August 2015 - 101cityscapes

27. August 2015Jörg Dietrich

Moscow | Russia | GUM on Red Square | Week 3

Moscow [russian: Москва|Moskwa, german: Moskau], first mentioned in 1147, lies in the european part of Russia on the shores of the river Moskwa, it is the largest city in Russia and Europe (except Istanbul, which however lies partly in Asia), the 10th largest city in the world (2015) by population and the northernmost megacity in the world

Population: 12.198.000 (2015) | 8.967.000 (1989) | 3.641.000 (1936) | 1.175.000 (1900)

Moscow is the political and cultural centre of Russia. It is known worldwide for its political role, but also for its rich architecture, the Kremlin complex, the Moscow Metro and its arts for example. Three UNESCO world heritage sites are located within city limits, as well as europes highest skyscrapers. It hosted the Summer Olympics of 1980 which was boycotted by 65 countries for political reasons.

This linear panorama composition, photgraphed by Uwe Dietrich in july 2014, represents the northeastern side of the Red Square in Moscow, dominated by the department store complex GUM. Originally built as the „Upper Trading Rows“ between 1890 and 1893, the building extends for 250 metres along the square and was designed by Alexander Pomerantsev and Vladimir Shukhov. The name goes back to the time when there were extensive street market activities around the Red Square and this part was the higher lying area. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the building lost its commercial status. Only after the death of Stalin it was reopened as GUM (literally meaning „main universal store“), quickly becoming the socialistic premium department store. After 1990 it was renovated again and reopened as Moscow’s first class luxury shopping temple.

Left of GUM we see the Kazan Cathedral („Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan“), one of the most important russian-orthodox churches. It was built in 1636, but destroyed on order by Stalin in 1936. The restoration of the cathedral was undertaken in the early 1990s as the first church destroyed by communists to be rebuilt.

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20. August 2015Jörg Dietrich

Rostock | Germany | Kröpeliner Strasse | Week 2

Rostock [latin: Rostochium], earliest settlings by slavic tribes, first mention as Rozstoc in 1165, lies on the Baltic Sea, about 150 km east of Hamburg, largest city of the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 39th largest city in Germany

Population: 203.000 (2013) | 253.000 (1989) | 84.000 (1930) | 55.000 (1900)

Rostock has been an important city of the Hanse (also called Hanseatic League), had always been an important harbour city and its university is the oldest around the Baltic Sea and in Northern Europe (founded 1419).

Here we see a section of its main shopping street, the Kröpeliner Straße, photographed in august 2013. The left street block lies directly along the university square (Universitätsplatz), a central square highly frequented by tourists and locals. The street was part of the medieval city core and is dominated by gabled houses in baroque, classicistic or historicistic style. The only building in brick gothic style is the Ratschow-Haus in the middle of the right block, today housing the city library. The name of the street is referring either to the city Kröpelin or to the influential family of that name that once lived in Rostock. That’s a question, that is still open for discussion.

Visit our archive for more streetline panoramas from the german state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

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And a little preview (to be extended) of another streetline from Rostock’s seaside district Warnemünde, the Alexandrinenstrasse:

13. August 2015Jörg Dietrich

Plzeň | Czech Republic | Great Synagogue | Week 1

Plzeň [german: Pilsen], founded ca. 1295 as New Plzen while the nearby Starý Plzenec (Old Plzen) was first mentioned in 976, situated 90 km west of Prague, 4th largest city of the Czech Republic

Population: 169.000 (2015) | 173.000 (1991) | 115.000 (1930) | 68.000 (1900)

Plzen is known worldwide for the Pilsner Beer created here in the 19th century. Plzen is also home to the Skoda Works, one of the worlds largest industrial companies of the 20th century, not to be confused with the Skoda Automobile brand.

In 2015 Plzen is a European Capital of Culture (along with Mons, Belgium).

Our cityscape panorama shows the Great Synagogue (czech: Velká Synagoga) of Plzen on the street Sady Pětatřicátníků. It is europe’s second largest synagogue, designed by Emmanuel Klotz and finnished in 1893. This view was taken on the 31st of December 2014 when the city was empty while everyone was preparing for New Years Eve. We also photographed the market square of the city with all its four sides, the namesti Republiky, amongst other street scenes.

Visit the PanoramaStreetline archive for more Streetline Panoramas from the Czech Republic.

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