I'm pretty sure they do! At least we have him in Germany. Here he's called "Meister Propper". Maybe there he is "Signore Pulito"?

Great shot! But this would be nothing for me... When it comes to heights, dusting the ceiling fans while standing on a household ladder already gives me the ultimate thrill!

Yep, that's original tile. Greek revival style.

This kind of ceiling is called a "Prussian Vault" or "Berlin Vault", and was pretty popular between 1890 and 1930, sometimes until the 1950s. It was mostly used in places where wooden ceilings would rot away - like basements - or where heavy-duty ceilings were needed. I have seen many basements in my home area - Upper Franconia, near Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany - and about 90% of the houses I have seen dating back to the era stated above have this type of vaults in their basements.

Ahh... totally disgusting plastic lamp shades. The Spirit of Bitterfeld. Some parts of the DDR will just live on forever.....

Nope, the ivy won't kill the trees. It just grows there, but the growth kinda slows down after some while, probably due to winter frost.

Nope, the stucco decor is original. The brickwork is not made for beauty, it's just a building material, and was covered with stucco that resembles an neo-renaissance sandstone facade. I personally think it needs the stucco. Without it, it would have a very industrial touch.

Well, my friends, let a true European (me <---) translate for you: In the left lower corner we've got an "oh yeeeh!" and an "I 'love' it". above there is an "MC". on the far corner wall we have an "TNT!! eb?!" (very conversational!), right next to an "tPZ", which could also be interpreted as an "tRZ". I can't make out what the boarded-up window says, except the "NO" on the far left. the pink masterpiece to the right is an "bR" or an "loR", with it's great informational value unfortunately interrupted by the end of the photo. Oh, what a shame! I hope you all are so deeply moved as I am by the great meaning of those literary stunning works of art. Oh, and the photo's nice, too, Motts.^^

The thing on the floor seems to be a single window sash. Maybe the transom window of the big window we can see here?

The arched window opens to the inside.... whereelse should it open to? To the outside doesn't make any sense to me, all the ones I know (and there are many, many many in Europe. Very popular design between 1840 and 1914 @ liza) open to the inside to let no rain in.

The setup with an elevator within a staircase is common indeed in Europe, because many of the old hotels used to be built without one. Later, when elevators became a common feature in hotels, they needed a place to install one: The staircases had often a space in the middle where one could look up to the ceiling of the highest floor, which is really a neat effect, but this was an actually unused place with access to every single floor. The perfect place for an elevator.

I've got to take it on the other.... uhm... stage?

Well, here in Germany, building a water tower around a smokestack was quite popular some time ago. At least you see it still quite often.

Well, I am from Bavaria, W. Germany, and a Penny Supermarket almost exactly looking like this opened in my town last year.

Tough challenges, yes. But we've got a good social system, where everybody can get something to eat. People who steal that metal to sell it for scrap are not the homeless and hungry, but those idiots who never will get enough while acting without any thinking.

Sure, no problem. They have put the 1915 Berlin Phone Book online recently.

Brrr, Weissbier, that's no good! I only drink dark beer, especially Kellerbier ("Basement Beer"), way better! And only my local brands here - I've got about 1200 to choose from, without leaving my region.

Swinging in windows are still the normal type of windows here, especially because almost all modern buildings have roll-down shutters.

AVIA is an oil company from Switzerland, we still have plenty of their gas stations here in Germany.

I've got to correct: It's rather a 30-car garage, so grab some EMWs and Chaikas, too.

Nice! A remote palatial estate with lots of room, LUSH greenery and a 9 car garage for all your favourite Wartburgs, Moskvitchs, Tatras and Sachsenrings!

The letters on the building (Sternen Bunker) look absolutely like Nazi style, so I assume it was built in the 30's. Having bunkers was normal on airfields back then; so it was built for WW2.

Seems to be the 50's style double pane windows, with the one pane attached to the other. You can open the attached pane for cleaning the room between both panes. We used to have these windows everywhere, but normally in different shapes.

Well, replacing the tyre depends on the tyre use. When there is no big difference to a new tyre, you only have to replace the damaged tyre (e.g. after cutting it up when hiiting the curb - stupid cat!).

Is this an Aldi? To me it rather looks like a Penny supermarket!