A Journey Through Stalinist Architecture around the World Part VI: The Former German Democratic Republic

Due to the abundance of Stalinist architecture in the former East Germany, I decided that it'd be fitting to have it on a separate post in order to not clog up the previous post involving the rest of the Eastern Bloc.

East Berlin is probably one of the more well known and famous areas associated with Stalinist architecture, not just in Europe, but the rest of the world.

Strausberger Platz, in Berlin, Germany

Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin, Germany

Karl-Marx-Allee was originally named as Stalinallee, but due to the period of De-Stalinization, the boulevard's name was changed to its current one to pay homage to the founder of Marxist thought. 

The Russian Embassy in Berlin, Germany

 List Platz in Dresden, Germany

 Frankfurter Tor in Berlin, Germany

Ernst-Reuter-Allee in Magdeburg, Germany

 The City Centre of Magdeburg, Germany

On the next post, we'll explore how China was influenced by Stalinist architecture, and look at several cities and areas of China where these influences can still be seen today. 

A Journey Through Stalinist Architecture around the World Part V: The Former Eastern Bloc

On the next leg of this series, we're going to take a look at the former Eastern Bloc which consisted of the countries of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.

Now for the purposes of simplicity, the former German Democratic Republic will be explored in a different post as the GDR had a sizable amount of architecture that would make this post just way too long.

The Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland

 Ministry of Agriculture in Warsaw, Poland

Nowa Huta District of Krakow, Poland

Former Communist Party House in Sofia, Bulgaria

Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania. 

Interestingly enough, the Palace of Parliament in Romania was commissioned to be built several decades after the initial phase of Stalinist architecture had been built, which was during the 1950's. The Palace of Parliament was started in 1984 and finally completed in 1990.

Dunaújváros in Hungary

 

TZUM Department Store in Sofia, Bulgaria

 

House of the Free Press in Bucharest, Romania.

Hotel Crowne Plaza in Prague, Czech Republic 

On the next installment, we'll take a look at the German Democratic Republic, more commonly referred to as East Germany!

Long time Hiatus Update: Ukrainian Battlelines.

Wow. It's been quite some since I updated my blog.

Let's start with something short and serious. Ukraine. 

 

So far, the Ukrainians have launched a massive offensive aiming to separate the Lugansk People's Republic with that of the Donetsk People's Republic. This is also coinciding with a Ukrainian offensive into Horlivka (Ukrainian:Горлівка, Russian:Горловка)

The Ukrainian military has also recaptured Lyschansk (Ukrainian:Лисичанськ, Russian:Лисичанск)  the past few days and is aiming to recapture the town of Stakhanov.(Ukrainian/Russian:Стаханов)

Whether the rebels can hold or push the Ukrainian military back in that area is another question entirely. The rebels have however succeeded in inflicting sizable casualties on Ukrainian forces around the border regions, with several dozen deserting their posts and crossing the border into Russia. (Still need verification and good sources on this one)