Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Dresdner Altstadt (II)

Dresdner Altstadt

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Two more models are expected to be avaliable for Google Earth in the next days:

Let's start with U-Bhf. Hallesches Tor.

As with some other U-Bahn stations in Berlin, Hallesches Tor was named after a historical city gate, in this case, Hallesches Tor was the start of the road that led to the city of Halle upon the Saale, in present-day Saxony-Anhalt.

Hallesches Tor around 1800

The station was built close to the former location of the gate, and opened in February 1902 as part of the Stammstrecke, first U-Bahn line.

During construction, 1902

Hallesches Tor, c.1902

The station was damaged by bombing during WW2, and had to be closed in April 1945. The structure was rebuilt in the following years.




The second model is an addition to Dresden cityscape, of course, I'm talking about the Taschenbergpalais.

Taschenbergpalais, Sophienkirche and Zwinger c. 1940

This baroque palace was built by Johann Friedrich Karcher for Countess Anna Constanze of Hoym between 1705 and 1708. This structure stood there for over 230 years, before being heavily damaged by the Allied bombing that destroyed most of Dresden in February 1945. The ruins would remain there for the next 47 years, until the construction of the current structure, which serves as a Kempinski hotel since its completion in 1995.

The Taschenbergpalais ruins in 1990



And for anyone who hasn't noticed it yet, the Berliner Stadtschloss is avaliable for download as a KMZ file since January 17th, to conmemorate the creation of the Kingdom of Prussia and the proclamation of the German Empire in January 18th, 1701 and 1871, respectively. Enjoy!