Everything has its origins somewhere -
including the Berlin furniture shop with the hat

The inn "Zu den drei Linden" (4), now the tourist information centre, used to be located at the end of Steinstraße. In 1871, carpenter Albert Türklitz opened a workshop in the yard of the inn. This was the starting point of a fascinating story which takes us right up to the busy commercial life of the German capital today - to the Möbel Hübner furniture shop in Genthiner Straße.

Let's keep it short: Albert Türklitz had a son named Emil. He amalgamated his father's carpentry workshop and uncle's furniture shop into a single business on the Neustädtischer Markt in Brandenburg. In 1933, Emil Türklitz expanded into Berlin. The Berlin branch was managed by his son Arno who then married - you've guessed it - Gertrud Hübner. Her father, the carpenter Karl Hübner, had founded a furniture shop in Berlin in 1908.

The company celebrates "100 years of Möbel Hübner" in 2008. Nowadays, the shop is run by a young man called Albert Türklitz and Möbel Hübner's welcoming slogan "Ich soll sie schön grüssen" ("I should greet you ..."), accompanied by the raised green hat logo, has now become a popular saying in Berlin. Before moving on, we should note that the Brandenburg city hall used to be located on Neustädtischer Markt and the oversized statue of the sword-wielding knight Roland used to stand in front of the city hall. The statue was created in 1474 as a symbol of the city charter. During the Second World War the people of Brandenburg hid the stone statue in a barn to protect it from the bombing. The new city hall on Neustädtischer Markt was destroyed by a bomb, thus the Roland statue has stood in front of the old city hall (9) since 1946.

Berlin had a copy of the Roland statue made in 1908 - perhaps in an attempt to draw attention to the origin of the metropolis. After all, the city on the river Spree has the "cradle of the March" to thank for its municipal charter. Thus Roland's twin brother stands in front of the Märkisches Museum in Berlin and exemplifies the numerous connections between Berlin and Brandenburg which go back a very long way. Every year at Whitsun, the people of Brandenburg celebrate the "Roland Festival" with a huge and largely unique historical pageant. In addition, an increasing number of runners take part in the 70-kilometre-long "Roland Run - from the copy to the original". Those who complete the race at the original Roland in Brandenburg are treated to a medieval banquet.