USSR embassy in East Berlin, 1990

Russian embassy in Berlin, 1995

I took these two photos of the Soviet/Russian embassy in Berlin five years part. The first, featuring the head of Lenin, was in the summer or 1990. The embassy is located on the famous Unter den Linden boulevard in, at the time, East Berlin. Five years later in 1995 I found myself again in Berlin and spent a few days wondering around. The city was now just “Berlin,” no east or west. Indeed, it was difficult sometimes to tell by sight if one was in the “former east” on not. Much of the spectacular new architecture and renovations that Berlin is now known for were just starting to take shape in a jungle of scaffolding and forest of cranes. Change was in the air. By this time not only did the GDR not exist but the USSR had begun to divide up into its constituent parts. As I walked down the embassy lined, linden tree covered Unter den Linden again, I was curious what would become of the Soviet embassy, obviously a change of flags, but to what – Russia? The Commonwealth of Independent States? And surely the Lenin head must be gone.

Thanks to the wrought iron fence in front of the building I was able to take my second photo from almost the exact same potion as before. But know my only question was “Is Lenin’s head under the box? Just in case??” Next time I’m in Berlin,  I have a mission.