Strolling along the Spree river promenade, opposite the Berliner Dom, I suddenly noticed something happening on the wall above me.
One of the statues was dressed in a denim jacket. Remember when those jackets were the bees knees? Well, they’ve been back for some time now and you can see them everywhere. Even on statues.
There seemed to be some posing going on – a photo for Instagram perhaps?
I’m sure it’s a stunning shot from the other side as well!
Not to be outdone by these girls, I decided to pose a bit myself. I had to wait quite a bit though, as the girls were taking shot after shot to get the perfect photo, which naturally took ages as each shot had to be carefully inspected before being discarded or approved!
This group of statues, “Three Girls One Boy”, are by German sculptor Wilfried Fitzenreiter. However, this is not their original post, as they used to be in the middle of a fountain near the Palasthotel. At the time, they were sitting in a cluster, close together, as seen here. When the original hotel was demolished in 2000, due to asbestos, the statues were stored away till 2007 when they found their place here, on the wall.
The original Palasthotel is another story entirely, but just to give you a short summary, it was located in East Germany and housed mainly foreign guests. The East German residents were not allowed inside due to all the western influences present in the hotel. Palasthotel was also known as a “Stasi-nest”, as Stasi officers monitored their guests with all kinds of surveillance equipment in elevators, rooms, corridors and restaurants to gain information. The history of the hotel is very similar to the Viru hotel in Tallinn, Estonia, where the KGB kept watch. The original Viru hotel still stands.
This post is my contribution to the Friendly Friday Photo Challenge. This week’s theme is “posing”. Have a look here!
xx
The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi 
Lol at the denim jacket around one of the statues. It looks like it fits her perfectly! It did look like the two other ladies were using it for an Instagram post and if so, it would be a very different kind of photo. I thought you took a lovely shot beside the statues 😀 So interesting how old buildings like the hotel you mentioned have their history, what with people restrictions and and surveillance all round. How times have changed and these days we can get up close to such places 🙂
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Hi Mabel! Thank you for your lovely comment, I have missed hearing from you 🙂 It is nice to see familiar faces here, I am glad some bloggers are still going strong and haven’t disappeared! I love history, if only the walls could tell us stories of times gone by 🙂
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It is always good to see bloggers still around. It’s like coming back round to connecting with old friends when you haven’t seen each other for a while. Hope you have many more lovely walks 🙂
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What an interesting take on the theme! I can just imagine the instagrammers inspecting their shots. I like yours!
Just this morning, I walked past a couple who looked like they were tourists, taking shots and posing on the streets. The woman was almost pro in her posing, first a cheerful happy face, then she was playing annoyed, etc. Who needs supermodels when everyone can pose?! 😝
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The IGers inspecting their shots, looking for the best one gets a bit much when you’re awaiting your turn 😂 For example, in Lapland at the ice village, it was quite cold but these girls went on and off the ice throne, not liking any of the photos, so the photoshoot seemed never-ending for us watching and waiting for our turn! Quite disrespectful of others I’d say 😆 Hey, let’s arrange our meet-up, I will email you 👏
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Yes, let’s! 🤗
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Oh staying in one of those hotels would be exciting! I have been to the Berlin Dom but didn’t know the history of those statues. Thanks for that.
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Heheh, the Viru hotel isn’t so exciting to stay in at all, but there is a KGB tour at the hotel which is worth going to. They take you to KGB’s secret floor and headquarters in the building and tell you a lot about what went on! And unfortunately the Berlin hotel was demolished, so the new one doesn’t have the same history or appeal 😦
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Wow! I must look into the KGB tour.
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