Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Erich Mendelsohn

The history of Wroclaw dates back more than a thousand years. At various times, it has been part of the Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Habsburg monarchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia, and Germany. Wrocław became part of Poland again in 1945 as part of the result of extensive border changes and expulsions after WWII. In 990 Mieszko I of Poland conquered Silesia and Wrocław. The town became a commercial center. In the 12th century Polish, Bohemian, Jewish, Walloon, and German communities existed here. Wroclaw was devastated in 1241 during the first Mongol invasion of Poland. In the 13th century due to migration from Saxony and Bavaria, Wroclaw got germanised. The population adopted the German language and culture and the name changed to Breslau. Between 1342 and 1344 two fires destroyed large parts of the city, which was a part of the Bohemian Kingdom at that time. Charles IV`s , successors Wenceslaus and Sigismund became involved in a long-lasting feud with the city and its magistrate, culminating in the revolt in 1418 when local craftsmen killed seven councilors. After the city had defeated the Bohemian Hussites the city was besieged by a combined Polish-Czech force in 1474, however, a ceasefire was signed, according to which the city remained under Hungarian rule. The Reformation reached Breslau already in 1518, and in 1523 the town council unanimously appointed a new pastor and thus introduced the Reformation in Breslau. In 1526, the Habsburg monarchy of Austria inherited Bohemia, Silesia, and the city of Breslau. In 1609 German emperor Rudolf II granted the free exercise of church services to all Bohemian and Silesian Protestants. In the following Thirty Years' War, the city suffered badly. It was occupied by Saxon and Swedish troops and lost 18,000 of its 40,000 residents to the plague. The Counter-Reformation had started with Rudolf II who encouraged Catholic orders to settle in Breslau. The dominance of the German population under the Habsburg rule in the city became more visible, while the Polish population diminished in numbers. After Frederick the Great besieged the city for a year, it surrendered in 1741. In 1742, Queen Maria Theresa handed over Silesia to the Prussian king. - What is now the "Kameleon department store" was once the "Kaufhaus Rudolf Petersdorff". The building was built in 1927-1928 according to the design of the Berlin architect Erich Mendelsohn. The six-story steel skeleton structure is almost unchanged to this day.

Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany. The city is one of Germany's 16 federal states. The first records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in 1237 and Berlin, across the river Spree in 1244. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1415, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. His successors established Berlin-Cölln as capital of the margraviate, and subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and eventually as German emperors. The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. The city lost half of its population. Frederick William, known as the "Grosse Kurfürst" initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance from 1640 on. In 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the Huguenots. By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French Huguenots. Other immigrants came from Bohemia and Poland. The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic centre of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire. In 1933 the Nazi Party came to power. After the "Kristallnacht" progrom in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Starting in 1943, many were shipped to death camps, such as Auschwitz. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed by Allied air raids and the 1945 Battle of Berlin. Around 125,000 civilians were killed. After the end of WWII , by Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to the occupation zones into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies formed West Berlin, while the Soviet sector formed East Berlin. The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided the city from 1961 to 1989, when it fell. In October 1990, the German reunification process was formally finished. - What is the "Ellington Hotel" today was built under the name "Haus Nürnberg" and "Femina Palast" 1928-1931. The architects Richard Bielenberg and Josef Moser were obviously strongly influenced by Erich Mendelsohn´s expressionist architecture. The Femina opened in 1931 as a posh dancehall with about 2000 seats, but the competition was tough and so it closed down already 1933. But despite the Nazis` efforts in the 1930s, the jazzy swing stayed somewhere in the huge building. The building got severely damaged during WWII, though the facade was pretty intact in 1945. Over the next decades, large parts of the building were used by government authorities, before it got completely renovated and converted into a posh hotel. The name came from one of the former guests, as in the early days not only Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald lived and performed here. One of the artists here was Duke Ellington. www.ellington-hotel.com/en/