Path of Visionaries

The Peace Column (German: Friedenssäule) is a column located in Mehringplatz in Berlin, Germany. Designed by Christian Gottlieb Cantian and erected in 1843, the 19-meter column is topped with a brass status of Victoria, goddess of victory, designed by Christian Daniel Rauch. In 1876, allegories of the four victorious allies of Waterloo (or Belle Alliance in Prussian historiography) were added, and in 1879 two more sculptures followed: The Peace by Albert Wolff and Clio, writing the history of the Wars of Liberation (Befreiungskriege) by Ferdinand Hartzer.

Mehringplatz is a round plaza (or circus) at the southern tip of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood of Kreuzberg district, Berlin. It marks the southern end of Friedrichstraße. Until 1970 both Lindenstraße and Wilhelmstrasse led into it. In 1947 it was renamed after the publicist Franz Mehring (1846–1919). Mehringplatz is one of three prominent squares laid out about 1730 in the course of the city's Baroque extension under King Frederick William I of Prussia, along with Pariser Platz (former Karree) and Leipziger Platz (Octagon). Due to its circular shape, Mehringplatz was initially named Rondell; but on 22 October 1815, it was renamed Belle-Alliance-Platz after the Battle of La Belle Alliance, an alternative name for the Battle of Waterloo that was then popular in Prussia. Rondell was the southern entrance to Berlin via Hallesches Tor, a gate on the newer city wall on the outbound road to Halle. The circus was refurbished during the 1830s, including the erection of the Friedenssäule ("Peace Column") with a statue of Victoria by Christian Daniel Rauch in 1843. The area was completely devastated in World War Two, particularly in an air raid on 3 February 1945 and the Battle of Berlin which followed. In the 1960s, Mehringplatz was redeveloped as a pedestrian zone that would anchor a large social housing area according to the realization of a plan conceived by Hans Scharoun, which was ultimately executed by the Berlin architect Werner Düttmann. During the 1990s, the installation of striking murals was used to decorate the lower walls of the courtyard areas of the housing blocks.

Theodor Wolff Park (German: Theodor-Wolff-Park) is a public park in Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany.

The Hallesches Tor was located in today's Berlin district Kreuzberg south of Mehringplatz. Today, as a historic monument listed underground station on the site of the former gate bears the name Hallesches Tor. It is a major transfer point for the underground lines / (here as Hochbahn) and as well as the bus lines 248 (Berlin Ostbahnhof - Breitenbachplatz via Südkreuz) and M41 (Hauptbahnhof via Potsdamer Platz - Baumschulenstraße). The station is connected by the Hallesche-Tor-Brücke with the Blücherplatz to the south. The Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek and the nearby Jewish Museum contribute to the heavy visitor traffic in the area around the Hallesches Tor.

Hallesches Tor is a Berlin U-Bahn station in the central Kreuzberg quarter, served by lines U1, U3, and U6. It is named after the historic Hallsches Tor (Halle Gate) of the Berlin Customs Wall, erected in the 18th century.

The Landwehr Canal, or Landwehrkanal in German, is a 10.7-kilometre (6.6 mi) long canal parallel to the Spree river in Berlin, Germany, built between 1845 and 1850 according to plans by Peter Joseph Lenné. It connects the upper part of the Spree at the Osthafen (Eastern Harbour) in Friedrichshain with its lower part in Charlottenburg, flowing through Kreuzberg and Tiergarten.

Normalnull ("standard zero") or Normal-Null (short N. N. or NN ) is an outdated official vertical datum used in Germany. Elevations using this reference system were to be marked Meter über Normal-Null (“meters above standard zero”). Normalnull has been replaced by Normalhöhennull (short NHN).

Besselpark is a park in Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany. The sculpture Tilted Donut Wedge with Two Balls is installed in the park.

The Jewish Museum Berlin (Jüdisches Museum Berlin) was opened in 2001 and is the largest Jewish museum in Europe. On 3,500 square metres (38,000 square feet) of floor space, the museum presents the history of Jews in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present day, with new focuses and new scenography. It consists of three buildings, two of which are new additions specifically built for the museum by architect Daniel Libeskind. German-Jewish history is documented in the collections, the library and the archive, and is reflected in the museum's program of events. From its opening in 2001 to December 2017, the museum had over eleven million visitors and is one of the most visited museums in Germany. Opposite the building ensemble, the W. Michael Blumenthal Academy of the Jewish Museum Berlin was built – also after a design by Libeskind – in 2011/2012 in the former flower market hall. The archives, library, museum education department, a lecture hall and the Diaspora Garden can all be found in the academy.

The Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek (AGB; English: America Memorial Library) is one of the largest public libraries in Berlin, Germany. It was co-financed by a donation from the United States. The building was designed by American and German architects, including Fritz Bornemann and Willy Kreuer. It was opened on September 17, 1954, and was originally planned to become the Central Library of Berlin.

The Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) is a theater and international performance center based in Berlin. It was founded by combinig three theaters in Kreuzberg, Berlin: Hebbel Theater (now called HAU1), Theater am Halleschen Ufer (theater at Hallesches Ufer) (now called HAU2) and Theater am Ufer (now called HAU3). Annemie Vanackere has been its artistic director since 2012. Its founding director was Matthias Lilienthal, who also invented the international best-selling theater project "X Homes" (also known as "X Apartments"). The Hebbel am Ufer is funded with 4 million euros by the State of Berlin and various foundations and organizations in Berlin as well as in the rest of Germany. Its mission is to protect and support the tradition of the Hebbel Theater, which is to provide space and infrastructure for different international and national theater, dance and performance events. The HAU is known for international productions in various performing arts. Especially for younger generations of theater enthusiasts, HAU has become an important part of the cultural life in Germany.

The Berlin Observatory (Berliner Sternwarte) is a German astronomical institution with a series of observatories and related organizations in and around the city of Berlin in Germany, starting from the 18th century. It has its origins in 1700 when Gottfried Leibniz initiated the "Brandenburg Society of Science″ (Sozietät der Wissenschaften) which would later (1744) become the Prussian Academy of Sciences (Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften). The Society had no observatory but nevertheless an astronomer, Gottfried Kirch, who observed from a private observatory in Berlin. A first small observatory was furnished in 1711, financing itself by calendrical computations. In 1825 Johann Franz Encke was appointed director by King Frederick William III of Prussia. With the support of Alexander von Humboldt, Encke got the King to agree to the financing of a true observatory, but one condition was that the observatory be made accessible to the public two nights per week. The building was designed by the well-known architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, and began operating in 1835. It now bears the IAU observatory code 548. Although the original observatory was built in the outskirts of the city, over the course of time the city expanded such that after two centuries the observatory was in the middle of other settlements which made making observations very difficult and a proposal to move the observatory was made. The observatory was moved to Potsdam-Babelsberg in 1913 (IAU observatory code 536). Since 1992 it is managed by the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), although it has not been used for German astronomical observations since the 20th century. In Berlin remain the Wilhelm Foerster Observatory (IAU code 544), the Archenhold Sternwarte, Berlin-Treptow (Archenhold Observatory; IAU code 604), the Urania Sternwarte (Urania Observatory, IAU code 537), and the Bruno H. Bürgel Observatory.