Location: Berlin - Spandau; Citadel Hi friends, this is the citadel of Spandau, the biggest winter quarter for bats in Middle Europe - more then 50 000 bats are sleeping in its dungeons and cellars in just this moment (we have 20 centimeter snow and at night -15° Celsius, it is bitter cold...) The citadel is more than 450 years old, the old castle inside nearly 800 years and the small village of Spandau more than 900 years, older as Berlin, maybe m u c h older. The place was important in medieval times: The medieval highway from The Netherlands to Poland crossed here the Havel, a small river, now part of Berlin. (The location is 15 kilometers away from the Berlin Center) In 1134 the whole region became under the name "Nordmark" part of the german emperors reich, reigned by Albrecht of Ballenstedt, called "Albrecht the Bear". The inhabitants here were mostly not germans, they were members of slavish tribes as the inhabitants of Spandau, a very small fishermen`s village nearr the Havel-ford. Albrecht guided german settlers in his new territory, and here near the ford they founded a castle - the later citadel (to be continued) Friends, hope you like this pic and you like the story. This pic is a little bit bigger than tzhe others, so jump in! Thanks for your interest and your comments, and have a nice weekend! Bye, billcody