The perpetual photography thread

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Did I neglect this thread for so long? I do apologise - anyway, I shall carry on from where I left off:

Here are photographs of various high-ranking officials in the Socialist Unity Party of Germany's existence and also that of East Germany:



The SED party flag:



And a close-up:



Another information board - "Vanguard of the Working Class":

During the party conference on the 21st/22nd of April 1946, the fusion of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and Social Democratic Party of Germany into the Socialist Unity Party (SED) was completed.

The same year a step-by-step process was begun to transform the SED into a "new type of party" according to the Soviet model.

The SED held claim to absolute power in economy, society and politics.

In 1989, about 2.3 million people were members of the party. Since the collapse of the GDR, the number of members has dramatically decreased. There are currently about 76,000 members of the party, which has since been renamed "Die Linke" (the Left).



Banner showing a quote from Walter Ulbricht, one of the top DDR politicians. The quote is from his speech on the 33rd Meeting of the Central Committee of the SED.

The quote - translated into English - says: "The building of socialism is first and foremost the education of the people." Evil so and so.



Banner of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.

From the wiki ([url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Thälmann_Pioneer_Organisation[/url]):

We missed you, Tequila!

Sylkat

This is going to take an awful long time to get through but I shall do what I can.

A bright red banner commemorating the wins of the Potsdam district of the Society for Sports and Technology (GST), a youth sports organisation in the GDR:



Information board: "School for the Soldiers of Tomorrow":

The Society for Sports and Technics (GST), formed on the 7th of August 1952, was an organisation that aimed at providing military education as an essential part of creating the "new socialist man".

Since the early 1960s, when conscription was introduced, the GST organised and conducted military training at secondary and vocational schools in order to prepare youth to serve in the army.

The inclusion of males aged 16 to 18 in the military training of the GST was almost complete. Female students at high schools and trainees, who did not participate in the GST training for health reasons, were trained in civil defence instead.



Two youth posters for the Society for Sports and Technics:



Pennants for the Free German Youth:





The uniform of the National People's Army, the national army of East Germany:



Referring to the National People's Army. The girl in the artwork - the one holding the red rose, the classic symbol of socialism/communism - represents the Young Pioneers:



Another NVA poster:

The Stasi conference room:

The conference room. Erich Mielke, with Hans Carlsohn and Horst Felber (Secretary of the Party Organisation in the Stasi) met here with their underlings, the district administration directors and the advisory council. The picture at the head of the conference room (title: 13th August 1961) was painted by Professor Wolfgang Frankenstein and was presented to the minister for an anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall. Together with the artist Harmut Hornung, Frankenstein painted the 20 wall paintings in the Magdalenenstrasse underground station.



Stasi caféteria:

The Cafeteria. The Stasi generals had their coffee breaks here when meetings took place in the conference room.



The relaxation room for the Stasi top brass and even Erich Mielke himself:



The MfS minister's private area:

A private area was set up here, according to Mielke's personal wishes. It has been maintained almost exactly as it was found. As a member of the Politbüro, Mielke lived in a special settlement in the north of Berlin.



Switchboard and telephone in the Minister for State Security's office:

The minister's office. From 1961 on, Erich Mielke commanded the "shield and sword of the party" from this room. In 1993 Erich Mielke was sentenced to six years in prison for the killing of two police officers in 1931. He was released in 1995 and died in 2000, aged 92.



More telephones in the minister's office:



Chairs and coffee table, also in the minister's office:

The chief secretary's office.

This was the office of Mielke's chief secretary. An index card was found in the desk with a plan of how Mielke wanted his breakfast. (Available to view later.)



Switchboard in chief secretary's office:



A little kitchenette area:



Original communication technology in the minister's secretariat:

The minister's secretariat with original furniture and office technology. Among other things, the secretariat was responsible for taking care of Erich Mielke's daily needs; the distribution and forwarding of mail and official documents, and also the receipt of situation reports.





Table and chairs in Major General Hans Carlsohn's office:

This was the office of Major General Hans Carlsohn. He was hired in 1951 by the Department of Personal Protection as Mielke's personal escort. In 1953 he became Mielke's personal assistant and in 1971 he took over the direction of the minister's secretariat. In 1985 he was promoted to the rank of Major General.



The index card intricately showing how Erich Mielke wanted his breakfast. (If you click on the photo, it will take you to my Flickr page which painstakingly translates his breakfast items.)



An East German radio complete with stickers for DDR stations:

The adjoining room was used by the driver and bodyguard. Members of the armed forces (including the Stasi) were typically not allowed to have access to western media. The stickers on the radio marked the radio stations of the GDR.



And the bodyguard's room, including a television, desk and phone:

Just as a little bit of a break - these photos were posted on my stream at the same time but were taken near where I live in Britain, so I'll share them in this post.

A local restaurant:



Eric's Café, on the seafront road in Morecambe:



And the beach at Morecambe:

Back in Berlin's Stasi Museum, here are some information boards: Bear in mind that these are all untranslated so won't be of a lot of use to you unless you understand German.











A plaque showing the obligations that a member of the Stasi has to adhere to. If you click on the photo, you will see a translated version:



A plaque about the scientific co-operation between East Germany and the Soviet Union. Similarly, if you click on this photo you'll see a translated version:



Having left the museum, I took a photo of these industrial buildings outside the Stasi museum's grounds:



And an unknown single-floor property nearby:



Here I am in the platform of the U-Bahn station (Magdalenenstraße):

We got off at Westkreuz to see what was happening there. The answer? Not a lot. So I took this photo and got back on the S-Bahn:



Got off at Charlottenburg to find something to eat. Here's two photos of Stuttgarter Platz:





A menu at a Vietnamese restaurant I found:



And I had a pineapple smoothie to begin with. This was a wonderfully refreshing smoothie of pineapple with coconut juice and cranberry. Quite delicious:



View up the street from where I was sat:



Spicy fried tender beef with garlic rice noodles. Prepared with fresh lettuce, basil, cilantro. Seasoned with ginger, dressing and finely chopped peanuts. €5.50.



Moving on, I took this photo of the pedestrianised part of Wilmersdorfer Straße:

Some more photos - these will pretty much be the end of my ones from Berlin.

A department store on Kantstraße in Charlottenburg, Berlin:



A branch of "Woolworth" - no relation to the now-defunct British Woolworths - in Charlottenburg:



Some photos from the day we left Berlin.

Here is Rudow, a district on the outskirts of Berlin and the last stop on the U7 line and the place from which a bus picks passengers up to take them to the airport a short distance away.

Here is the street just outside the subway entrance:



And a row of shops further down the street:



I was badly in need of something to eat so I went inside a kiosk and bought a felafel salad wrap. It wasn't particularly clever, although the salad wasn't too bad:



After that we waited for the bus to take us to the airport.

When we got to the airport, we realised that we were in fact far, far too early to check in so we spent a few hours lazing around. I bought a tin of Coke and took a photo before drinking it:



A little later on, I ate this feta cheese, carrot and black bean salad I bought in Rudow. It was very, very dry:



Here's the exterior of the airport at its entrance:

Some more photos from the very end of my trip to Berlin - these were in the airport:

A swing-top bottle of dunkel, which is a dark lager beer, taken in the airport. Bought this from the airport shop and not the "Irish bar" next door that was far, far more expensive. This bottle of lager was cold too!



A selection of snacks, aperitifs and spirits in the airport:



The yellow submarine sculpture at Liverpool Airport, at the UK end waiting for my trip home:



Back in Morecambe, Lancashire now: a derelict building that used to be a café:



The foyer at a former railway platform building that is now a small theatre:



Some information boards about the development of Morecambe:



A boat on Morecambe Bay:



Signage on Thornton Road, which is a promenade road in Morecambe. Happy Mount Park is an interesting destination in itself, and one I hope to cover at a later date. All throughout the summer months, they have brass bands in the park there on Sunday afternoon:

A close-up shot of the Polo Tower in Morecambe. The Polo Tower was once a ride and a part of the now-demolished Frontierland Western Theme Park, which closed in 2000. The Polo Tower is the last remaining remnant of the park. The Polo Tower only remains up due to the phone mast contract with BT, otherwise it can be demolished from next year onwards. It's faded and a bit of an eyesore to be honest.



And a complete view of the Polo Tower (note the branch of Aldi in the background!):



The exterior of an old hotel - that is also now a restaurant, as you can probably see - on the other side of Morecambe:



Another hotel, this time in Morecambe town centre. Fully licensed:



A mobility scooter shop on the seafront road:



A residential/business road with lots of takeaways and charity shops, just off the seafront:



A slightly different residential road not far from where the previous photo was taken:



And another shot, showing the cobbled backs of houses - very Coronation Street in the olden days.

Here's the exterior of the Pennine Tower at Forton Service Station on the M6, on the way back from Morecambe. Lancaster (Forton) services is a motorway service station, between junctions 32 and 33 of the M6 motorway in England. The services is notable for an unusual hexagonal concrete tower on the northbound side, named The Pennine Tower, which originally housed an up-market restaurant and a sun deck. The tower was designed to resemble an Air Traffic Control Tower and is a prominent local landmark. The tower closed to the public in 1989 due to various health and safety concerns, and is only used for storage and occasional staff training. The original pentagon-shaped elevators which serviced the tower are still used to service the ground floor and first floor of the building:



A test shot of my back garden with my then-new camera:



Photos taken in the Forest of Bowland.

Countryside with brook babbling through:







Bowland trees from below:

A cow and calf in a Bowland field:



Little Town Dairy is a yogurt-producing dairy just outside Longridge in the hamlet of Thornley in the Ribble Valley. Aside from yogurt, they also produce crème fraîche and they have an excellent onsite café and farm shop, as well as a children's play area. Here's some photos from the children's play area and farm:

More photos taken on the farm:







Seating area just outside the farm shop/café:



Clematises outside the farm shop:



Glorious nearby country scenery, taken at the farm shop:





Inside the farm shop, here is a mixture of local and non-local produce (like chutneys and jams) on the shelf. A box of Bowland Brewery beer takes a rather prominent place:



Meanwhile, I ordered this as I fancied some lunch. The farm shop also has a little café inside as well, only a few tables though. They produce small meals like jacket potatoes, sandwiches and the like. I suspected before I ordered it that it would be huge, and so it turned out. £3.80 for this, along with a glass of orange juice at only £1. Well worth the money too!

this one was taken in the botanical gardens



This is from the almond tree in my backyard which blossoms in mid winter.

Whereabouts is that on the first one, treblecake? Very lush colours.