City and Cityscape Photography

Urban photography is about capturing cities, towns, small villages and places to go. Capture places you like to be or the places every must be. Our cities are home to fascinating scenes, there are old town lanes, avenues, iconic landmarks one must have seen in a lifetime, business districts, modern architecture, churches and monuments.

Urban photogrpahy captures people living their life in cities and villages.

My site city and cityscape photography shows photographic locations, interesting spots you would like to train your camera onto. Find inspiration for your work. 

Meissen Cityscapes

Meissen in Saxony upon the river Elbe is a travel destination well known for the Meissen cathedral, the castle and most of all, Meissen's reputation was foundet on its porcelain factory producing world class bone china since 1710.

Meissen itself is a quiet town that has preseved its medieval touch while being a modern place. It is recommended to visit Meissen Castle and the cathedral, which is situated within the castle. The Meissen Porcelain Manufacture is also open to the public with a porcelain museum where not only very expensive exhibits are on display but also the visitor can learn about the art of making bone china and also on how hand painting is applied to the china.

Secluded from the famous tourist spots Meissen is the address to go for in order to spend quality time without hustle and bustle.

Potsdamer Platz - Berlin Cityscapes

Potsdamer Platz (Potsdam Square) is one of the best known squares Berlin has to offer. On the one hand, the architecture is well worth being looked at and on the other Potsdamer Platz is one of the main traffic hubs in Berlin. This three storey underground hub connects Deutsche Bahn with regional trains, Berlin S-Bahn (city train) and Berlin Underground, the latter being operated by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (Berlin Transport). All traffic lines go through underground tunnels.

Adjacent to Potsdamer Platz is Leizpziger Platz (Leipzig Square). At the junction to Leipziger Platz Potsdamer Strasse ends and becoms Leipziger Strasse which is the direct road to the east in the direction to Kupfergraben / Spreekanal and finally leads across the river Spree. Potsdamer Platz belongs to Berlin-Mitte (Berlin City Centre) district.

Some facts on Potsdamer Platz. Once Potsdamer Platz was home to the Potsdamer Tor (Potsdam Gate), on the junction to Leipziger Platz. In 1824 the old gate was knocked down and replaced by the Neue Potsdamer Tor (New Potsdam Gate), built by Friedrich von Schinkel. During WW II that gate was completely destroyed and the remnants were only removed in 1961 on the occasion of the building of the Berlin Wall.

Back in 1924 in the middle of Potsdamer Platz a pentagonal traffic column was built in which the first electric set of traffic lights in Berlin was installed to get a grip on the huge traffic pulsating over Potsdamer 24/7. The original traffic column was removed in 1939 during building works for the new S-Bahn station beneath Potsdamer Platz.

Already before WW II Potsdamer Platz had turned into an iconic place because hotels, bars and restaurants had settled around the square. The war turned Potsdamer Platz into a scene of destruction, a situation lasting until after German reunification.

What's up on Potsdamer Platz nowadays or what can the visitor expect? A lot has happened since reunificaiton and a lot of investment went into a complete restyle of the square. The Potsdamer-Platz-Arkaden sind die große shopping mall on the square. The Filmhaus within the Sony Centre is mecca for movie enthusiasts who get their money worth at CinemaX, IMAX and CineStar. Without doubt Sony Centre already attracts crowds 24/7 because of the architecture of the fassade and especially because of the roof construction, which is certainly not unique but very special making a visit worthwile.

At Potsdamer Platz we also find the DaimlerChrysler Quartier, the Beisheim Centre and the glass tower of Deutsche Bahn. That apart, the large hotel chains of Ritz-Carlton, Merriot, The Mandala and Hyatt all have their dependance around the square and there are ample opportunities for going out, eating, drinking and having a good time.

Zurich Cityscapes

Zurich is one of the large cities in Switzerland and is situated on the river Limmat at the northern end of Lake Zurich. Well known is Zurich for its role in the international banking and finance industry and Zurich is a major banking centre in Europe and wordwide.

To the visitor, Zurich reveals its partly medieval charme and also shows how modernity and history can go hand in hand. Many pictoresque alleys can be found on both sides of the river Limmat. The promandes on both sides of the river invite the visitor to spend some time in the numerous bars, pubs and restaurants. Also high street brands are available everywhere.

One can travel to Zurich by plane, by train or by car. Also coach lines to Zurich are available nowadays. Zurich airport is linked to the city centre via bus and train. The Zurich main station is a terminal station and sits in the middle of the old town. Travellers arriving by car are well adviced to highly concentrate in the dense traffic, because the city never sleeps.  Car parks are available, however, pricing is rather up-market and a couple of hours parking somewhere in the city centre comes near daylight robbery. But see for yourself.

Limburg upon Lahn Cityscapes

Limburg upon the river Lahn is a picturesque town in the middle of the German state of Hesse. Most known is Limburg for Limburg Cathedral and, of course, for its historic medieval old town. Everywhere one will find half-timbered houses standing side-by-side. Limburg has a lot to offer and the visitor can learn a thing or two about the history of the town. Guided tours are available and there is ample entertainment available for visitors. Photographers going to Limburg will have a field day, at least there are loads of motives all over the place. Especially, photographers specialised in architecture will have a busy time.

There is no problem with accommodation which can be booked either online or in town directly at the tourist office. Limburg has 11 hotels and 2 guest houses. The old town offers many restaurants and pubs to go out.

All in all, Limburg is worthwile visiting at any time during the year, one-day trips are also a good way to learn a bit about people, town and history.

Den Haag Cityscapes

Den Haag is one of the old Dutch cities that have kept their historic touch while being a super-modern city of the 21st century. Having said that, Den Haag ist not just a nice place it is the political centre of the Netherlands and also place of the regional government of the province of Zuid-Holland. Actually, when arriving in the middle of Den Haag, we find the place full of administrative buildings which, by the way, are lovely to look at.

Den Haag is situated between Rotterdam, Delft, Leiden and is adjacent to the seaside resort of Scheveningen. In case you want to walk from Den Haag's Binnenhof at the city centre to Scheveningen pier it is only 5.3 km walk or one hour to go.

Den Haag is the typical Dutch town / city and the visitor somehow know what to expext. Though, by walking around with eyes open one will find a lot to look at. The city is a place where times past and modernity go hand-in-hand. Modern architecture well fits into the existing structure of buildings. One can say, instead of tearing down entire blocks the new structure was simply integrated into the existing building structure. Even parts of the wall of the medieval town are still around in the city centre. On the other hand, we find state-of-the-art shopping malls that leave nothing to be desired, a good example being "The Passage" at Buitenhof. This place is quite interesting for architecture photographers, motives galore.

Cityscapes: Bautzen Saxony

A place in Saxony where you will instantly feel being sent back to medieval times but also being back in the 18th and 19th century. Still Bautzen also shows the scars of war and decades of dereliction and decline. But the town did wonders in building new houses around the old residential areas and also ruins were brought back to life. Bautzen is a quiet place, they have a reputation for being the capital of mustard and, matter-of-factly, there is no place in Germany or in Europe where you can have so many dishes based on mustard as in Bautzen. It is incredible. Accommodation is cheap, the visitor can walk throughout town without having to use a car. From Bautzen you can explore the southern part of Saxony.

Cityscapes: Goerlitz - Saxony

Goerlitz is a German city in the state of Saxony, directly situated on the river Neisse (Neiße), which since 1945 is the border to Poland. What makes Goerlitz special is the fact the city covers both banks on the river Neisse, meaning that the eastern half of Goerlitz actually now is a Polish town. The Polish districts of Goerlitz are now called Zgorzelec.

Although it is said that Goerlitz more or less survived WW II unharmed, matter-of-factly the city shows every signs of war and a high number of ruins, which still mark the end of WW II. On the other hand, it also must be said that Goerlitz has done a lot to overcome the scars of war. So, the visitor will find fully restored historic buildings and next to them ruins and lost places, waiting to be restored to their prime.

Goerlitz is full of architectural heritage especially from a time called Gründerzeit, which describes the time between 1871 - 1873 and towards the end of the 19th century which was marked by rapid industrial expansion and overall an epoch that was marked by huge construction activity which consequently led to new civil quarters in the cities and also was a sign of growing wealth in society.