Sometimes taking a walk around your home town is just what you need to reconnect with your life, past or present. In Place of Birth: Berlin, Monika Maron describes her walk along the Monbijou Bridge, which crosses over the Spree River and connects Museum Island to where the former Monbijou Palace was located. Right near the tip of the island is Bode Museum.
Monbijou Palace was built in 1649 by Frederick William I to give to his first wife Louise Henriette, who was from The Netherlands. Louise used the Dutch model to build up a great estate that had crops and diary farming. It was centrally located on the northern bank of the Spree River but within sight of the Hohenzollern city palace. The palace was named from the French mon bijou, which means "my jewel" by Sophia Dorothea of Hanover and her father-in-law Frederick William I of Prussia. The palace was heavily damaged in World War II, and the ruins were finally razed in 1959. Since that time, it has not been rebuilt but instead the area was turned into Monbijou Park, which has a swimming pool for children.
Below is a rendering of how the palace used to look.
Below is a rendering of how the palace used to look.
Monika Maron describes sitting on the steps, smoking a cigarette and looking out towards the west where there was an advertisement for a German laundry detergent called Fewa. Looking out from the Bode Museum and seeing an advertisement for a laundry detergent seems like a juxtaposition to me.
Below is the Bode Museum and then the advert for the detergent.
Below is the Bode Museum and then the advert for the detergent.
Some daredevils have take it upon themselves to have fun and dive off the bridge into the Spree below.