second world war

On July 20th, 1944, a group of conspirators attempted to kill Adolf Hitler inside the Wolf's Lair military base in East Prussia. That was the day that Claus von Stauffenberg placed a bomb next to the Führer of Nazi Germany was intending to take over political control of Germany and try to make peace with the Western Allies.

The July 20th Plot: A Conservative Conspiracy Against Hitler’s Germany

Berlin
16 min read
20/07/202115/07/2024

Overlooking the bay in Tallinn, this is where you will find the Maarjamäe Memorial Complex. This ensemble of memorials dates from Soviet times, back in the 1970s, and it's easy to spot from the city centre because of its sizeable concrete obelisk dedicated to the Defenders of the Soviet Union.

A Visit to the Maarjamäe Memorial Complex in Tallinn

Tallinn
6 min read
24/06/202118/01/2024

Here we will talk a little bit about the reason why the Friedhofsbahn was built, how it shut down, and why some people want it back. Also, since this is the same abandoned train track used as a location in Netflix’s series Dark, we will talk about the hike in the forest, following the train tracks the connect the bridge to the church in Dark.

Exploring the Friedhofsbahn: The Old Wannsee – Stahnsdorf Railway Line

Berlin, Urbex
9 min read
13/05/202111/12/2024

What remains of the Flugplatz Oranienburg can be seen not that far away from the Oranienburg Hauptbahnhof. Built before the Second World War, between 1936 and 1939, this abandoned airfield was used until 1945 by the Luftwaffe and the Heinkel-Werke Oranienburg.

Exploring the Flugplatz Oranienburg with Drones

Berlin, Urbex
8 min read
18/04/202118/02/2024

Berlin is a city that still carries scars from a war that ended more than seventy years ago. You can see it on the walls of some old buildings and on all the air shelters that still exist today. Berlin Bunkers are everywhere and we’re going to talk about some of them below.

Berlin Bunkers: Abandoned Air Shelters around the German Capital

Berlin
11 min read
09/03/202124/03/2025

The Berlin Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park is the biggest of the three war memorials the USSR left in Berlin after the end of the Second World War. It was built to the design of the Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky as a memorial for 5,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who died in the Battle of Berlin between April and May 1945. It opened four years after World War II on May 8, 1949, and it used to serve as the central war memorial in East Berlin.

Exploring the Soviet Memorials located around Berlin

Berlin
7 min read
25/12/202011/04/2024

While we were watching the Queen's Gambit on Netflix, some locations seem to be familiar to us. Some places that were supposed to be foreign, like Moscow and Mexico City, looked like places we recognized from our daily life here in Berlin. With this thought in mind, we decided to look for Queen's Gambit locations, and the first place we visited was the Methuen Home orphanage, also known as Schloss Schulzendorf.

Queen’s Gambit Locations: Schloss Schulzendorf as the Methuen Home orphanage

Berlin
7 min read
24/11/202024/11/2020

The Soviet Memorial in the Tiergarten is one of the many war memorials that can be found around Berlin. From the prominent memorials erected by the Soviet Union after the end of the Second World War, this is the most famous and most visited since it lies close to Berlin's leading tourist destinations.

Soviet Memorial in the Tiergarten

Berlin
6 min read
17/11/202008/12/2020

Marx and Engels Forum is a small public park in the heart of Berlin. Named after two of the most famous and influential German philosophers, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, authors of The Communist Manifesto. The park was opened to the public in 1986. The statues found there used to have quite a significant location with the Palast der Republik, the German Democratic Republic's parliament, on its back.

From Controversy to Tourist Attraction: The Story of Berlin’s Marx and Engels Forum

Berlin
4 min read
19/10/202013/03/2024

Most people that visit Berlin know the history behind the wall that divided the city during the Cold War. But there is another historic wall waiting to be discovered in the middle of the town. This is the Old City Wall of Berlin that witnesses the medieval past of the city.

The Rediscovered History of Berlin’s Old City Wall

Berlin
3 min read
12/10/202018/02/2025

Whenever we travel around Europe, we see the skeleton of abandoned gasworks. But the Schöneberg Gasometer has this uniqueness to it since it feels like it's still integrated into the landscape of the city. You pass by it around Haupstrasse or taking the S-Bahn, and it's always there, in the corner of your eye.

Schöneberg Gasometer: Climbing the Skeleton of Abandoned Gasworks

Berlin
7 min read
10/09/202028/02/2024

Checkpoint Bravo was the name of one of three Allied checkpoints used by the United States in the divided Germany and Berlin during the years after the Second World War and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Before 1969, this Checkpoint could be found on a bridge over the Teltow Canal. Still, it was moved to a different location called Albrechts Teerofen. In here, we will be talking about the original and abandoned Checkpoint Bravo.

Checkpoint Bravo and the Teltow Canal Bridge in Dreilinden

Berlin, Urbex
7 min read
08/07/202031/08/2024

The Berlin Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park is the biggest of the three war memorials the USSR left in Berlin after the end of the Second World War. It was built to the design of the Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky as a memorial for 5,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who died in the Battle of Berlin between April and May 1945. It opened four years after World War II on May 8, 1949, and it used to serve as the central war memorial in East Berlin.

Berlin Soviet Memorial: Treptower Park

Berlin
5 min read
08/05/202021/12/2023

Lenin statues, with some historical importance, were the source of some impossible satires during the GDR times. East German propaganda had something to say about this Lenin statue that came from Eisleben, Martin Luther's hometown in Saxony. We know for sure that this statue was made in 1925 by the Soviet sculptor Matwej Maniser and that it was the first statue of the Soviet hero standing in German soil.

All the locations that we found Lenin in Berlin

Berlin
7 min read
22/04/202021/01/2024

The Cologne Cathedral has a long pilgrimage tradition in the Christianity, dating back to the Middle Ages. All of this because this is where you can find one of the most precious relics of Catholicism: the Shrine of the Three Holy Kings, which was brought to Cologne in 1164.

A Visit to the Magnificent Cologne Cathedral

Köln
9 min read
10/03/202006/03/2020

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, the former Staatsratsgebäude was used as the seat of the Federal Chancellery under Gerhard Schröder. Between 2003 and 2005, the historical building went trough renovation extensively so that the European School of Management Berlin could take over it, they opened their doors in January 2006.

The Staatsratsgebäude: A Historical and Architectural Gem in Berlin

Berlin
5 min read
02/02/202014/06/2024

Auschwitz-Birkenau is the best-known place of martyrdom and destruction in the world. This Nazi German death camp in Oświęcim has become a symbol of the Holocaust, of horror and of genocide. The name of the camp stands as a cultural code that defines the breakdown of our civilization and culture.

Auschwitz-Birkenau: Symbols of Suffering, Stories of Survival

Poland
12 min read
27/01/202012/03/2024

Located in the hill south of Budapest, Memento Park seems to be the place that communist statues go to die. There, Lenin stands next to Karl Marx and Engels, together with crucial Hungarian communist leaders. All of this behind brick walls that make up a surreal and unique open-air museum that feels more authentic than most sights in the city.

Memento Park: A Surreal Time Capsule of Budapest’s Communist Past

Budapest
6 min read
14/08/201916/07/2024

It seems like the Cube House of Rotterdam is stranded above roads and stuck next to the harbor by the strong wind that blows from the sea. But this popular tourist attraction is also a bizarre architectural experiment and this is the main reason why we decided to spend some time there during a cold January afternoon.

The Rotterdam Cube House: An Architectural Wonder

Netherlands, Rotterdam
6 min read
12/08/201917/11/2024

It weighs more than three tons, and it was buried and almost forgotten deep in a forest around Berlin. But nowadays, you can visit the head of Lenin at the Zitadelle Spandau in an exhibition focused on German history.

The Unearthed Head of Lenin at Zitadelle Spandau

Berlin
5 min read
10/07/201903/07/2023

When you walk along the Danube Promenade, next to the Hungarian Parliament Building, you will find a memorial called Shoes on the Danube Bank. The monument was conceived by Can Togay, with the help from sculptor Gyula Pauer, to remember and honor the Jews that were murdered by Arrow Cross, a fascist militia, during the last months of the Second World War in Budapest.

Steps to the River’s Edge: Budapest’s Shoes on the Danube Bank

Budapest
4 min read
24/04/201912/03/2024