Regierungsviertel Berlin zur Blauen Stunde

"Blaue Stunde" - blue hour - is the time around sunrise or sunset, when the blue light prevails. This is best for night photography (or not quite "night") and city scapes. In our area with pronounced seasons, it is easiest to photograph in winter on a late afternoon, as people are still out and lights in office buildings are on. In winter, when the sun rises late and sets early, one does not have to get up at ungodly hours or stay out late  instead of enjoying a nice dinner to catch this short time span of twilight. 

I took an early evening walk with my tripod through Regierungsviertel, Reichstag, Bundestag and Kanzleramt along the Spree with its reflections. 

Marie-Elisabeth Lüders-Haus

along the Spree, view towards the Alex

view in the other direction: Paul-Löbe and Marie-Elisabeth Lüders Häuser

Der Reichstag

If you stay out too long, though, the light will turn from dark blue to a brownish grey before the sky turns too dark. Then the contrast between sky and lights becomes too pronounced for good pictures. 

The Reichstag on the Spree. In the middle of the picture you can see seven crosses. These are symbols for the lives lost when people were shot at and murdered, trying to cross the small river Spree, fleeing from East to West Germany before 1989. The Spree here demarked the boundary between West and East. The last victim was Chris Gueffroy on February 5, 1989. We celebrate them as heroes - while nowadays hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing their countries and risking their lives on the mediterranean waters and too many go unnoticed . 

Reichstag and Paul-Löbe-Building

The Paul-Löbe-Haus  with  the Reichstag to the right (from the other side). 

Mrs Merkel's Kanzleramt