Berlin - Friedrichshain Graffitti, Pt3

Berlin - Friedrichshain Graffitti, Pt2

Berlin - Friedrichshain Graffitti, Pt1

Berlin - East Side Gallery

If you want to see some remains of the Berlin Wall, go and visit the East Side Gallery on the banks of the River Spree in Friedrichshain.

Berlin - The World of Squatters

In Rigaer Straße in Berlin Friedrichshain people squat in houses.
Their proclamation "we stay here" is understandable, as the rents are rising and people can´t afford living anymore.
For those of you who understand the German language, here is a lecture about the reasons for the situation. 

Berlin - RAW Tempel

The RAW-tempel e.V. on Revaler Straße in Friedrichshain is an open, non-profit organisation of creative professionals and citizens of Berlin. There are roundabout 60 projects where artists, unemployed and young people can join together.

Berlin - Oberbaum Brücke

The Oberbaum Brücke crosses the River Spree and connects Kreuzberg with Friedrichshain.

Berlin - Tacheles, Graffitti

Since this house was ready in 1908 it has experienced loads of different uses. Read about it´s history here. In opposite to what the Wikipedia article says, the Art House "Tacheles" was closed in September 2012. Now it is finally emptied and abandoned, only some graffitti is still to be seen outside.
Here they are.

Berlin - Das Brandenburger Tor

The first time I visited Germany´s most famous landmark Brandenburger Tor must have been in 1978. I remember sitting on a bench on the street "Unter den Linden", still East Berlin at that time. Ten years ago one was allowed to drive by car through the gate, what I did. Today it is a place only used by tourists and some people are earning their income through letting the tourists take pictures of them dressed as soldiers.

Berlin - Hauptbahnhof (Main Station)

After the German reunification in 1990 a new main station was planned to be built. All since then ill will and scandals accompanies it´s history. So is it close to the government area, in the midst of an empty space where no people are living. It was planned for a city with 6 million whereas Berlin only has 3,4 million inhabitants. The opening was in 2006, 6 years later and 14 times more expensive as planned. On the date of opening a school kid stabbed 37 visitors with a knife, the first of the victims had HIV, and in 2007 one big steel part of the glass roof blew down during a storm.
I took a look and was astonished - the station is still a building site, the glass houses has no inhabitants or shops and the place is nearly empty, no travellers in the underground station or on the platforms, it was really creepy :)

Berlin - Kreuzberg Graffitti, Pt2

Berlin - Kreuzberg Graffitti, Pt1

Berlin - Kreuzberg

I heard about Kreuzberg for the first time in the 1980ies. It was the most poor quarter of West-Berlin. Migrants, workers and students shared the area and developed a cultural community. A lot of my friends went to live there, in those years it was the only way for male persons to avoid the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of Germany.
Today the most of the squatted houses are cleared and renovated, the original inhabitants can´t afford the rents, some of them are living in a slum made of tents and wooden boards in the Cuvrystraße.

Berlin - Stadtmitte

I once again stepped through the secret door - I had to visit the embassy in Berlin.
One of my friends allowed me to sleep on his setee, so I stayed for three days.
After this first post most of the following posts will be about graffitti in Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain - sorry for my visitors who thinks it´s only vandalism - I adore this art :)

Berlin - old postcards

After all those years of going to flea markets my collection of postcards has grown quite big :) On the first day of this year I want to present all my cards from Berlin. All of them are older as I fancy 50ies to 70ies style. Enjoy watching!

Marlene Dietrich - Ich Hab Noch Einen Koffer In Berlin (1960)