This magnificent bronze statue of Frederick the Great stands on Unter den Linden where it divides and the trees begin, just by Bebelplatz. It was designed by Christian Daniel Rauch and completed in 1851. For many years it stood at Sanssoucci but was fabulously restored and returned here in 1980. Frederick the Great was the first king to see the collective of German states as a single nation. He also set out to make Berlin the obvious capital of that new nation by the creation of fine buildings to rival Paris, Vienna or St Petersberg.

There is a superstition that if the Linden (Lime) trees on U den L were to be destroyed then the city would fall. Guess which mid 20th C German leader cut them down to make room for his parading army?