Berlin’s tourist magnet Haus Vaterland at Potsdamer Platz was in fact a revamped version of an older building. Haus Postdam - designed by the architect of the Anhalter Bahnhof, Franz Schwechten - opened in 1912 as an office building and a cinema. It also housed the then largest Berlin cafe and allegedly one of the largest such establishments worldwide: “Cafe Piccadilly” with 2,500 seats for its delighted guests. Located on two floors, including the round front building, its balcony tables (under the house’s characteristic cupola) were immensely popular among them.
Thank you for your histories and the images to go with them. I was born in 1942 on Luisenstrasse across from the Charite where my grandfather worked at times, but my mother, grandmother, and I fled the city in 1945, only my grandfather stayed behind to work as doctor. Living abroad most of my life, I never saw any of this and am grateful for all the information you provide. I only wish I had seen this when I wrote my memoir Api's Berlin Diaries. Gabrielle
I’m glad you enjoy those stories. And fully understand your wish to have seen all of those places. I’m in a similar position, though: many of the locations vanished long long before I moved to Berlin. I still saw some of the ruins but even those are gone by now.
Thank you for your histories and the images to go with them. I was born in 1942 on Luisenstrasse across from the Charite where my grandfather worked at times, but my mother, grandmother, and I fled the city in 1945, only my grandfather stayed behind to work as doctor. Living abroad most of my life, I never saw any of this and am grateful for all the information you provide. I only wish I had seen this when I wrote my memoir Api's Berlin Diaries. Gabrielle
I’m glad you enjoy those stories. And fully understand your wish to have seen all of those places. I’m in a similar position, though: many of the locations vanished long long before I moved to Berlin. I still saw some of the ruins but even those are gone by now.