GO: All along the watchtower

2009/11/07

SANTHA OORJITHAM

As Germany prepares for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, SANTHA OORJITHAM visits three sites along its route — and finds three very different moods.

A GRIM memorial. A place of hope. And an unexpectedly bohemian lifestyle.

That’s what my sister and I found recently at three stops along what used to be the 167.8-kilometre wall separating East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from West Berlin.

The Berlin Wall Memorial at Bernauer Strasse (near the Bernauer Strasse station on the U-8 elevated rail line) marks the former border between east and west. The facades of the apartment buildings on the East Berlin side there formed the boundary.

Over 2.6 million people had fled the GDR before it erected a barrier with barbed wire, wooden barricades and other materials in August, 1961 to stem the flow. But people continued to leap from windows in these apartments on Bernauer Strasse into West Berlin, until the blocks were sealed up.

More than 150 people died trying to escape. Over the years, the barrier evolved into inner and outer concrete walls with watchtowers and armed patrols.

And the “no man’s land” between the walls kept expanding. To live in the border area, you needed special authorisation, explained Berliner Jan Kretzschmar, who acted as our guide.

“To work in that area, you had to register with the police. The Stasi (the East German secret police) regularly inspected the attics and cellars and filed reports.” Admission to the memorial (www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de) is free. Two outdoor sites showing the façade and the no man’s land are open day and night and you can get a better perspective from the viewing platform at the memorial.

Its permanent exhibition has information (in both German and English) about the building of the Wall, including TV footage.

Listening stations play GDR propaganda songs, as well as radio clips on the escape attempts and first deaths. And 1990 movie with English subtitles, Mauerflug, traces the route of the Wall from a plane flying 50 metres above it.

Northeast of the memorial, the wasteland between the border walls is now Mauerpark, the Berlin Wall park. “Beatnik” is my sister’s pronouncement as we appear to step back into the 1970s.

Murals on the remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall celebrate freedom

Children are flying kites or having their faces painted. Adults are picnicking, listening to the buskers and strolling through the flea market where anything and everything is on sale — second-hand furniture, books, CDs, licorice, honey and even Lego earrings, belts and keychains.

And in the amphitheatre, a rapper whips the crowd up into a protest against proposed apartment blocks to be built on the park (www.mauerpark-fertigstellen.de).

“No development of Mauerpark” reads one of the banners behind him as S Rock (his stage name, according to a member of his sound crew) shouts, “Ich versuche es” (“I will try”) and gets his audience to join in.

Later, he starts a rap into which he works a mention of whatever people bring him — a watch, a camera, a Euro bill.

The park is the green belt of Prenzlauer Berg, formerly part of the GDR. Before the 19th century, wine was grown here. Now yuppies sip it at cafes and cocktail bars in an area known as “non-mainstream”.

By the second half of the 19th century it had become a housing and industrial zone of Berlin. White-collar workers lived in apartments facing the street while side and rear buildings housed industrial workers. Small businesses and workshops opened up in the courtyards.

The neighbourhood suffered little damage during World War II but had become a slum by the 1960s. “People thought it was grey and old and dull,” said resident Aikaterini Dimitriou.

But in the 1970s, artists and intellectuals began to move in since rents were low.

After the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990, she recalled, “Everyone wanted to live here in these apartments with high ceilings, crown moulding and wooden floors — although a lot of them still have to be heated with wood fires!” With money from the Senate as well as tax deductions, owners refurbished while keeping the aesthetics of the old buildings. But the rent went up, too, and that’s when the yuppies came, in search of an alternative lifestyle — but bringing their Porsches and Mercedes with them. Since the old apartment blocks don’t come with garages, parking can be a problem.

In one of the youngest districts in Berlin, a quarter of the residents are aged 15 to 30. In fact, it’s fondly known as “Pregnant Burg” due to the high number of young families with children.

“It’s very lively, with all the bars and cafes, yet it’s safe with very little traffic and wide pavements,” points out Dimitriou.

South on the U1 line and opposite its Ostbahnhof station (which has such a wonderful gelati stand that we passed through that station more than once!) is the East Side Gallery. (Special report and video on www.nst.com.my) In 1990, 118 artists from 21 countries converged on this remaining section of the Wall, billed as the world’s largest open air gallery.

One side of the wall faces the River Spree, which used to be patrolled by boats. On the other is the road used by GDR state officials and their guests on their way to the airport or downtown.

Now this 1.3-kilometre stretch, and even some of the lampposts and part of the sidewalk, are covered by 105 murals with messages about freedom, human rights and openness.

Perhaps the work a group of Tatar artists sums up the euphoria best, saying “Wir sind ein Volk”. (“We are one people.”) On Nov 9, celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall will culminate in front of the Brandenburg Gate. A line of giant dominoes, decorated by the city’s schoolchildren, will mark the former border.

Fireworks will be set off as the line of dominoes falls, followed by an open-air concert.

Five experiences
for your senses

A weekend feast in the park, Mauerpark in northeast Berlin is a feast for all the senses on the weekend.
It’s just a short stroll from the Eberswalder Strasse station on the city’s U-2 elevated rail line. What used to be “no man’s land” between East and West Berlin is now where those who prefer an alternative lifestyle hang out.

Taste
In this “middle-class bohemian” neighbourhood, naturally vendors offer organic ice cream, veggie burgers and corn on the cob. But mainstreamers can still find their fried bratwurst.

Touch
Within the flea market, typical German beach bars (some sand, some beach umbrellas, a bar and voila!) offer a chance to walk barefoot in the sand. A wooden climbing frame at the far end of the park is a hands-on experience for children and the young-at-heart — and a chance to work off that ice cream and bratwurst.

Sight
Jugglers show off their skill with a variety of objects — which are on sale. There are unicyclists, too.

Sound
A group of buskers in the park provide competition for rapper S Rock (see main story). When there’s no performance in the amphitheatre, karaoke is on offer.

Smell
In a shady corner of the park, Turkish families are grilling their weekend barbecue. At the flea market, a stall selling art and crafts from India is burning incense. And is that marijuana smoke drifting on the air? (Not on sale, but puffed by passers-by?)

Good value, by German standards

On a Saturday or Sunday, do what the natives of the former East German territory of Prenzlauer Berg do.
Sleep in late and anytime after 11am, stroll down for a leisurely brunch at a sidewalk café.
Take your pick of cuisines: Italian? Indian? Japanese? Vietnamese? Greek? Mexican? Thai? Turkish? Russian? African? Or perhaps something closer to home like Bavarian?
Aikaterini Dimitriou, who lives in the neighbourhood, took us to Le Gavroche (named after the street urchin in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables) at Oderberger Strasse 22, where we indulged in an all-you-can-eat buffet for ?10.30.
That includes coffee or tea and freshly squeezed orange juice. Allow plenty of time for the drinks as they’re a little under-staffed, considering how popular the restaurant is.
At a griddle in front of the restaurant, a Frenchman prepares either one savoury buckwheat galette or two crepes for you—which you “buy” with wooden tokens provided by the waiter. I chose to have an egg and cheese on my galette and my sister had sugar and lemon juice on her crepes.
The buffet is a generous spread including pasta, cold cuts and cheeses, salads, pastries and fruit.
Prenzlauer Berg is also home of the Berlin’s famous “curry wurst”, served up by the Konnopke snack stall under the viaduct of the Eberswalder Strasse station on the U2 elevated rail line.
Our host Dimitriou praises the waffles, crepes and
ice–cream at Kauf Dich Glücklich (“Buy Yourself Happy”!), also on Oderberger Strasse, which sells knick-knacks and second-hand furniture too.
And she highly recommends nearby Hüftgold which literally means “thigh gold”. They’re honest about the calorie content of their dishes!
They’ve planted their own garden and serve their coffee with organic milk. “It’s coffee that looks like coffee, and not like it came out of a machine,” declares Dimitriou.