the transformation of things

October 23, 2014


In the west of Berlin, amidst the Grunewald is the Teufelsberg, a man-made mountain. Or rather women-made, since it were the Trümmerfrauen (literally translated ruins women), who piled up the debris of post-World War II Berlin up to a 120 m high mountain. And on top of this mountain there is a relict of another war: a now abandoned listening station that was built by the British and the Americans in the Cold War.

Today this place is slowly decaying. But it's not abandoned. You can book tours and visit it. And there are some artists living and working there, too. I didn't see many people while visiting, but every now and then I heard the sound of a spray, creaky music from a radio transistor or the sound of a hammer.

The acoustics in the radar dome on top of the tower, that was once made to hear everything that was transmitted as far as to Moscow, is overwhelming. Every word whirls like thunder inside the dome. When I visited this place there was a guitar player sitting in the middle of the dome, under two impressive larger-than-life figures of a street artist, humming and playing his guitar absorbed in his music. A somehow surreal scene over the roofs of Berlin in a place that was once strictly forbidden to the people.

 It has a strangely calming, almost soothing atmosphere, this transformed place.












































I booked this tour via go2know - they organise phototours in lost places, and they do a fantastic job! Thank you, guys!

5 comments:

  1. ich finde es richtig schön + interessant, dass du über diesen platz berichtest. als nicht-berlinerin war ich bis jetzt leider nur zwei mal dort,
    aber nach deinen worten + bildern werde ich mir den ort auf jeden fall merken

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  2. Hauntingly beautiful....Can't you must hear the echoes of voice past? Thank you for sharing.

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  3. wow, looks fantastic. and i have to check their webpage!!!

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