“East or West?” the taxi driver asks in the course of our conversation while driving from Mitte to Kreuzberg. It goes without saying that I am also a Berliner by birth, like him. We talk about the resurrection of the Kurfürsten Damm and the crime on Kottbusser Tor, about the inadequate rents in the city center, and about those who have moved to Berlin, both new and old. “Uh, both,” I reply, biting my tongue at the same time. I realize what’s coming now. “Well, both doesn’t work” he corrects me, wise-assed. “Where did you go to school?” I could just lie and spare ourselves further questions. But we are right there, so I say: “In the West, but we lived in the East. That was before the fall of the Wall. “Now he is quite confused. I know the reaction. Anyone who grew up in Berlin in the 80s is either from the West or the East of Berlin. Only I can not answer this question clearly, because between 1986 and 1990 I lived in East Berlin, but went to school in West Berlin. I crossed the border daily in the Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears), as the commute to my school in West Berlin was called. I am neither Ossi nor Wessi, rather maybe Wossi: a child of both sides. I am familiar with the gray East with its bullet holes in the walls of the houses, the empty shelves in supermarkets, and the cozy East German atmosphere.
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by Suz | Stories
Wings of Desire
The Rainer Werner Fassbinder exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau got us thinking of all the important and inspiring films set in Berlin. In a subversive metropolis that has seen more changes than anywhere in Western Europe over the last 150 years, many filmmakers have made movies as unmistakable love letters to Berlin. With no lack of deranged tentacle sex, drug abuse and political struggle, we’ve rounded up our favorite films with Berlin playing a major role. Spanning close to 9 decades, our list takes you on a tour of Berlin at different historical points, through all the luxury and glamour, the horror and disillusion. From German Expressionism to German New Wave, click on to see which films made the cut.
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by Skylar | Movies
I don’t know what’s up with us but lately we are feeling so nostalgic and enjoy sharing some more historic things about our beloved Berlin, may it be about the Berlin wall, the post-war period or the wild 80s of West Berlin. Today we have yet another look into the 80s, but this time of the East part of Berlin. We found this interesting propaganda film from the GDR that shows the capital of the country in all its glory. It has tons of footage of the same places that we cross every day, but in an entirely different look back then. If you ignore the exaggerations and glorifications from the speaker this is actually a really nice document of time that gives you a good impression of how Berlin looked at the time (even if it was maybe only for the moment of filming) and how the GDR would have liked to be seen by the people. The video and some of my favorite stills after the jump!
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by Frank | Videos
