Teufelsberg (Devil’s Mountain)

The name Teufelsberg, ‘Devil’s Mountain,’ is a misnomer all around. The Berliner-beloved hill on the city’s western edge is neither a mountain, nor should it be blamed on some demon. Teufelsberg should be called, “Humanity Heap.” That mound of dirt is owned by us.

The hill is perhaps best known for its Cold War spy history–the former CIA listening post perched  on top–but the creepy spook ruin  is only the bright cherry donning the whipped-cream-chocolate-fudge-triple-chunk History Sunday. Teufelsberg’s gooey history reveals itself in layers.

Naming Squares after artists, humanitarians, revolutionaries and…Ronald Reagan.

Saefkow was a German commie who plotted underground in Nazi Germany to sabotage and undermine the regime. After trying unsuccessfully to assassinate Hitler with yet another cliché briefcase bomb (at that point, Hitler had to be leery toward anyone with a briefcase, duh) he was arrested and executed.

One of the many revolutionaries the GDR named things after. And top it all off, the square even got to keep the name after the wall fell.

An open letter to Detroit from a confessed Ruin Pornographer

First of all, People of Detroit, take a pill and calm down. You seem upset. We Ok? Ok.

While I have never visited you specifically, Dear Detroit, I feel accused for what I do in Berlin: take pictures of the city’s ruins. Ruin Porn is your name for my fetish, I learned recently.

Ruin Porn…I guess then that makes me a Ruin Pornographer.

The more I say it actually…it does have a certain ring.

But name-calling and fighting each other is not needed at this point…we have greater problems at hand. Dragons.

Yes, Dragons.

Color in a Plattenbau world part II

Give an Ossi paint….and watch out, boy.  Geez.

I have a theory…and let me say first, the theory is pretty offensive, really–it belittles the struggle of hundreds of thousands oppressed by secret police and living behind a barbed-wire and machinegun-rife wall finally saying, enough is enough, and standing up to fight for their human rights and taking the chance to tell the government to go fuck itself to the point of toppling said corrupt government, and that nearly bloodlessly–but hey, what theory doesn’t piss someone off, right? 

Color in a Plattenbau world

The word isn’t found in the Germany dictionary I currently possess, and I have met numerous West Germans unfamiliar with the term… yet, ask any Ossi and they will know.

Most people (most Westerners, Ossis don’t count as real people, at least according to Pop culture),  if familiar with the buildings, harbor unfavorable opinions of the cheaply made, usually very square and formerly very drab blocks of habitable concrete.

Plattenbau (roughly, ‘flat-building’) is the name for the pre-fab apartment houses typical to the ex-Warsaw Pact countries.

They are derided by comedians and laughed at by tourists, and seen as a sort of metaphor of the cheap and crumbling GDR communism.

Indeed, “Plattenbau” is rarely said lovingly.

‘Trashy-hip’ Tempelhof Airport

Every investor in the city wants a piece of Templehof, if they could get it. Alas, the rather large area, pretty much smack dab in the middle of the city, may never be touched.

Many many Berliners have express the opinion the area should be left as it is: A giant pubic park. Perhaps the word “park” is a bit flattering. It’s a derelict space with a couple tennis courts and a path or two.

There is a good argument for leaving at least something of the field. Operation Vittles among other things.

The dangers of unguarded wandering

What happened is  not uncommon in Berlin. It was my fault, really, wandering aimlessly as I was. Should have been more careful.

I had read about these places in the newspaper, had been warned by friends, and there I was.  In that moment…confronted by the situation, I did what any good American would do.

I switched my camera to automatic, gritted my teeth and ran up the middle.

Fighting over dead people

The dirt crunched beneath my shoes as I walked off the noisy street and through the gate into the quiet cemetery. Trying to take a leisurely stroll around the St. Georgen and St. Petri cemeteries a few blocks away from our apartment.

The stroll became a brisk walk with lots of rubbing and blowing of hands and stomping of feet.

The 20th anno of German Reunification

“Unified cola land,” was the title of Berlin journalist Lothar Heinke’s article from today’s Tagesspeigel online, one of Berlin’s more mainstream newspapers. “Look, something great has been achieved,” he writes in the editorial, phrased as if out of a GDR speech. “the people are celebrating their twenty years together, unified….”

A Wee Bit of Odd ramblings ‘Ones in a Row’

Rabbit Park hasn’t changed much since we left. The youth still play football in the open fields and kids scream and shout on the playgrounds. Dogs run unleashed chasing balls and Frisbees and each other.