with German thoroughness and precision.
The best impression Of this well governed
progressive capital is derived from stroll OF a
mile and half from the Potsdam station along
Leipsiger and Wilhelm SITS TO Unter den Linden
and thence to the Emperor's palace Nearly all
the public buildings embassies and palaces are
passed in this circuit and while the architecture
lacks distinction and originality. the structures
are massive and we'll ordered and have dig
nifty commensurate with the resources of a
mighty empire There are no medieval edifces
and few quaint churches. There is the substan-
tial plan for the business Of an empire The Ad-
miralty, the houses of the two Parliaments. the
War and Foreign offices the Imperial Chancery
and the other public Offices have no great archi-
tectural merit but the cumulative effect of such
array Of spacious structures is impressive i
Inter den Linden cannot be compared favorabIy
with the splendid circuit Of thoroughfares in
Vienna. with their magnificent piles Of masonry
but il is a splendid military parade from the
Brandenburg Gate 10 the statue Of Frederick
the Great and the castle bridge, and il is lined
with palaces and handsome edihces and illurni-
mated at night with glare Of electric light At
every intersection of side streets continuous
vistas of modern buildings open out with un-
broken lines, and at short distance from the
main thoroughfare are the Rathhaus, the bank
the exchange, the mint and other great struct-
ures. There is no other European capital that
seems equally and businessike The
growth Of Berlin during the last generation has
indeed been unexampled on the Continent. for
the population has more than trebled since the
war with France. A city has virtually been
built covering over twenty-five square miles in
the course Of thirty years
The progress Of Berlin has been facilitated by
the fact that the ancient core OF the town. with
its neagre population of six thousand at the
close of the Thirty Years War. has been small
and easily rebuilt. II has not been necessary TO
widen old thoroughfares to cut new streets
through solid acres of brick and mortar. TO clear
out here and there a network OF blind alleys
and foul Sums. and to open breathing places in
densely crowded sections. The costly undertake
tugs OF London reformers have been neces- |
sary IN Berlin. 1t has been ground. and it |
has only been requisite lay out broad streets I
on a rectangular plan, and 10 reserve spaces for