Europe

I have been to West Berlin a few hundred times but, for me, that part of the city is still a mystery. Sometimes you look into a different direction and something completely new pops up before your eyes. This is what happened to me one day when I left Kurfürstendamm U-Bahn and looked up at the subway exit at Joachimstaler Strasse. There was a prismatic building looking over the street and I had no idea what is was. After some online research, a name came to me: Verkehrskanzel.

Verkehrskanzel: Berlin’s Only Traffic Control Pulpit Left from the Fifties

Berlin (category)
4 min read
01/02/201722/01/2024

The Soviet Union had a strange obsession with statues. But the Soviet Union is gone for a long time now and where have all these statues gone? I not sure about most of them but I manage to find some of them in what could be described as a Soviet Statue Graveyard in Tallinn. And I’m here to share with you what I saw there.

Our Visit to the Soviet Statue Graveyard behind the Estonian History Museum

Estonia (category), Tallinn (category)
5 min read
26/01/201724/01/2024

Moving to Berlin was something that changed my life completely. I didn’t know that before coming here and I wasn’t ready for all of this. But, living in Berlin changed my habits, my way of seeing things and I’m pretty sure I’m not the same guy that left Brazil anymore. And I blame Berlin for that.

How living in Berlin can make you a better person

Berlin (category)
7 min read
20/01/201714/12/2023

What if I told you that the best place to see Berlin from above is not the on the huge TV Tower in the middle of Alexanderplatz? It might sound weird at first but it makes a lot of sense after you think about it. Do you want to take pictures of Berlin with its main tourist spot in there right? So, you need to go somewhere where the TV Tower can be seen. Somewhere as tall as the tower but way less crowded. That place exists and it is the Park Inn Hotel Alexanderplatz Viewing Platform and I going to tell you everything about it now.

Berlin from Above: The Amazing View from the Park Inn Hotel Alexanderplatz Viewing Platform

Berlin (category), Germany (category)
6 min read
18/01/201708/04/2021

If you go back to Fotostrasse archives you’ll see that we love to see old videos of Berlin. This short one from Berlin in 1936 is no exception since it shows how beautiful the city used to be and focus on the changes that were happening to the German capital during the time it was governed by the Nazi party.

This is how Berlin used to look like back in 1936

Berlin (category)
3 min read
16/01/201702/03/2025

One of the most famous Bregenz Festival stages is the one from the 2007/2008 season. This is where some scenes for the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace were filmed. We remember watching it on TV some time before going to Bregenz and it looked almost unreal.

The Amazing Floating Stage of the Bregenz Festival

Austria (category), Vorarlberg (category)
7 min read
27/12/201617/02/2024

There are a lot of late night hosts on American TV but our favorite has been Conan O’Brien for quite a long time. With this in mind, you can imagine how excited we were when we realized that there would be a Conan in Berlin tour. Too bad we never manage to be in the right place at the right time but we can be happy to watch now everything that Conan did in Berlin back in September 2016.

Conan in Berlin: From a Dominatrix Session to a Nude Beach

Berlin (category)
5 min read
23/12/201621/12/2023

Some say that the best thing about winter time is the snow and everything that you can do with it. But Fotostrasse says, without thinking twice, that the best thing about winter is the Christmas Markets. And Prague has some of the most charming ones I have ever seen. I spent some time in Prague in early December and even though it was too fast, I managed to find some time in my schedule to enjoy a couple of the best Prague Christmas Markets.

Prague Christmas Markets: A Festive Guide

Prague (category)
5 min read
19/12/201626/03/2025

For some people, myself included there, Vysehrad Cemetery is one of Prague’s main attractions. This happens because this is the final resting place of a lot of the most important artists and thinkers from the Czech Republic. Including there Antonín Dvořák, Ladislav Šaloun, Bedřich Smetana and Alphonse Mucha, the main reason why I spent so much time walking around the cemetery.

A visit to Vysehrad Cemetery and Slavin in Prague

Prague (category)
7 min read
12/12/201629/06/2020

Less than 20 minutes outside of Hall in Tirol, surrounded by the gorgeous Austrian mountains, you will find a dream like world of crystal. Protected by a giant green head that spits water all year round is where you will find the Swarovski World in Wattens. A beautiful mixture of museum, art installations and theme park made for those who love beauty.

Swarovski World: Five Reasons to visit Kristallwelten Wattens

Austria (category), Tirol (category)
5 min read
27/11/201627/11/2018

In the north of Eysturoy Island you will find a small and picturesque village called Gjogv, that means gorge in Faroese and that sounds exactly the opposite of how we kept saying it. The village has less that 50 people living there and it’s famous for the 200 meter long gorge that runs north from the sea to the village. We went there to see it and it was more than worth it.

Exploring Gjogv in the North of Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands (category), Gjogv (category)
6 min read
26/11/201610/10/2024

The abandoned boat in the Spree River has a name, even though I couldn’t find one when Fotostrasse visited the place back in July 2016. The boat is called MS Dr. Ingrid Wengler. It was named after the owner’s true love, a surgeon at the Dreifaltigkeits-Hospital in Lippstadt. She died in 1979 and she left a hole that never closed. This is why Franz Günther van de Lücht, the owner of the abandoned boat, says about his loss. But the fact that the boat that carries her name is stuck between the Molecule Man sculpture and Badeschiff leaves another one.

A Visit to an Abandoned Boat in the Spree River

Berlin (category), Urbex (category)
7 min read
11/11/201621/12/2023

Donald Trump will take office as the 45th President of the United States in January, 2017. This means that you have a few months to move to Germany after Trump's victory. We’re here to share our experience coming from Brazil and help you out set up a game plan for your move. Most people would consider moving to Canada before even thinking about moving to Germany. But Germany can be an amazing place to live if you think about it. Germany is the land of beer, amazing football, fast cars and a lot of wurst. But Germany also has universal health care, paid parental leave, almost free universities and a lot of culture. Also, Germany is Europe’s main economic power and, after #Brexit, it seems it will become even better.

How to Move to Germany

Germany (category), Tips and Tricks (category)
10 min read
09/11/201614/01/2024

Back in September, Fotostrasse was invited by Canon to see everything that was new in the camera world at Photokina in Cologne. As the world’s largest photography trade show, this was heaven for anyone that loves cameras, photo gear and apps. But I came out of the place with a sour taste in my mouth. But it wasn’t the overpriced food in there. I was disappointed how most camera makers I visited and talked to at Photokina weren’t fixing one of the problems I have now. I share this problem with a lot of photographers and the problem is speed.

A Visit to Photokina and Why I use my Camera Phone so much

Photography (category)
5 min read
31/10/201601/11/2016

Most people are aware of David Bowie’s relationship with Berlin due to his Berlin trilogy. But it’s not everybody that knows about David Bowie's Warsaw story. This is the story I want to tell you since Fotostrasse visited Warsaw and discovered a lot about why and how the polish capital stuck with Bowie. It stuck enough to have its name on a song from of his best albums.

David Bowie’s Warsaw: How Warszawa Came to Be

Warsaw (category)
8 min read
27/10/201628/03/2024

Our visit to Schulenburg Park and its beautiful fountain in Neukölln

Berlin (category)
5 min read
04/10/201601/09/2020

St. Magnus Cathedral started being built more than 700 years ago on the southernmost village on Streymoy. But it was never finished. Today, the building lays not completed, without a roof, suffering through all these years without any protection. But this ruined church still stands today making it the largest medieval building in Faroe Islands.

Magnus Cathedral and the Kirkjubøur Village

Faroe Islands (category)
7 min read
27/09/201618/02/2024

When Dusseldorf decided to modernize its harbor, the city invited famous architects that are given an empty canvas for them to create. One of this architects was Frank O. Gehry and what he designed for the city became Neuer Zollhof and one of the main sights of this german city by the Rhine river.

The Gehry Buildings of Dusseldorf Harbor

Dusseldorf (category)
4 min read
22/09/201608/12/2025

Holiday for Design: How Krumbach Created Architectural Bus Stops

Austria (category), Vorarlberg (category)
8 min read
18/09/201626/03/2025

The Berlin Wall is the reason why Berlin had some ghost stations. Most of them were on the S-Bahn line S2, the U-Bahn line U6 and the U8. Those lines travelled through what was then East Berlin on their way back into West Berlin. Trains could go through it but the stations were sealed off and heavily guarded. This happened because, when the Berlin Wall went up, some people realized that they could escape using the train lines. After the East German police realized that, they closed down the stations. This way the stations couldn’t be used as a possible mean to escape to West Berlin.

Berlin Ghost Stations: Potsdamer Platz 1989

Berlin (category), Urbex (category)
4 min read
07/09/201611/01/2024

In early August, If you arrived in Berlin via Hauptbahnhof you would be greeted by a pack of wolves. Bronze and iron statues, some of them with more than 2 meters in height, would be looming over passengers with guns and Nazi salutes. A sign would tell you that the Wolves are Back. But why are these Wolves back in Berlin?

The Wolves are Back in Berlin with Rainer Opolka

Berlin (category)
4 min read
16/08/201612/06/2026