Registration and Pergamon

So on Thursday I had my registration with Humboldt University. I took the opportunity to take some pictures around the area near the main building.
Here's a statue of Max Planck for all my science major friends. (6.626 x 10^-34 anyone?) This dude received the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum theory. Planck taught at this University back when it was just known as Berlin University, and his graduate students included greats such as Max von Laue (1914 Nobel Prize in Physics winner).

Here's a statue of Frederick the Great on his horse. He was King of Prussia from 1740-1786 (Berlin was a part of Prussia back then). He chilled with Voltaire, had jam sessions with J.S. Bach, conquered places he wanted, and overall just ruled his kingdom like a boss. Check him out.

Here's the TV Tower again with the Berlin Cathedral below it, and in front of that is the German History Museum. This also shows that the Santa Barbara weather I brought with me here is wearing off...

One more picture from Humboldt... here's a quote that you see right when you walk into the main hall. Karl Marx actually studied at Berlin University. Think what you will about Marxism, but you have to admit this is a good quote. "The philosophers have only interpreted the world differently, but what matters is to change it." - Karl Marx

So after registration I decided to visit a museum that my tour guide had recommended, the Pergamon Museum. Pergamon was a city-state in ancient Greece, and this museum houses artifacts from there and other ancient civilizations. They have created an amazing panorama of Pergamon in 129 B.C. that you can view from a tower... it even switches between day and night. Pretty awesome to see what a city would have looked like back then. Unfortunately photography was forbidden there. But here are some pieces of old temples dedicated to Greek gods... check out the people for a size comparison. Some of these temples were absolutely massive. It was incredible to actually stand next to these giant architectural feats.

But the coolest part of the whole museum was definitely this: A reconstruction of the entire Pergamon Altar. They actually aren't entirely sure which God this altar was dedicated to. But sacrifices were made in a small fire here, possibly of animals, possibly only of wine, fruits, etc. Here's one photo I took:

 But here's a better one from Wikipedia so you can actually see the whole thing:

Oh and here's a gate that used to be an entrance to Babylon. nbd.

So I'd like to end this rather lengthy post with this. They had lots of pieces of broken statues in the museum. Here's an example and a bunch of pieces of bronze statues:

And what's that in the upper middle? That is a bronze scrotum.

I'm so mature.