Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Aachen, the westernmost city in Germany. Due to its numerous thermal springs, Aachen has been a bathing and spa town since ancient times. Even the Romans used the hot springs to run spas. Pepin the Short had a castle residence built in the town, due to the proximity of the hot springs and also for strategic reasons between the Rhineland and northern France. Charlemagne´s coronation as king of the Franks took place here in 768. Aachen became the preferred Imperial residence of Emperor Charlemagne. He spent most winters in Aachen between 792 and his death in 814. - The theatre is the successor of Aachen's first public theatre, the former "Altes Komödienhaus" ("Old Comedy House") at the Katschhof erected in 1751. The neoclassical building, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Johann Peter Cremer on Aachen's Kapuzinergraben, opened on May 15, 1825. During WWII the theatre was largely destroyed. The reconstruction in the old style started after the war - and the theatre was reopened already in December 1951. The large horse to the right is a work of Gerhard Marcks. It is named "Fröhlicher Hengst" (Happy Stallion). Aachen has traditional connections to the equestrian sport and is home to the yearly international horse show CHIO (Concours Hippique International Officiel).

Aachen, the westernmost city in Germany. Due to its numerous thermal springs, Aachen has been a bathing and spa town since ancient times. Even the Romans used the hot springs to run spas. Pepin the Short had a castle residence built in the town, due to the proximity of the hot springs and also for strategic reasons between the Rhineland and northern France. Charlemagne´s coronation as king of the Franks took place here in 768. Aachen became the preferred Imperial residence of Emperor Charlemagne. He spent most winters in Aachen between 792 and his death in 814. At the end of the 17th century, Aachen became a "fashionable spa" frequented by crowned heads and other celebrities. In 1819, the Aachen City Council decided to build a representative building in which the thermal water from the "Kaiserquelle" (imperial spring) could be dispensed to spa guests. Financial shortages of the city slowed down the building process, so the building, named "Elisenbrunnen" after the daughter of Bavarian King Maximilian I, was finally completed in 1828. The celebrities who drank the water of the Kaiserquelle as spa guests are commemorated by marble plaques in the hall, which were installed in 1883. Among them are Peter the Great, Frederick the Great, Giacomo Casanova, Count Grigory Orlov and George Frederick Handel. During World War II, the Elisenbrunnen was almost completely destroyed by bombing was faithfully reconstructed in the early 1950s following the plans of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who was one of the original architects.

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. - The Alte Museum was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm III and built 1825 - 1830 by Karl Friedrich Schinkel for the royal art collections. This is one of the major works of German classicism. Currently, the "Old Museum" is home to the "Antikensammlung" (antiquities collection). During WWII the museum was hit in Allied air raids and burned down in 1945. From 1951 to 1966 it got restored as the first museum of the "Museum Island".