Jörg Dietrich, Autor bei 101cityscapes

10. September 2015Jörg Dietrich

Amsterdam | Netherlands | Oudezijds Voorburgwal | Week 5

Amsterdam [Yiddish: Mokum], first mentioned as Aemstelredamme in 1275, situated centrally in the Netherlands on the mouth of the Amstel and the Ij into the Ijsselmeer, largest city of the Netherlands, 41st largest city in Europe.

Population: 826.000 (2015) | 695.000 (1990) | 757.000 (1930) | 524.000 (1900)

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but not the seat of its parliament (Den Haag). It is known worldwide for its canal system, the so-called Grachtengordel, and its architecture (also an UNESCO world heritage site). In the 17th century, the Dutch Golden Age, it was probably the wealthiest city in the world. The offices of the East India Trading Company became the first stock exchange in the world in 1602. It was also for centuries a safe haven for europe’s jews and they called it the „Jerusalem of the West“. Anne Frank lived in Amsterdam. Today Amsterdam is home to several world renowned museums.

This night view of the Oudezijds Voorburgwal depicts the typical dutch gabled houses along Amsterdam’s canals. It lies within the De Wallen district of central Amsterdam and is also part of Amsterdams Red Light District (dutch Rosse Buurt), as can obviously be seen with some of the red windows and sex shops here. The Oudezijds Voorburgwal is one of the most frequented canals in Amsterdam and one can find more than a hundred national listed buildings along it, including De Oude Kerk, Amsterdam’s oldest church. This view of the iced canal is relatively rare and was taken in february 2012.

Visit our archive for more streetline panoramas from Amsterdam.

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3. September 2015Jörg Dietrich

Lübeck | Germany | An der Untertrave | Week 4

Lübeck [latin: Lubeca], first settled as Liubice by Slavs in the 8th century, first mentioned in 1076, lies on the Baltic Sea 65 km east of Hamburg, 2nd largest city in the state Schleswig-Holstein, 35th largest city in Germany

Population: 213.000 (2015) | 213.000 (1989) | 130.000 (1936) | 82.000 (1900)

Lübeck has been the „Queen of the Hanse“ (leading city of the Hanseatic League) from the late 13th to the 15th century and during that time was also one of the biggest and most important german cities. The remaining parts of the medival old town, including the famous Holstentor, have been declared an UNESCO world heritage site in 1987. Also Lübeck is known for the literature of the brothers Thomas and Heinrich Mann, as well as the Buddenbrookhaus made famous in the novel „Buddenbrooks„.

This panorama by Lutz Riedel represents a stretch along the Untertrave, a section of the Trave river. Some important buildings here are the St. Marienkirche (St. Mary Church) in the back, the Marzipan Storehouses right of the centre and the Carl Tesdorpf building (an eyxclusive whine trader) left of the centre. we also see two streets going into the old town, the Alfstrasse next to the church and the Mengstrasse in the middle, which goes up to the Buddenbrookhaus. The large Marzipan Storehouses still remind of the important role the city played in the production and trade of Marzipan in the 19th and 20th century.

You can also find another street view of the Mengstrasse in our Lübeck archive.

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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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10. Juli 2015Jörg Dietrich

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