the so-called City Nature Challenge (CNC) has been taking place worldwide cities compete against each other to record as many plant and animal species as possible in urban spaces in the spirit of Citizen Science Our Citizen Science team at the Museum für Naturkunde will organise an open event in the Tiergarten. We cordially invite all interested parties to join us in the Tiergarten and record as many species discoveries as possible in the iNaturalist App.A mobile device to upload the observation is urgently needed to participate in the event. We ask that you download the iNaturalist App in advance. Please note: This event is NOT a classic guided tour. The focus is on observing and reporting various animals, plants and fungi on the iNaturalist reporting platform. The Culture Trip curates the best this historical district has to offer Andrew Baum / Shutterstock View Tours A moving memorial to a tragedy; a reminder of a nation’s past The Memorial to the Murdered Jews shows another side of Germany’s past which makes architect Peter Eisenman’s work poignant It is paired with the Place of Informationa museum documenting the names and history of the victims The slabs of unmarked concrete are reminiscent of graves and the undulating waves of paths between Eisenmann’s design create a sense of unease and disorientation import PrebidBidService from "/v1/js/PrebidBidService.js"; import AmazonBidService from "/v1/js/AmazonBidService.js"; window.addEventListener('intersecting',async (e) => { const element = document.querySelector('[data-id="in_article_1"]'); const slot = element.getAttribute('id'); if(e.detail.slotName !== slot) { return; } let promises = []; if(window.canRunPrebid) { const prebidService = new PrebidBidService(); promises.push(prebidService.requestPrebidBids(null [slot])); } if(window.canRunAmazon) { const amazonService = new AmazonBidService(); promises.push(amazonService.fetchBids(null [slot])); } if(promises?.length) { await Promise.all(promises).then(() => { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); }); } else { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); } }); Haus der Kulturen der Welt Alex Anton / Shutterstock View Brandenburg Gate One of Berlin and Germany’s most famous historical landmarks marks the site of the gate which was the beginning of the trade road to Brandenburg you look down the avenue to Siegessäule; to the west The design of the gate as it is now was commissioned by Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace; but this iconic monument has been a symbol of many different ideas in Berlin’s past Once the sign of a city divided during the Cold War it is now seen as a landmark that is representative of German unity import PrebidBidService from "/v1/js/PrebidBidService.js"; import AmazonBidService from "/v1/js/AmazonBidService.js"; window.addEventListener('intersecting',async (e) => { const element = document.querySelector('[data-id="in_article_2"]'); const slot = element.getAttribute('id'); if(e.detail.slotName !== slot) { return; } let promises = []; if(window.canRunPrebid) { const prebidService = new PrebidBidService(); promises.push(prebidService.requestPrebidBids(null [slot])); } if(promises?.length) { await Promise.all(promises).then(() => { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); }); } else { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); } }); Museum For Film and Television Museum © Andreas Levers/Flickr Although located in the heart of Potsdamer Platz, the Film and TV museum will quickly transport you to the many worlds created on-screen Relatively quiet for being part of the Sony center this museum takes you on a tour of the history of German film: from the earliest silent shorts through Metropolis and the work of Marlene Dietrich showcasing German history through the lens the museum captures the magic of the story of film Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $800 on our unique trips See privacy policy PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / Shutterstock View Berlin Coffee Tours A pause amongst the museum visits, Café am Neuen See is an idyllic restaurant at the edge of a small lake in the park A brilliant brunch spot and beer garden too this gem feels hidden away from the crowds Café am Neuen See is perfect for a sunny day where you can sit on the terrace outside import PrebidBidService from "/v1/js/PrebidBidService.js"; import AmazonBidService from "/v1/js/AmazonBidService.js"; window.addEventListener('intersecting',async (e) => { const element = document.querySelector('[data-id="in_article_4"]'); const slot = element.getAttribute('id'); if(e.detail.slotName !== slot) { return; } let promises = []; if(window.canRunPrebid) { const prebidService = new PrebidBidService(); promises.push(prebidService.requestPrebidBids(null [slot])); } if(promises?.length) { await Promise.all(promises).then(() => { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); }); } else { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); } }); The Reichstag Parliament Building Building as the monuments and features of the city are pointed out along the way Bauhaus Archive Museum of Design Museum Harriet moved to Berlin initially to learn the language for a month and continuing to work with a love for the written word in as many different ways as possible a general pursuit of continuing to find new ways to communicate with writing remaining curious and learning about the people and world around us See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Autumn See & Do A Guide to River Cruises in Germany: What to Know Design The Most Beautiful Churches in Berlin See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in September See & Do Germany's Most Beautiful Abbeys and Monasteries Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in November Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in December See & Do The Best Weekend Trips From Heidelberg See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Summer Art 10 Masterpieces You Can Only See in Munich See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in October See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in July US: +1 (678) 967 4965 | UK: +44 (0)1630 35000 tripssupport@theculturetrip.com © Copyright 2025 The Culture Trip Ltd Christian Dienemann has worked as an educator at Tiergarten Nürnberg (Nuremberg Zoo) for over a decade it is one of the largest European zoos and is visited by over a million people each year Dienemann also spent a decade educating and inspiring visitors at Cologne Zoo He has guided thousands of visitors during his last ten years at Tiergarten Nürnberg “Christian easily connects with the young and the old with his positive and friendly manner,” said one nominator he never fails to explain the challenges in nature conservation He manages to make complicated issues understandable Since 2020, Dienemann has also been the chair of the Association of German-speaking Zoo Educators (Verband deutschsprachiger Zoopädagogen, or VZP) and is engaged in the EAZA Conservation Education Committee. VZP, founded in 1995 in Berlin brings together colleagues from German-speaking zoos and represents their common interests VZP campaigns for implementing zoo education departments in all zoos in cooperation with the VdZ (Association of Zoological Gardens) To ensure educational work at the zoo as a place of learning the association is committed to anchoring zoo education in guidelines Tiergarten Nürnberg has been home to a zoo education centre since 1986 The centre aims to promote the zoo as an outside-the-classroom experience and fulfil its educational objectives students of all ages can use the zoo as a “green classroom.” “Christian Dienemann can bring together various types of people and have a great discussion – always having the visitors in mind and how we can all help give them a great day at the zoo and make them enthusiastic about animals nature and conservation,” is what one nominator had to say about his influence Blooloop is taking climate action and is now B Corp Certified Nowhere do we experience nature more often than in our own neighbourhood community gardens and the sound of birdsong are something we encounter almost every day in Berlin Berliners welcome more than 3000 of these small migratory birds.Why do so many nightingales make the long journey to Berlin every year Where do these small birds fly to in autumn and where do nightingales spend the winter Join us to explore Berlin's Tiergarten and learn more about our feathered neighbours The excursion is part of the project Understanding Biodiversity - Explore and Experience Nature (Vielfalt Verstehen) and is funded by the Senate Department for Urban Mobility "The Lainzer Tiergarten is both a natural paradise and a recreational area contributing to the high quality of life in our city - we want to celebrate this together next Saturday!" said Vienna's City Councillor Jürgen Czernohorszky the Spring Festival in the Lainzer Tiergarten offers many activities: from exploring nature to wood sawing and creative crafting with natural materials all daredevils can compete against each other Exciting information stands from our partners provide interesting facts about the forest A culinary mile with regional specialties from Wiener Gusto invites you to taste and the Cobenzl winery presents high-quality organic wines Other highlights include demonstrations of forestry machines and horse logging providing insights into the work of Vienna's foresters A special event is the traditional Maypole raising conducted by the employees of the city's Forestry and Agricultural Operations accompanied by the ribbon dance of the Breitenfurt folk dance group Lainzer Tor entrance Public Transport: Bus 56B to the Lainzer Tor stop line 56B will operate at a higher frequency on this day - as only a limited number of parking spaces are available the use of public transport is recommended This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here The Bellingcat Investigation Team is an award winning group of volunteers and full time investigators who make up the core of the Bellingcat's investigative efforts This is a joint investigation with The Insider (Russia) and Der Spiegel (Germany) Facial comparison of “Roman Davydov” based on a photograph from his visa application documents a photograph from a personal identity document The comparison was performed using Microsoft’s Azure Face Verification Tool Roman Demyanchenko — the true identity of “Roman Davydov” and “Roman Nikolaev” — was born in Moscow on 4 December 1980 data breadcrumbs from previously leaked residential databases and phone listings lead to the conclusion that he was a decorated FSB officer who Moscow residential data show he was a pensioner as early as in 2011 suggesting early retirement (Spetsnaz officers of rank up to captain retire at age of 45; while higher ranks may serve up to 55 years.) This early retirement can possibly be explained either with a service related trauma or wound or with accelerated accumulation of service time for example due to deployment in a war zone Both of these hypothesis are corroborated by the fact that as of 2008 he has been listed in Moscow residential databases as a person entitled to state benefits – a status usually given to people who have received a state award According to former officers of Russia’s special service an early retirement would not necessarily entitle a termination of the relationship with FSB; it can in fact be used as a legend for providing a valuable asset cover through the alibi of “civil employment” A phone number which we identified as belonging to Roman Demyanchenko is listed in the phone number sharing app GetContact (which harvests data from its users’ phone contact books) as “Roma FSB” This means at least one person has saved Demyanchenko’s number in their telephone with “Roma FSB” in their contact book A leaked database of employment records reviewed by us shows that in 2019 Demyanchenko was employed by Vympel Sodeystvie (Vympel Cooperation) a Moscow-based company officially owned by Eduard Bendersky Bendersky is the chairman of the Regional Association of former Vympel Spetsnaz officers Colonel from the Vympel’s Spetsnaz training unit in Balashikha All of these companies are registered in the name of Bendersky and are located at the same address which was visited many times by the Berlin assassin Former employees of the Vympel group of companies have described them as a commercial front for high-ranking FSB officials Demyanchenko’s declared monthly income for January 2019 It is not clear if this is a regular monthly salary or if it includes an accrued annual bonus If it refers to a single month’s salary it would be a very high pay-rate for Moscow standards and would suggest a high rank within the organization Metadata from phone records of Demyanchenko show that he frequently visits the headquarters of the Vympel group of companies and communicates with its management – including with its president Eduard Bendersky He also frequently communicates with a person who actively communicated with both the suspected assassin Vadim Krasikov and with his wife in the months after the assassination This person is an FSB colonel and a Vympel Spetsnaz alumnus we were able to use a leaked travel database to look up his trip from Moscow to St Petersburg at the time of obtaining the visa Roman Demyanchenko traveled by train from Moscow to St He did not use that return ticket and booked another return trip on 29 July Based on the visa application documents which we have reviewed Demyanchenko/”Davydov” applied for his visa on 29 July This suggest he needed more time than planned to compile the necessary package of (inauthentic) documents this means someone else picked up his passport and visa from the consulate Roman Demyanchenko has traveled under at least three different identities with three different names and birthdays; under all of these he used a government-issued this is not possible without the direct involvement of the Russian state As the FSB controls Russia’s border service even other special services such as GRU and SVR require FSB’s involvement for the issuance of cover documents to preclude discovery during border crossings Under his real identity, Demyanchenko has traveled only domestically and in former Soviet republics, such as Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Among his frequent destinations in the past five years were Crimea and Krasnodar. Krasnodar is near the base of the Wagner PMC, which, as reported earlier Under his latest identity – “Roman Davydov” – he took only one trip This identity appears to have been created specifically for the Berlin operation Demyanchenko traveled with three other men on same train booking One of them – Andrey Sazontsev – was previously identified by us as a member of the “Magnificent Seven”: an FSB/Vympel team that made repeated trips overseas under fake identities covert operations including at least two murders in Istanbul in 2015 The other two co-passengers are both employed by the Vympel group of companies We are not disclosing their identities at this stage while investigating their possible link to the Berlin assassination or other covert operations One of Demyanchenko’s co-passengers – Andrey Sazontsev – is a former senior police officer working at Moscow’s police criminal search department He traveled to Czechia in 2015 using a cover identity of “Andrey Mitrakov” He was also in frequent telephone contact with the assassin Vadim Krasikov prior to his trip to Berlin and called the assassin’s wife immediately after the murder He also spoke with Demyanchenko repeatedly in the last few months as shown in telephone records obtained by us While his link to the Berlin murder is yet uncertain it is clear from the pattern of communication that he was aware of the operation Based on the identity change pattern used by Demyanchenko it can be assumed that if he did indeed play an active role in the Berlin murder – and if he traveled to Germany as part of the kill team – he would likely have used a different newly issued cover identity than the previously used “Mitrakov” photo from 2015 visa application documents The starting point for the identification of Demyanchenko was his alter ego “Roman Davydov”, born on 9 October 1981, who was originally discovered based on his use of a sequential passport number and identical employer we initially attempted to identify the real person behind the “Davydov” persona using several open-source reverse-face-search tools offering look-ups of people on Russian social media sites based on a photograph there was no match for the photograph used by “Davydov” in his visa application indicating Demyanchenko does not have social media presence A basic rule of thumb in identifying Russian spies – both of GRU and FSB provenance – is that they tend to use the same first name and middle name or initial The latter however is more often true of GRU operatives than of FSB spies who tend to have better operational security and rarely use the exact same birth date both sets of operatives typically use a cover identity with a birth year that is either the same or at most one year different than their real one in this case we had discovered that the person behind “Roman Davydov” had also used a previous cover identity – that of “Roman Nikolaev” As this identity had been used earlier – before Bellingcat’s and others’ disclosures of a number of Russian undercover operations and the possible subsequent improvement of Russian OpSec routines – we assumed that the real identity would have more in common with the “Nikolaev” cover identity than with that of the later created “Davydov” Our starting hypothesis was that the real “Roman Davydov” would likely also have a first name “Roman” Based on traffic camera logs of the Infiniti car which “Davydov” had used before and after the August 2019 trip to the EU we could establish also the likely general area of his residence in Moscow While these characteristics gave us a possible profile none of them was specific enough to filter the possible candidates to a manageable shortlist We initially attempted to identify “Davydov” via obtaining passenger records for the flights which Krasikov took to and from St We hypothesized that the two may have flown together from Moscow to St given that “Davydov” had applied for a visa on 29 July 2019 However we did not find any co-passenger of Krasikov’s matching the above criteria Our next approach was to use as a starting point the telephone logs from Vadim Krasikov’s telephone number We had obtained his main number’s metadata for the period from February to September 2019 which included periods both before and after the assassination in Berlin We had discovered that he did not take his phone with him on his mission burner phone registered in his cover identity of “Vadim Sokolov” remained switched on and connected to the network even after he departed for Berlin Cell tower connection data showed it stayed at his residence calls to and from it were handled by his wife As part of our investigation into Krasikov’s circle of contacts using open-source phone number reverse look-up tools (primarily the apps GetContact and NumBuster) we had identified all people with whom he interacted via regular GSM phone calls There was no match for a person meeting the “Davydov” criteria implying that they either did not communicate at all did it via untraceable VoIP messengers such as WhatsApp we had to go one step further and look for a “Davydov” candidate among the larger universe of contacts of Krasikov’s own contacts we decided to focus only on those contacts of Krasikov who were most likely to have been involved in the planning of the assassination We had discovered that only two of Krasikov’s contacts continued calling his phone after the murder – likely communicating with his wife after the arrest and giving her assistance and/or instructions By this stage we had discovered that Andrey Sazontsev had used a fake identity to travel with “Davydov” on a previous covert overseas operation in 2015 which implied Sazontsev would likely be in long-term contact with “Davydov” we obtained – from a source at a Russian mobile operator – Andrey Sazontsev’s phone records for the last three months and encountered one person who matched the initial criteria: a Roman Yuryevich Demyanchenko These latest findings corroborate our previous conclusion that the assassination of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin was organized by the FSB which used the Vympel group of companies (and the affiliated Regional Association of Former FSB Spetsnaz veterans) for the practical implementation and as deniable cover It is logical to conclude that the Vympel group of companies is a de facto arm of the FSB earmarked for deniable overseas assassinations or other unlawful interventions The role of the Vympel group for such targeted assassinations is not dissimilar to the use of Wagner PMC for deniable military operations abroad FSB’s use of a proxy for overseas illegal operations is different than the modus operandi of the GRU who only use staff officers for clandestine operations abroad In response to a question from Der Spiegel in this regard, the European Commission replied that: As regards the quality of fingerprints, each Member State is expected to use tools that ensure compliance with the standards established for the Visa Information System central system, including the associated functionality offered by the central system (check fingerprint quality) to ensure that the enrolment of biometric data complies with the agreed specifications. In case of low quality fingerprints, the visa authority should retry their capture.” To protect the animals from foot-and-mouth disease, the Vienna Zoo Schönbrunn has temporarily closed the petting zoo. Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an Ein Beitrag geteilt von Tiergarten Schönbrunn (@zooviennaschonbrunn) This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here Und damit wir schon einen Vorgeschmack und einen guten Überblick bekommen Einfach das Formular unten ausfüllen und schon landet dein Tipp bei uns in der Redaktion Alternativ kannst du uns direkt über WhatsApp kontaktieren: Zum WhatsApp Chat Neue Heimat für vier Europäische Ziesel aus dem Tiergarten Nürnberg: Sie wurden im Juli gemeinsam mit vielen weiteren Zieseln aus europäischen Zoos in… Der 19-jährige Schneeleopard Indra im Tiergarten Nürnberg musste am gestrigen Montag eingeschläfert werden Click here for a secure transmission of your message: Contactform In addition to well-known names such as Tiergarten and Tempelhofer Feld among Berlin’s most spectacular green spaces are the lush Grunewald Forest historic Volkspark Friedrichshain and the gardens of Charlottenburg Palace gunnarridder / Unsplash View Tour With miles of winding paths among lakes and little hills the popular Britzer Garten is Berlin’s most varied park it’s a couple of euros to enter – good value if only for the various playgrounds (some featuring water or mud huts) and for the themed spaces including the fern-filled fairy garden and the gothic ruins of the witch garden Seasonal highlights include a rainbow of spring tulips and rhododendrons and a fiery blaze of some 7,000 dahlias in autumn There’s a cafe in the arty Karl Foester Perennial Garden where you can stop for coffee and cake Meanwhile the glass-walled Italo-Bistro on central Kalenderplatz serves up Britzer Garten pizzas (fresh tomato and rocket) and salad with salmon Treat the kids to Smartie-spangled ice creams – and yourself to a colourful Berliner weisse mit schuss (classic sour beer with syrup) on the lakeside terrace Elliot Gouy / Unsplash In the quiet backstreets of Southern Neukölln is one of Berlin’s most underrated green spaces Berliners ignore the “don’t walk on the grass” signs and head to park themselves amid the perfectly manicured lawns Körnerpark is approximately 7m (23 ft) below street level and therefore sheltered from the surrounding streets – a perfect place for a peaceful picnic The Galerie im Körnerpark hosts a changing programme of exhibitions by local and international contemporary artists while music lovers are drawn by its free outdoor summer concert series and indoor Salonmusik series in spring and autumn so it’s well worth arriving early to secure one of the sheltered spots along the shoreline hike from S-Bahn Grunewald to Grunewald Tower – built in the late 19th century as a tribute to King William I – then reward yourself with a drink in the adjacent sunny beer garden J. Schiemann / Unsplash View Tour Running along part of Berlin’s River Spree on the eastern side of the city is Treptower is designed in the style of an English garden shaded avenues of plane trees and a riverside track tailor-made for cycling and jogging a 200-year-old beer garden; sip a pilsner here while watching people lounging on the Insel der Jugend (Island of Youth) across the water Don’t leave without visiting the imposing Soviet War Memorial a striking monument to 7,000 Soviet soldiers who perished in WWII Top tip: see if you can spot the abandoned Ferris wheel part of the former Spreepark amusement park located near Treptower’s Archenhold-Sternwarte Observatory jpedroschmitz / Unsplash View Tour The mauer (wall) in question was the Berlin Wall or death strip lying between the wire-topped concrete barriers that divided the city for nearly 30 years clouds of marijuana and barbecue smoke soften the view of this long stretch of concrete continually re-adorned by young street artists with aerosol paint the area hosts a huge flea market along with (in)famous karaoke sessions vintage clothes and vegan wraps at bargain prices and buskers draw small crowds of barefoot dancers Miikka Luotio / Unsplash View Tour Named after German art patron (Henri) James Simon (1851-1932) this park with cafes under the railway arches is just over the river from Berlin’s famous Alte Nationalgalerie and the Pergamon Museum: aka Museum Island When you’ve had your fill of the Grecian urns grand Babylonian gateways or Romantic landscape paintings cross the bridge near the domed cathedral and turn left along the Spree to reach this little tree-lined triangle of grass Berlin is a city of parks but the Mitte District is right in the city centre and green spaces are rarer; so this is a popular place for visitors to relax after a hard day of sightseeing and culture Watch out for rabbits grazing nearby in the early evenings Kan Kante Hsieh / Unsplash Mostly built in the ‘80s the grim plattenbau (prefab-concrete) apartment blocks of the former East German district of Marzahn could hardly be a bigger contrast with the leafy Gardens of the World nearby they comprise 19 internationally themed areas that lead visitors through a global adventure Drink flowery tea in the Chinese Garden’s pondside pavilion surrounded by bridges and weeping willows; or Earl Grey with scones in the rose-ringed thatched-cottage cafe of the English Garden fountains and statues of the Italian Renaissance Garden or the Hampton Court-style maze of yew hedges the day ticket can include a ride on the cable car to get a bird’s-eye view of the whole extraordinary creation If you don’t have time for a full tour of Charlottenburg Palace a stroll through the magnificent gardens should be enough to give you a feel for its 17th-century opulence they combine Baroque elements with English-landscape-garden features – hallmark aspects of aristocratic landscape design from the past 300 years among picturesque ponds and perfectly maintained rose gardens it’s hard to believe that these extensive gardens and their grand symmetrical grounds are actually in Berlin rather than Paris © Jack De La Mare / Culture Trip | © Jack De La Mare / Culture Trip Pavel Nekoranec / Unsplash This might not seem like an ideal location – a square in one of the busiest parts of the city behind the main square around the back of the Französische Friedrichstadtkirche is a charming little garden Perfectly positioned trees line up around the benches and paired with the cobbled flooring a quaint and pretty atmosphere is created here in the shadow of the ornate church kayserlich / Unsplash Situated just below Treptower Park Plänterwald is a large forest that sits on the river and is host to the forbidden amusement park It is a perfect escape and veering off the designated path you might find yourself easily lost there are plenty of benches to sit by the canal and immerse yourself in the beauty of nature geese and ducks as well as little forest animals pwittke / Unsplash While Lustgarten is situated on Museum Island in the centre of the city home to the main art museums and therefore a major tourist attraction there are still areas that are more secluded where visitors can take a rest and watch the world go by To the very left of the garden by Schlossbrücke is a beautiful area lined with trees on one side and the canal on the other visitors can sit or lie down here with a view of the museums the canal or the well-known bridge and its residing sculptures It’s a relaxing location and still close to all the action of the city the sound of busking musicians floats over to this area too making it even more pleasant © Kacie Loura / Culture Trip | © Kacie Loura / Culture Trip Tempelhof ended its life as an aviation hub in 2008 its former runways and surrounding areas have evolved into one of the prime outdoor recreation destinations in the city now Rollerbladers and skateboarders do laps in the shadow of the colossal hangars and terminal building (open to the public for tours) revel in the vast open space – hire a set of wheels at Rent a Bike 44 and join them on the 6km (3.7-mile) cycling trail younger sibling of Volkspark Friedrichshain – played a key role in WWII one of the Nazi-built anti-aircraft gun towers Head to the top of the tower today and you’ll be rewarded with exceptional panoramas across the city you can cool off at the Humboldthain open-air swimming baths while in winter you might join crowds of Berliners at the park’s toboggan run which produces around 200 bottles of wine a year for official occasions biancablah / Unsplash Look southwest from within the famed dome of Berlin’s Reichstag building and you’ll get an idea of just how expansive the Tiergarten’s sprawling greenery really is the park runs alongside some of Berlin’s most prominent landmarks which marks the Prussian defeat of the Danish in the Second Schleswig War of 1864 You can also find Germany’s oldest zoo and many small ponds which become impromptu ice rinks in sufficiently cold winters For a little light mid-afternoon refreshment stop by the beautiful thatched tea house in the English Garden the Malchower See lies in the centre of a large forest Swimming in the lake is banned here so that the natural habitats of flora and fauna are preserved and not disturbed which lies in the Treptow-Köpenick district in the east The Müggelturm also provides a fantastic view over the lake and neighboring forests.Recommended by Emily D’Silva Phoebe Taplin and Megan King contributed additional reporting to this article are researching the birds’ preference for Berlin They were once among Britain’s most beloved singers their “murmurs musical” giving melancholy poets solace in their darkest hours But these days the world-famous warblers are more likely to be found jamming with jazz musicians in neglected Berlin parks than serenading Londoners in Berkeley Square Some even claim that their latest outpourings feature elements of German techno Luscinia megarhynchos, the common nightingale, has been shunning the UK since the 1960s, during which time the population has slumped by 90% According to cautious estimates by the city senate the German capital’s nightingale population grew by 6% every year from 2006 to 2016: “a very high rate” who puts the current number of nesting pairs at between 1,300 and 1,700 Berliners were encouraged to record nightingales in their neighbourhood via Naturblick an app that researchers describe as “Shazam for birdsong” just as the nightingales arrive in Berlin after a 3,700-mile journey from sub-Saharan Africa usually returning to the same shrubs they were born in a team of six researchers are beginning to draw their first conclusions At the heart of the nightingale effort is Sarah Darwin, a Berlin-based botanist who just happens to be the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin. She grew up to the sound of Vera Lynn singing A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square but was “gobsmacked” when she first heard an actual nightingale outside her window after moving to Berlin and immediately spent the night listening to the bird’s song from a tent in her garden there are still a lot of unkempt brownfield sites,” she said a now widely mocked marketing slogan coined by the former mayor Klaus Wowereit may have had a more lasting relevance in the avian world “Many of Berlin’s parks haven’t been managed properly for years which has turned out to be a blessing in disguise,” Voigt-Heucke said “Nightingales nest on the ground within or next to dense bushes so piles of leaves and stinging nettles are perfect for them.” A lack of predators is unlikely to be a factor attracting nightingales to urban living: Berlin has one of the highest concentrations of goshawks in Europe A map of around 1,500 recordings in the Berlin area shows a number of nightingale sightings on the outer edges of large green spaces such as the Tiergarten and Treptower Park – a result of the fact that even keen ornithologists are less likely to wander into the dark undergrowth when the birds are singing at their loudest the researchers’ findings raised questions over whether street lights and busy roads are really a deterrent to birds One nightingale hotspot is on the brightly lit Strasse des 17 Juni Another well-known nightingale is found every spring perched atop the same traffic light in the Alt-Treptow district What if Berlin’s nightingales, far from being put off by the endless noise of the city, are in fact attracted to it? That is the (contested) theory of David Rothenberg, an American jazz musician, philosopher and author of Why Birds Sing nightingales would often feel threatened by the sound of a clarinet and try to interrupt it – a process known by scientists as “jamming the signal” – thereby preventing any foreign message from coming through “But he may respond differently,” he added “A male nightingale who is confident in his territory who doesn’t consider you and your clarinet or iPad or voice or cello a threat Scientists are more guarded about the idea that Berlin’s nightingales may be drawn to urban hubbub “It’s true that nightingales get louder if the noise around them is louder,” said Voigt-Heucke “One working theory might be that it is more costly for the bird to sing against street noise and that that makes them more attractive to females But it’s a hypothesis that would need to be tested.” Where scientists and artists agree is that the nightingale’s song often defies its own cliche soaring up and down like Chopin,” said Rothenberg of his first encounter Samuel Taylor Coleridge described the bird’s song as made up of “murmurs musical and swift jug jug / And one low piping sound more sweet than all” Rothenberg found the nightingale song to have “a scratchy quality “It has an incessant energy – it just keeps going you have to prepare yourself for them to win They just don’t stop.” Some nightingales have been recorded singing non-stop for 20 hours David Rothenberg in a still from the film Nightingales in Berlin Rothenberg found the birds dropping in “buzz sounds” as if to confound their listeners a tactic he likens to jazz musicians playing a “blue note” a most excellent riff that only makes sense if used sparingly” a Berlin student whose essay on nightingale song structures has just won the regional prize in Germany’s youth science competition “I was surprised when I first listened consciously to a nightingale” “It was less tender and dainty and melodic than it is often described.” Nightingale songs are made up of an impressive variety of trills “the tones don’t just come out rapid and hard but almost mechanically precise – it’s almost like techno” scientists had classified 700 types of nightingale song which unpaired males intone in the first weeks of spring to attract a mate after sifting through the crowdsourced sound files gathered across Berlin the researchers at the Natural History Museum have now identified 2,300 but can combine them in a surprising variety of ways – deliberately so as Schneider argues in her prizewinning essay “The nightingale works with the expectations of his audience so that he gets as much attention as possible.” Like the violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini the bird “manages to create an astonishing variety of patterns out of a limited number of motifs” “If you asked me who the most beautiful singer in the bird world is I wouldn’t necessarily have picked the nightingale,” said Darwin In many ways they are typical Berliners – not exactly beautiful This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media Berlin isn’t exactly short of impressive parks and prominent landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné redesigned it in the 19th century with some English garden elements the park was subsequently used to grow potatoes and other food for starving locals Today’s replanted garden attracts strollers There are also several historic monuments and a couple of excellent beer gardens such as the Café am Neuen See and Schleusenkrug both perfect stops for pre- or post-stroll sustenance Tiergarten Park is the largest public park in central Berlin and is a surprisingly cool (as in temperature) retreat in the summer the Tiergarten is one of the easiest and most interesting escapes from city life in Berlin the park is one of the best ways to experience nature in a convenient and easy way Getting to Tiergarten is straightforward using public transportation But there’s something special in the way the walkways are laid out It feels like you’re in a scene from a fairy tale Information on this page, including website, location, and opening hours, is subject to have changed since this page was last published. If you would like to report anything that’s inaccurate, let us know at notification@afar.com. AFAR participates in affiliate marketing programs, which means we may earn a commission if you purchase an item featured on our site.© 2025 AFAR LLC before he died in an arctic penal colony on February 16 Members of the Russian opposition leader's team claim that arrangements for a prisoner swap were underway a convicted murderer who sits in a German prison Through my role with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty I’ve followed Putin’s hostage-taking spree over the last year I was in Berlin twice in late fall working on the case of RFE/RL’s detained journalist Alsu Kurmasheva Not far from where I used to live in Berlin near the Brandenburg Gate a park with playground swings and a beer garden by a church It was in the Kleiner Tiergarten on August 23 that Vadim Krasikov murdered Zelimkhan Khangoshvili marked the beginning of Berlin’s Zeitenwende It was clear and eighty degrees around midday when Krasikov approached his target by bicycle; Khangoshvili was walking along a wooded path a veteran of Chechnya’s war for independence was rumored at the time to be cooperating with Germany’s BND intelligence agency A shot in the back followed by two to the head finished Khangoshvili The murder in broad daylight took place a short walk from the Chancellery and Parliament buildings The assassin was well prepared. Krasikov had been in close contact with members of the Vympel group a network of companies comprising former officers of Spetsnaz GRU the special forces of Russia’s military intelligence The forty-nine-year old Russian citizen—born in the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan—entered Germany under a false identity For Krasikov, the Tiergarten job was apparently not his first bicycle murder Bellingcat researchers believe Krasikov was the killer who executed a Russian businessman in Moscow in June 2013 the assassin approached his target on a bicycle and shot him with a handgun at close range Krasikov was arrested after teenagers told police they had seen a man in the bushes throwing a bike a Berlin court convicted Krasikov of murder and sentenced him to life in prison That the court pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin was a shock in German politics Then came Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and any remaining scales fell from German eyes Big changes are afoot in how Germans think about Russia and European security Krasikov’s name has figured in possible prisoner swaps for a couple years now basketball star Brittney Griner came home in December 2022 in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout Bout promptly joined an ultra-nationalist party and traveled to Russian-occupied Luhansk in eastern Ukraine Contract killer Krasikov was said to be Vladimir Putin’s focus for a swap ever since the Griner-Bout trade Krasikov for Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich March will mark one year in pre-trial detention for Evan The Germans have been reluctant to put a notorious murderer back in circulation Putin’s trade bait has also included RFE/RL reporter Alsu Kurmasheva He added recently to his list Ksenia Karelina a U.S.-Russian dual national who came to the United States as a ballet dancer eight years ago Karolina works at the Ciel Spa in Beverly Hills she went to visit her grandparents in Russia—and found herself accused of harming national security by providing financial assistance to a foreign state The thirty-three-year-old LA spa manager had apparently donated $50 to Razom charity helping victims of the war in Ukraine Karelina faces up to twenty years in prison There’s a related story beyond prisoner exchanges that has to do with how Putin eviscerates his opposition The man Putin had killed in Berlin in summer 2019 was a Chechen military commander once trained to fight Russians in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia Putin also imprisoned rival Mikhail Khodorkovsky for a decade He has democracy advocate Vladimir Kara-Murza serving a twenty-five-year sentence at a maximum-security facility in the Siberian city of Omsk Alexei Navalny died suddenly this month at age forty-seven in an Arctic penal colony former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent at their home in Salisbury Former Gazprom media chief and ex-Putin advisor Mikhail Lesin died in his bathroom at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington Blunt-force trauma to the head was the cause of death There were reports that Lesin was about to meet with Justice Department officials Then there was the remarkable case nearly twenty years ago that may have started all this Ex-FSB agent and Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko died in London in 2006 after contact with radioactive material at the Millennium Hotel’s Pine Bar It’s been a chilling two decades and it’s not over German prosecutors said they were investigating the attempted murder of Berlin-based Russian journalist Elena Kostyuchenko She was one of two Russian exile journalists who experienced symptoms consistent with poisoning after attending a Khodorkovsky-organized conference in the German capital Today marks an anniversary. On February 27, 2015, opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was gunned down in Moscow on a bridge just steps away from the Kremlin. Russian security services were well prepared. Nemtsov had been tailed by an agent from an assassination team for a year before his murder He was followed on more than a dozen trips by train and by plane Barack Obama mocked Mitt Romney for outdated Cold War thinking John McCain called Russia “a gas station masquerading as a country.” Jeff Sessions ridiculed the idea that Russian agents could influence American politics we convinced ourselves that Ukraine would be a cake walk but we have a dangerous habit of underestimating our enemies Cyber and sabotage remain very much in the mix propaganda and disinformation efforts are better coordinated—and ramping up In the single month of January, bots were spreading on X (formerly Twitter) hundreds of thousands of German-language posts daily from a network of fifty thousand Russia-linked accounts French officials recently identified a network of sites pumping disinformation into France The French also say the FSB has been behind antisemitic graffiti campaigns across Paris There’s a Putin doctrine that goes like this: Spread defense. Create mayhem across the West. Assert dominance in the east. Anti-Putin bloggers get kidnapped now and taken back to Russia from places like Georgia and Kazakhstan. In Serbia, safe haven is disappearing for Russian critics of the war We forget that Putin is a true KGB man and that there’s deep habit and careful method in all this From the Stasi files we know the KGB’s East German allies ran some four thousand agents and influencers in West German politics and media The French were shocked to learn this month that former L’Express director Philippe Grumbach—a man who rubbed shoulders with the great and the good in French politics and society throughout his career—had served as a KGB agent for twenty-five years during the Cold War West Germans were stunned to learn that an East German spy served as a close aide to Chancellor Willy Brandt No one is suggesting we start jumping at shadows and Tehran working to restrain American power and disrupt and diminish the West it’s not clear we grasp how much damage Vladimir Putin for his part can do In Eastern Europe—and in Western Europe increasingly—no one thinks Russia’s war on Ukraine is only about Ukraine Who knows whether Putin would have released Navalny and American hostages We should know by now that Putin has a vision and acts with impunity The Tiergarten murder started one Zeitenwende We shouldn't wait for the next "incident" to start our own transformation in thinking Jeffrey Gedmin is a former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and member of the RFE/RL board He’s co-founder and editor-in-chief of American Purpose Image: Police line tape at a crime scene. (Flickr: BCEmergency) Alexei Navalny was close to being released I\u2019ve followed Putin\u2019s hostage-taking spree over the last year I was in Berlin twice in late fall working on the case of RFE/RL\u2019s detained journalist Alsu Kurmasheva It\u2019s my view that the Tiergarten-Mord marked the beginning of Berlin\u2019s Zeitenwende a deep shift in foreign policy thinking.  The circumstances are jarring. It was clear and eighty degrees around midday when Krasikov approached his target by bicycle; Khangoshvili was walking along a wooded path a veteran of Chechnya\u2019s war for independence was rumored at the time to be cooperating with Germany\u2019s BND intelligence agency The assassin was well prepared. Krasikov had been in close contact with members of the Vympel group the special forces of Russia\u2019s military intelligence The forty-nine-year old Russian citizen\u2014born in the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan\u2014entered Germany under a false identity.  For Krasikov, the Tiergarten job was apparently not his first bicycle murder Bellingcat researchers believe Krasikov was the killer who executed a Russian businessman in Moscow in June 2013 Then came Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and any remaining scales fell from German eyes Krasikov\u2019s name has figured in possible prisoner swaps for a couple years now Contract killer Krasikov was said to be Vladimir Putin\u2019s focus for a swap ever since the Griner-Bout trade Krasikov for Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich. March will mark one year in pre-trial detention for Evan Putin\u2019s trade bait has also included RFE/RL reporter Alsu Kurmasheva He added recently to his list Ksenia Karelina a U.S.-Russian dual national who came to the United States as a ballet dancer eight years ago she went to visit her grandparents in Russia\u2014and found herself accused of harming national security by providing financial assistance to a foreign state Karelina faces up to twenty years in prison.  There\u2019s a related story beyond prisoner exchanges The man Putin had killed in Berlin in summer 2019 was a Chechen military commander once trained to fight Russians in Georgia\u2019s breakaway region South Ossetia Former Gazprom media chief and ex-Putin advisor Mikhail Lesin died in his bathroom at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington Then there was the remarkable case nearly twenty years ago that may have started all this. Ex-FSB agent and Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko died in London in 2006 after contact with radioactive material at the Millennium Hotel\u2019s Pine Bar It\u2019s been a chilling two decades and it\u2019s not over Today marks an anniversary. On February 27, 2015, opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was gunned down in Moscow on a bridge just steps away from the Kremlin. Russian security services were well prepared. Nemtsov had been tailed by an agent from an assassination team for a year before his murder John McCain called Russia \u201Ca gas station masquerading as a country.\u201D Jeff Sessions ridiculed the idea that Russian agents could influence American politics propaganda and disinformation efforts are better coordinated\u2014and ramping up In the single month of January, bots were spreading on X (formerly Twitter) hundreds of thousands of German-language posts daily from a network of fifty thousand Russia-linked accounts There\u2019s a Putin doctrine that goes like this: Spread defense. Create mayhem across the West. Assert dominance in the east. Anti-Putin bloggers get kidnapped now and taken back to Russia from places like Georgia and Kazakhstan. In Serbia, safe haven is disappearing for Russian critics of the war We forget that Putin is a true KGB man and that there\u2019s deep habit and careful method in all this From the Stasi files we know the KGB\u2019s East German allies ran some four thousand agents and influencers in West German politics and media The French were shocked to learn this month that former L\u2019Express director Philippe Grumbach\u2014a man who rubbed shoulders with the great and the good in French politics and society throughout his career\u2014had served as a KGB agent for twenty-five years during the Cold War it\u2019s not clear we grasp how much damage Vladimir Putin for his part can do In Eastern Europe\u2014and in Western Europe increasingly\u2014no one thinks Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine is only about Ukraine The Tiergarten murder started one Zeitenwende We shouldn't wait for the next \\\"incident\\\" to start our own transformation in thinking Jeffrey Gedmin is a former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and member of the RFE/RL board He\u2019s co-founder and editor-in-chief of American Purpose Image: Police line tape at a crime scene. (Flickr: BCEmergency) NESTLED within the sprawling grounds of an opulent palace lies a living piece of history: Tiergarten Schönbrunn the world's oldest continuously operating zoo But the 272-year-old zoo in Vienna has a dark past where its visitors saw a jaguar fatally maul its keeper Established in 1752, the origins of Tiergarten Schönbrunn are steeped in the grandeur of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria sought to create a menagerie that would rival those of other European courts He commissioned the construction of the zoo within the grounds of Schönbrunn Palace which was then the summer residence of the imperial family What started as an exclusive collection of exotic animals soon became a symbol of power and prestige showcasing creatures from across the globe in an era when such sights were a rare privilege At its heart stood a central octagonal pavilion, from which 13 pathways radiated outward like the spokes of a wheel, leading visitors to various enclosures. This design allowed for a panoramic view of the animals, and remarkably, much of this original structure remains intact today. Strolling through the zoo is like stepping back in time, with baroque architectural features providing a backdrop to the diverse array of wildlife. While Vienna’s Tiergarten Schönbrunn is celebrated as the world’s oldest zoo and a leader in conservation, it also has a darker history This dark chapter is closely tied to the events of World War II and the rise of the Nazi regime was co-opted into the regime's ideology and war efforts The zoo became entangled in the propaganda machine of the Third Reich which sought to use it as a tool for promoting their views on racial purity and superiority The Nazis viewed zoos as more than just places to display animals; they were also seen as instruments to promote their ideology The regime used the zoo to further its racial theories drawing parallels between animal breeding and human eugenics This approach justified their beliefs in racial hierarchy and the necessity of "purifying" the human race While the zoo itself was not directly involved in human experimentation the general atmosphere of the time blurred the lines between animal husbandry and eugenics Tragedy also enveloped the zoo's history in recent times after two staff members were killed by animals in the last fifteen years, Culture Trip reports a female zookeeper was mauled while feeding the jaguars and the tragedy was observed by thousands of terrified visitors Three years later, horror struck the zoo once more when a keeper named Gerd Kohl was giving an elephant a bath in its enclosure when the animal attacked and killed him in front of onlookers Animal activists who doubt the zoo's claims to be involved in conservation efforts have also regularly attacked the Tiergarten Captive animal keeping is a contentious issue that has long generated intense debate with millions of tourists visiting the zoo each year from all over the world in spite of these worries Tiergarten Schönbrunn is home to over 700 species ranging from majestic African elephants to snow leopards The zoo is divided into thematic zones that guide visitors through different ecosystems from the icy realms of the Arctic to the dense jungles of Southeast Asia offers an immersive experience into the world of polar bears and penguins complete with interactive displays that educate visitors on the effects of climate change One of the zoo’s most popular attractions is the Aquarium and Terrarium House where visitors can marvel at the diversity of aquatic life from colourful coral reefs to eerie deep-sea creatures The combination of educational exhibits and live demonstrations helps to demystify the complexities of marine ecosystems the zoo has expanded its offerings to include interactive experiences such as feeding sessions and even the opportunity to spend a night at the zoo These programmes are designed to foster a deeper connection between visitors and the animals emphasising the importance of conservation Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/ Please note:  This event is NOT a classic guided tour The focus is on observing and reporting various animals plants and fungi on the iNaturalist reporting platform The research project “The Art Histories and Stories of the Tiergarten Quarter” which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media the project seeks to uncover the rich artistic history of the neighbourhood surrounding the present-day Kulturforum a history that has largely been forgotten since 1945 it aims to consolidate existing research findings incorporate new investigation in the field and explore not only the fine arts but also applied arts in this context At the centre of this project is the glamorous era of the early 20th century emerged as a modern hub for art collecting unlawful expropriation and murder of Jewish residents under Nazi rule brought an end to this unique cultural flourishing The Second World War largely destroyed the quarter obliterating the memory of the once-renowned residents their extraordinary art collections and their creative achievements the project team was able to gather clues and reconstruct overlooked chapters of these art histories magazines and publications of the time from the Kunstbibliothek’s holdings and analysed records from the Berlin Compensation Office to bring vivid portraits of forgotten figures and places to life Unknown biographies paint the picture of a fascinating revealing that as far back as a century ago the area around the Matthäikirche was already a “Kulturforum” A research procect of the Kunstbibliothek BerlinResearch team: Dr Gesa Kessemeier Dr Joachim BrandFunding (October 2022 until November 2023): Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).Duration: Since October 2022 “Matthäikirchstrasse 4 – Wiederentdeckung einer besonderen Nachbarschaft” (Matthäikirchstrasse 4 – Rediscovering a Special Neighbourhood”) in SPKmagazin rbb feature: Kulturgeschichte im Tiergartenviertel (Cultural History in the Tiergarten Quarter), rbb-online.de) Lecture series: Kunstgeschichte(n) des Tiergartenviertels Exhibition: “Timetravel to the Old Tiergarten District” Press release on the Johanna und Eduard Arnhold Platz (German only) Staatliche Museen zu Berlin You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker There is new offspring among the ring-tailed lemurs at the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna the young are nursed by their mothers and carried on their backs," said zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck The ring-tailed lemur enclosure is located on the monkey island ring-tailed lemurs are considered highly endangered "This year's offspring is already very active It is already undertaking climbing excursions under the watchful eye of the mother and nibbling on buds The other females in the group repeatedly take care of the young for example by grooming it," said Hering-Hagenbeck Ring-tailed lemurs belong to the group of lemurs and live in a so-called matriarchy The other group members also establish a hierarchy which is reflected in their social interactions visitors can observe the group dynamics of these animals in the zoo Those who visit the ring-tailed lemurs in spring can watch them sunbathing ring-tailed lemurs are found exclusively on the island of Madagascar they are increasingly affected by the loss of their natural habitat large forest areas are being cleared to make room for pastures ring-tailed lemurs are now considered highly endangered Their distribution area is limited to isolated fragments It is assumed that the populations of this species are continuing to decline," said Folko Balfanz the responsible zoological curator at the zoo This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here Today, a Berlin court passed a guilty verdict of life imprisonment against a 56-year-old Russian citizen for the planned assassination of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Chechen dissident residing in the German capital. Judges reportedly stated that as the man bore “particularly grave responsibility” for the killing he would not be entitled to automatic parole after 15 years’ time served Materials and testimony from Bellingcat researchers played a key role in the prosecution establishing that the assassin had in fact operated under a cover identity Our contribution filled the gap left by Russian authorities who refused to provide German prosecutors with information on the actual identity of the killer the 40-year-old Khangoshvili was killed by three shots from a silenced pistol in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten was quickly apprehended by German police and identified as ‘Vadim Sokolov’ tax identification number and other documents required to receive a Schengen Visa just days before he applied for one a strong indication of state-level intervention in producing a cover identity In December 2019, we established the real identity of the suspect previously the key suspect in the murder of a Russian businessman in 2013 Nearly all records of the existence of Krasikov had been purged from Russian state databases; a criminal case file in his name does not exist in the country’s central police database despite multiple references to the 2013 crime We then discovered that this individual had ties to one of the FSB’s Spetsnaz units known as “Vympel” along with other cases of Russian state-sponsored activity further evidence emerged confirming our prior identification of Vadim Krasikov including family photos showing the same tattoo and scar as ‘Vadim Sokolov’ Bellingcat notes the court’s conclusion that the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was carried out on behalf of state authorities of Russia — making this one of the first successful trials of an alleged state-sanctioned murder on European soil in recent history A press statement by the Kammergericht (in German) is available here The wait for the new giant panda pair at the Vienna Zoo Schönbrunn has come to an end: the animals arrived on Wednesday morning Zoo Director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck himself traveled to China to participate in the farewell ceremony for the female Lan Yun ("Grace of an Orchid") and the male He Feng ("Breath of Lotus") and to accompany them on their journey to their new home "We are very proud to be committed to the protection and preservation of the giant panda and its habitat," said Hering-Hagenbeck The animals are to serve as ambassadors for their endangered wild counterparts To make the transition easier for the pandas their familiar caretaker traveled with them to Austria and will stay here for some time Zoo visitors will have to be patient: the pandas will not be visible until mid-May the pandas will be in quarantine and acclimatizing in the indoor facility Lan Yun and He Feng will be introduced in an official ceremony and the newly designed panda facility will be reopened The two animals were born in 2020 at stations of the Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Pandas (CCRCGP) the two animals will inhabit separate facilities the district manager Gerlinde Hillebrand and zookeeper Renate Haider spent a week directly at the Panda Station Dujiangyan to get to know the animals better The journey to Vienna is said to have been relaxed had access to the cargo hold during the direct flight to provide the animals with bamboo a specialized freight team ensured a smooth arrival and quick onward transport of the pandas to the zoo the crowd favorites and giant pandas Yang Yang and Yuan Yuan bid farewell to the Vienna Zoo Schönbrunn to spend their twilight years as planned in their homeland China Giant pandas are always loaned by China to zoos internationally there were temporarily only about 1,100 giant pandas in their natural habitats in China Due to strict protection measures by the Chinese government the population has since grown to about 1,900 animals there has been a cooperation with the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) for the protection of the fluffy mammals both sides are in close exchange about the protection of the endangered species and their habitats the cooperation with the Chinese partner for the Vienna Zoo Schönbrunn was extended for another ten years This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here For more information, visit the Andreas Murkudis website escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox VIEW GOOGLE MAPS writer and creative consultant specialising in design places and people for titles such as Dezeen If you want to book a guided tour through the exhibition and a special bionic tour please contact us by mail: info(at)bionicum.de or just contact us by phone (09 11) 65 08 45 00 Find more information: www.bionicum.de Your version of Internet Explorer is out of date It has known security flaws and can cause issues displaying content on this page Learn how to update your browser Am Tiergarten 30 - 90480 Nürnberg - 0911-5454-6 - www.tiergarten.nuernberg.de Highlights: The Tiergarten Nürnberg features a Delphinarium with an outdoor Laguna for dolphins and sea lions (four shows daily) With more than 2,000 animals of 300 species from all over the world a children’s zoo and a large playground it is one of Europe’s largest zoos with meadow areas and ponds built into a former sandstone quarry COVID-19 physical distancing and hygiene rules apply; wear a mask when using the rest rooms and in the restaurant areas The number of visitors is limited to 6,500 a running headcount is displayed on the website during opening hours family ticket (1 parent + minor children) 21 € family ticket (2 parents + minor children) 37 € Albin-Kitzinger-Straße - 97422 Schweinfurt - 09721-4727839 - www.facebook.com/WildparkSchweinfurt Highlights: The wildlife park houses 500 animals from Germany and other countries Smaller animals like guinea pigs can be admired in the petting zoo A kiddy pool refreshes the little ones in summer; playgrounds are spread out in the park Signs and brochures are available in English A tavern is open every afternoon in summer and on weekends in winter Opening hours and admission prices: Open daily all year around Im Hafenbecken 5 - 67346 Speyer - Tickets: 01805 - 66 69 01 01 - www.sealifeeurope.com Highlights: Displays feature more than 3,000 creatures from seahorses and rays to sharks and turtles; walk through an underwater tunnel or hold a crab and touch the starfish in the interactive rock pool; daily feeding demonstrations Admission prices: 16.50 € (dated tickets must be purchased online; chose a time window for entry; special online discounts may be available) Leinmühlstraße 2 - 91522 Ansbach – Wallersdorf – 0170-415 1972 - https://www.facebook.com/RaubtierundExotenasyl Highlights: Wild cats (tigers and cougars) and other exotic Opening hours: Open house every first Sunday of the month Call ahead for a time slot at 0981-9776 7402 (Mon – Sat Wildpferd-Gehege in Erlangen-Tennenlohe – Wild horse park 91058 Erlangen-Tennenlohe - 09131-6146345 - www.wildpferde-tennenlohe.de Highlights: The wild horse park is located on the former U.S military training area near Tennenlohe; the animals were returned to the wild to regenerate their kind and to keep the biotope from reforesting The patient observor may spot them in their natural habitat from the look-out hill or leave assigned walking paths; dogs have to be leashed Wildgehege Hufeisen im Veldensteiner Forst Between Pegnitz and Plech in Veldensteiner Forst (off Autobahn 9, exit 99 „Pegnitz“) – 09244-243 - https://www.wildgehege-hufeisen.de Highlights: A wild game park with 40 ha land Animals can be fed (not by hand) with special food from food machines; do not bring in any food from the outside to avoid importing diseases children free; bring change for the ticket machine Hundshaupten 62 - 91349 Egloffstein – 09197-241 - www.wildpark-hundshaupten.de capricorns and dwarf goats are tucked away in a side valley in the heart of the Fränkische Schweiz Close by are the castle of Egloffstein and the pilgrim church of Gößweinstein Opening hours: April to October daily 9 a.m.– 6 p.m.; November to March daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m dogs 3 €; family tickets available for 12.0 € Heuweg 16 - 90547 Stein bei Nürnberg - 0911-227970 - www.freiland.nhg-nuernberg.de Highlights: The outdoor aquarium and terrarium shows indigenous amphibians and reptiles Opening hours: May to September on weekends and German holidays Schönbrunn Zoo is experiencing a decline in its animal population due to upcoming changes and the construction of a new species protection aquarium Indian rhinoceroses are easy to count due to their impressive presence – there are currently exactly two of these animals living in Schönbrunn Zoo the lively group of blackbuck antelopes with their nine young ones creates a lot of movement in the enclosure Counting animals becomes more complicated when it comes to aquatic creatures Zoological department head Rupert Kainradl explains that for insects or large schools of fish a flat number of 30 often flows into the statistics as a fixed value there are a total of 7,749 animals living in the zoo in 2023 and the number is expected to drop to only 6,043 animals in 2025 The reasons for this decline are multifaceted A major reason for the decline in the number of animals is the construction of a new species protection aquarium Some of them were housed in the new Aqua Research Station Kainradl emphasizes that animals that could no longer be accommodated in the zoo were given to other zoological institutions These facilities work closely with the zoo including private keepers whom the zoo trusts because they have extensive knowledge The decline in animal numbers in Schönbrunn is regrettable but the selected transitional locations ensure good care for the animals more than 40 species from the Schönbrunn reef tank are temporarily housed in the Pula Aquarium Kainradl assures that when the new species protection aquarium in Vienna is completed in 2028 This will also increase the number of residents in Schönbrunn Zoo again This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here providing this borough with lush landscapes of quiet nature For those seeking to escape the more hectic part of the city solace can be found in this blissful section of the Hauptstadt There’s also a whole host of places to relax and grab a drink: here’s our guide to the best bars in Tiergarten © Carsten / Flickr This self-service beer garden is just a stone’s throw away from the Tiergarten zoo this beer garden boasts an impressive amount of greenery it’s easy to escape the urban chaos and sink into a natural oasis The inside is quaint and the menu has more sit-down style eating options © Babewyn / Flickr This ultra decadent and hyper eclectic bar double as an art space. The décor is gaudy and fun; its doors welcome a motley crew which gets elbow-to-elbow at the weekend. Kumpelnest 3000,a former brothel has a lot of atmosphere and deliberately sticks to its roots of openness and freedom of expression [slot])); } if(promises?.length) { await Promise.all(promises).then(() => { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); }); } else { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); } }); Victoria Bar Bar © Ed / Flickr For those with a penchant for mixology and anachronisms, Victoria Bar is sure to deliver This upscale watering hole offers a more relaxed vibe the type of environment that invites its clientele to sip languidly in its dark and swanky interior Stiff cocktails served with finesse from proper bartenders are the crowning hallmark of what makes Victoria Bar © Sara / Flickr Tiergartenquelle is where restaurant meets local watering hole. The interior has antiquated and nonchalant charm and the beer is excellent: served in massive pints from an impressive list. There’s also traditional German food available here that mirrors the style of the beer Tiergartenquelle’s cavernous inside somehow adds to the cozy feel of the place For those wanting an introduction to German drink and cuisine with a neighborhood vibe [slot])); } if(promises?.length) { await Promise.all(promises).then(() => { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); }); } else { googletag.pubads().refresh([window.addSlot[slot]]); } }); Capital Beach © Martin aka Maha / Flickr Capital Beach is a spot whose main allure is its atmosphere this Spree-adjacent joint is a beach within the city Lounge chairs are dotted on the flat verdant precipice making it possible to not just people watch A great spot to spend a lazy Sunday with a beer in hand Capital Beach is a much appreciated urban reprieve All recommendations have been independently sourced by Culture Trip Read Next See & Do Germany's Most Beautiful Abbeys and Monasteries Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in August See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in June Police have compared shooting of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili to attack on Sergei Skripal There is growing evidence that the murder of a former Chechen insurgent in Berlin last month was carried out on behalf of the Russian state the chair of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee told Spiegel: “The crime appears to have considerable and clear political fingerprints.” He said that for reasons he could not comprehend the case had not been passed on to the federal public prosecutor’s office was shot dead at close range in the Kleiner Tiergarten park while he was on his way to the mosque on 23 August The spot where Khangoshvili was killed Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThe suspected killer tried to flee by bicycle but was apprehended by police after passersby had reported seeing him throwing a wig and gun into a river Police investigators were quick to compare the killing of Khangoshvili to the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury by suspected Russian agents last year The suspect has so far refused to answer police questions The Berlin prosecutor’s office has described him as “behaving like a professional” The journalists’ investigation has found there is no one registered in the Russian passport records office as Vadim Sokolov the address in his Schengen area visa application is false His passport was found to have been issued by a department of the Russian interior ministry which has in the past been responsible for issuing passports for agents of the Russian military secret service They claim they have also found evidence in a Russian database of attempts to create a credible false identity under the name Sokolov The procedure recorded there is similar to that found during the Bellingcat exposure of the identity of the alleged Skripal attacker Sokolov was also registered in the Russian tax database in June 2016 despite the fact that Russian citizens are registered as taxpayers as soon as they start work Only days after receiving a tax number and a Russian passport he applied for a Schengen area visa at the French embassy Sokolov was not to be found at the address with which he registered with the tax office On Thursday, the New York Times reported claims that Sokolov may in fact be Vadim Andreevich Stepanov with the help of forensic experts at Bradford University have found no match between photographs of the suspect and Stepanov There are also reports that Stepanov is in prison Khangoshvili fought in the second Chechen war against Russia. He later worked for several years as an informant and negotiator for the Georgian and Ukrainian counter-terrorist authorities. Following numerous threats and an assassination attempt on him, he moved to Ukraine and then fled to Germany where he sought asylum The Kremlin has denied any involvement in his killing The TimesA Russian intelligence agency ordered the murder of a man shot dead in a Berlin park this year Germany’s top prosecutor is said to believe The investigation could damage relations between Berlin and Moscow if the German authorities escalate the claim that the murder was a state-sponsored contract killing with echoes of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury last year Vadim Sokolov allegedly murdered the Chechen exile then threw a gun bicycle and wig in a riverZelimkhan Khangoshvili a Georgian citizen who had been a commander in the Chechen separatist insurgency against Russia was shot as he cycled through Tiergarten park in Berlin in August who had followed him on an electric bicycle shot him twice in the head at close range with a silenced Glock pistol had survived two previous attempts on life The Russian government has denied responsibility for the killing of a Chechen exile in Berlin after German authorities reportedly voiced suspicions of a state-backed attack similar to that carried out against a former Russian military officer in Salisbury Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, who fought against Russia during the second Chechen war in the early 2000s was shot twice in the head at close range in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in central Berlin just before midday last Friday Associates of Khangoshvili said he commanded a fighting unit against Russian troops between 1999 and 2004. After the end of the conflict, Khangoshvili moved back to Georgia where he was employed as a mediator by the anti-terror unit of the Georgian interior ministry He continued to help the Chechen insurgency and continued to be regarded as a terrorist by Russia’s intelligence agency A suspect named in the German media as Vadim S was arrested by Berlin police before he could leave the scene of the crime on an electric scooter parked in a nearby bush. Read moreTwo 17-year-olds had reportedly seen the man throwing a Glock handgun with a silencer a bicycle and a wig into the river Spree and alerted the authorities Ekkehard Maaß, a former East German dissident songwriter who now chairs the German-Caucasian Society, said he had met Khangoshvili when he first arrived in Germany at the end of 2016 and had personally appealed to the authorities in January 2017 to grant him special protection Khangoshvili arrived in Germany after six months in Ukraine having fled Georgia after surviving two assassination attempts there one by poison in 2009 and one where he was shot at eight times while driving his car in central Tbilisi in May 2015 “Zelimkhan thought that now he was in Germany he would be safe and every Friday he took the same route from his home to the mosque and the information passed to the killer,” said Maaß had three daughters and two sons aged between two and 17 A small memorial was held in Berlin on Tuesday before his body was flown back to Georgia who attended the ceremony and took part in the Chechen ritual of washing the body before the funeral said he saw one bullet wound in the shoulder and two in the head “He was shot in the shoulder and fell to the ground a 49-year-old Russian citizen from Siberia had changed his outfit to blend in as a tourist sandals and a neck pouch containing a passport and a large amount of cash A rucksack that police recovered from the river contained a shaving kit and paprika powder which can be used to throw sniffer dogs off a scent who had only arrived in Berlin a few days before the killing has denied responsibility for the killing and reportedly refused to answer questions the suspect requested to speak to a representative of the Russian embassy The Kremlin-backed head of the Chechen Republic Photograph: Said Tsarnayev/ReutersOn Wednesday the Kremlin denied any involvement in the killing which took place on the same day that Germany’s foreign minister was visiting Moscow “I categorically reject any link between this incident this murder and official Russia,” said Vladimir Putin’s spokesman There have been numerous contract killings of Chechens across the world in recent years, with the victims usually falling into one of two categories: personal enemies of the region’s Kremlin-backed leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, or figures believed to be involved in an insurgency against Kadyrov’s forces and Russian troops in the region. Chechen murder squads linked to Kadyrov have appeared to be the most likely perpetrators while the latter hits have borne the hallmark of the Russian federal security services There have been a number of murders in Istanbul developed for Russian special forces and rarely found on the open market While Chechens have been shot with impunity in Istanbul, Dubai and Moscow, it is rare for such killings to take place in broad daylight in western Europe. The closest parallel to Khangoshvili’s killing is the murder of Umar Israilov in 2009 who was shot dead as he left a supermarket in Vienna had fled the republic and made allegations of torture against Chechen forces and Kadyrov personally Last year the former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury Police identified two Russians as the suspects Der Spiegel said German security agencies were increasingly confident Russia’s signature could be detected behind Khangoshvili’s killing “If it turns out that a state player like Russia is behind this we have a second Skripal case on our hands with everything that entails,” the magazine quoted one source as saying Maaß said: “I see this as a message to all the Chechen refugees in Germany: you’re not safe here.” Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content While soaring gas prices have shaken the U.S it has not suffered the same supply vulnerabilities as other countries Germany has been forced to introduce new energy-saving policies as it struggles to meet the demand amid a downturn in Russian energy exports due to sanctions and closure of pipelines to Russia's European clients Recent posts on social media went as far as to suggest Berlin residents have taken to chopping down trees in its largest park But was the claim ground in fact or fiction A tweet posted on October 9, 2022, purportedly citing Bloomberg claims that Berlin residents have begun chopping down trees for firewood as Germany's energy crisis continues Several Russian outlets, including the Kremlin-linked Rossiyskaya Gazeta, published stories referencing Bloomberg's article. A number of Telegram and Twitter (mostly low-engagement) posts In Berlin, with fuel in short supply, residents chopped down nearly all the trees in the central Tiergarten park for heating, Bloomberg writeshttps://t.co/dBrObtEz0k Germany is among the nations most severely affected by the closure of the Nord Stream pipeline following Russia's invasion of Ukraine Having resisted the use of nuclear energy prior to Russia's excursion, it has been pushed to even turn to coal despite plans to phase out its use by 2038. It is among the countries in Europe that have most heavily relied on Russian gas supplies; the government is set to pay the December monthly gas bill for all households to shield its citizens from rising energy prices despite the difficulties it finds itself in the claims that Germany is eyeing up the Tiergarten for timber are not accurate The Bloomberg article which appeared to be the "inspiration" for the false claim simply mentions how trees were chopped down in the park after the end of the Second World War It has nothing to do with the ongoing energy crisis as it highlights in literally the next sentence possibly as an accidental or deliberate mistranslation of the original A number of pro-Kremlin newspapers and news websites in Russia also ran with the headline falsely attributing the claim to Bloomberg, with some, including Komsomolskaya Pravda, later deleting the article Although the main content of the original article is about the demand for firewood because of gas shortages in Germany one of the country's most well-known parks The reference to World War II is in the last few paragraphs of the Bloomberg article meaning readers cannot see more than a handful of articles before they are asked to subscribe with payment the outlets who shared the article can do so in the knowledge that most readers are unlikely to be able to see context of the claim the crisis creates unsettling echoes of the desolation following World War II residents chopped down nearly all the trees in the central Tiergarten park for heating "While Berliners aren't going to such extremes now concerns about staying warm are widespread." Berlin has nonetheless implemented a number of energy-saving measures across the city, such as turning off the lights at monuments including the Victory Column in Tiergarten. Germans have not been chopping down trees in Tiergarten The claim is a misquote from a Bloomberg article about firewood demand While the article mentions that residents in the German capital did resort to felling parts of the park after the Second World War the article clearly states that no such thing has happened today following Russia's shutdown of gas supplies to Europe has been widely shared by pro-Russian accounts to support their narrative about the energy crisis in Europe Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Must-try dishes include the tapas and the Big Ben Burger it’s suggested for romantic dates or spending an evening out with friends © Schlaier Vietnamese food is simple and always fresh A healthy and tasty way to sink into the special culinary tradition is by visiting Tonis the nice soups and the vegetables at this budget-friendly spot © Hugos/Hugos Awarded with a Michelin-star, Hugos needs no special suggestions. Excellent scenery, complete with lovely views of Wilhelm Memorial Church, the Berlin Zoo and the Potsdammerplatz from the top of the Intercontinental Hotel ensures that you will enjoy your meal in the very best way the tastes are amazing complemented by good wines Located in the heart of Tiergarten, Cafe am Neuen See is recommended as a great place to chill after having a walk in the little heaven in the center of Germany’s capital You can sit at tables by the lake and enjoy a wonderful view while having your meal this non-expensive choice offers relaxation and tasty options Vagelis Tsirmpas is a 23-year-old Athens-born travel enthusiast who holds a BA in interpreting and a MA in translation and uses foreign languages as a passport to different cultures After traveling to various European countries Vagelis does not only want to travel around the world he has actively participated in student unions and self-organized solidarity groups This ten-story apartment building goes up in front of the Tiergarten park in one of the most central areas of Berlin This intervention finishes the northern edge of the urban complex of Beisheim (with a hotel rounding off the process of development of this urban area a process that started out with the competition launched in 1991 The floor plan of the building follows a U-shape in order to adapt to the configuration of the plot Its interior angles accommodate the cores of staircases and a restaurant and a cafeteria on either side of the main entrance Located in the central area of the longer side the entrance provides access to a double-height hall whose walls have an elegant cladding; this is a T-shaped space – with a 24-hour concierge service like in the upscale American buildings – which is connected through large windows to the private garden The ten stories of the building contain 36 apartments whose surface area ranges from 150 to 200 square meters The developer demanded a high degree of flexibility in the design of the floor plans so as to satisfy the different needs of the future tenants the facade of the building is configured through the arrangement of French windows elements that are placed in different ways and thus show the personalized distribution of each apartment This casual organization of the facades contrasts with the rigid volumetry of the building trying to generate an open and sculptural distribution the design of the apartments has free-flowing spaces in which green areas may become a constant presence The ninth floor contains duplex apartments with a large balcony and superb views of the surroundings Theodor Klein/Mario Vogelsang (estructura structure); Ridder & Meyn/Carsten Thomas Falk Melzer (instalaciones mechanical engineering); Thomanek & Duqeusnoy/Ralf Meißner (paisajismo landscaping) there arent any match using your search terms A black-headed gull flies amid snow in Berlin People ride bikes at the Tiergarten Park in Berlin A woman rides a scooter at the Tiergarten Park in Berlin A rider is seen at the Tiergarten Park in Berlin 2024 shows the roof of the Berlin Cathedral covered by snow in Berlin A dog plays in the snow at the Berlin Wall Memorial in Berlin A woman runs at the Tiergarten Park in Berlin Seok-Woo Song — Photos exploring the pressures and loneliness of life in Korea Federico Borella & Michela Balboni — Photographing rural Italy’s “tree men” AikBeng Chia — Recreating vivid scenes from 1970s Singapore with the help of AI WePresent is the arts platform of WeTransfer.The simplest way to send big files A platform to empower creatives while using business as a force for good Heba Khamis is a visual researcher and photographer from Egypt who seeks out stories about often-overlooked social issues. Black Birds was shot over the course of six months in Berlin’s huge Tiergarten park The project features the male prostitutes who work there and feel helpless and exhausted by the legal system that bans them from working while their asylum applications are processed and 21-year-old Mohamed (not his real name) was nominated in the World Press Photo Portraits category Since 2016, we’ve partnered with the World Press Photo awards to tell the stories behind the best photojournalism around, in the photographers' own words. See the whole series here. You know when you hear about something and it catches your heart and you can't stop thinking about it I always feel that before I start my projects So I went to the Tiergarten Park in Berlin and I was like So instead I stayed in the park from morning until sunset I was fasting because it was Ramadan and when they found out I noticed Jochen and Mohamed just by being there a lot asked if I could take their photo and they said The refugees kept telling me – we are not gay where is the line between pushing them in the right direction and respecting their boundaries as humans When I learnt about the relationship between Mohamed and Jochen I realized that's the key for the whole project is to be in a relationship with a German man Jochen would go with him to interviews at the immigration office and say he's his boyfriend He would hire him a lawyer and help him find a job And now Mohamed is quitting heroin because he’s got this support and he told me the only thing giving him hope to stay in the relationship was that the refugee might discover he's gay later Black Birds is only on my website; it has never been published I tried to pitch it but nobody was really into it They were pushing me to give a testimony about what I was witnessing in the park I didn’t accept that – I ignored the emails But then they started calling me five times a day and then they started calling my friends to convince me to talk to them I had to disappear for a while because I wasn't sure what to do At that point I was really in a weird situation My translator’s boyfriend calls me “crazy Heba” for going back to the park again Maybe because I think someone should tell them They’re ashamed and they’re stuck and they don't know how to get out And if there weren’t customers going to them Want (even) more WePresent?Sign up to our monthly newsletter Facing criticism from Republican opponent John McCain that he is inexperienced on foreign policy the Democratic candidate has already been to Afghanistan the chosen venue for the trip’s main setpiece public address – a decision based largely on the city’s iconic status as the backdrop for famous speeches by US presidents over the decades John F Kennedy caused local rapture in 1963 by pronouncing: “Ich bin ein Berliner” Ronald Reagan made a similarly celebrated speech in the same city urging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” open-air crowd before the Victory Column war monument in the city’s Tiergarten Crowds began gathering in Berlin hours before his speech many having to queue to get into the plaza Speaking to reporters ahead of his arrival in the German capital Obama had been at pains to stress he was merely “a citizen” and not – at least not yet – a president the presidential imagery has clearly not been lost on Obama’s campaign staff who originally hoped he could speak at the Brandenburg Gate Kennedy also visited the gate when in Berlin had to settle for the 69-metre Victory Column after the German chancellor saying the Brandenburg Gate was reserved for presidents “He applauded the chancellor’s leading role in promoting international efforts on climate change and affirmed his own pledge to pursue an 80% reduction in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” Obama senior strategist Robert Gibbs said after the meeting Obama arrived in Berlin after two days in the Middle East where he outlined a newly hawkish line on Iran’s nuclear programme and appealed to US Jewish voters by pledging “unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security” He also expressed concerns during meetings with the German vice-chancellor and foreign minister over strained relations between Russia and Georgia Four Russian military jets flew over Georgian airspace earlier this month aggravating a row over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia Obama emphasised “the importance of Georgia’s territorial integrity His campaign organisers originally hoped the US presidential candidate would speak at the Brandenburg Gate – the site the famous “tear down this wall” speech by Ronald Reagan – but settled for the Victory Column war monument after Merkel objected to the famous landmark Merkel has forged a bond with fellow conservative George Bush since her election reversing the slide in US-German relations brought on by Berlin’s refusal to endorse the Iraq war But she appeared to warm to Obama yesterday when she told a news conference that the young American candidate “is well-equipped physically Reporters followed up by pressing the chancellor on the now-famous shoulder rub Bush gave her during the 2006 G8 summit in Russia Asked whether she anticipated getting another massage from Obama or McCain Merkel quipped: “That’s not really up to me After arriving at the chancellery for his meeting with Merkel Obama paused to wave at a group of Bavarian schoolchildren who were finishing their tour of the building when he arrived “We were really close,” said an excited Michaela Schmid “Yes we can!” — the senator’s campaign catchphrase said he was astounded by the support for the Democrat in Germany “There are more people to see him here in Berlin than in my hometown,” said Thomas “I think he’s trying to show that he is capable of handling things overseas.” This article was amended on 18 April 2017. An earlier version said about 100,000 people gathered to hear Obama’s speech; at the time police estimated that at least 200,000 had turned up.