Page 189
Rathaus.
BERLIN.
Section 8. 151
Great, after Rauch; the Great Elector, after Schliiter; and Emp.
William I., after R. Begas. Cast of Bliiser's statue of Frederick
William IV. at the castle of Hohenzollern. Models of the castle
of Nuremberg, the Mausoleum at Charlottenburg (p. 183), and the
Palace at Berlin as it was in the time of Joachim II.
8. Old Berlin.
Rathaus. Markisches Provinziul-Museum. Museum of Germun
Costumes and Industries. Ravene's Picture Gallery.
From the Kurfursten-Briicke (p. 70) the Konig-Strasse leads to
the N.E. through Old Berlin (in the narrower sense, comp. p. 47)
to the Alexander-Platz (p. 153). In this street to the left, between
the Heilige-Geist-Str. and Spaudauer-Str., is the Central Post
Office (PI. R, 26; comp. p. 25), built in 1874-84, and officially
called 'Hofpostamt' and 'Briefpostamt' (letter post office); the latter
is a brick-building in the Brandenburg Gothic style, erected in 1901
in the Heilige-Geist-Str.
In the Konig-Strasse to the right, at the corner of the Spandauer-
Str., is N. Israel's large drapery establishment (p. 33). Opposite,
with its fagade towards the Konig-Str., stands the —
* Rathaus, or Town Hall (PL R, 26), an imposing brick edifice
with tasteful terracotta embellishments and granite facings, erected
in 1861-69 from the plans of Waesemaun. on the site of the old
Rathaus to which the Gerichtslaube (p. 198) belonged. The structure
is 325 ft. long, 288 ft. deep, and 88 ft. high to the top of the attic
stage above the third story, while the tall tower rises to a height of
243 ft. (to the top of the flag-staff 318 ft.). The dial-plates of the
clock measure 15'/a ft. in diameter. Like many of the other modern
buildings of Berlin, the Rathaus exhibits a union of a mediseval
structural system (round-arched) with Renaissance details, and
resembles the edifices of North Italy. The open-work projections
at the angles of the tower recall the Cathedral of Laon. — The bronze
statues of Emp. William I. and Elector Frederick I., in the niches
by the portal, were executed by Keil and En.cke; the reliefs of the
balconies represent scenes from the life in Old and New Berlin.
The architectural decoration of the principal rooms on the
First Floor (adm., see p. 39), which gave a new impetus to in¬
dustrial art in Berlin, is due to Kolscher.
On the left side of the staircase, next the Kbnig-Str., is the
Vestihulk of thk Magistrates' Room. This contains a marble figure
of the Spree, by Christensen, and a series of historical paintings:
1. (beginning on the E.) The Great Elector receiving the refugees
(p. 47); 2. The Councillors of Berlin-Kolln taking the Sacrament
(1539), both by Vogel; 3. Suppression of the robber barons by