Berlin Archives - Page 2 of 8

Posts Tagged ‘Berlin’

BER – Berlin’s Stillborn Baby?

Monday, December 17th, 2018

“I am convinced that BER will be put into operation in October 2020,” Engelbert Luetke-Daldrup recently said of the troubled Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport. Daldrup became chief executive of the beleaguered airport in March 2017.

So far, the grand opening was postponed eight times. Originally slated to open in 2011, poor planning and subcontracting, recurring changes in design, flawed construction plans, shoddy workmanship, major technical problems, corruption and numerous management changes are only part of the problem. BER is a joint project of the city-state of Berlin, the regional government of the State of Brandenburg and the Federal government of Germany. Too many inexperienced cooks stoking the fire are the other part of the trouble.

Opening of BER delayed eight times

Planning for BER began after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The newly-reunified capital of Germany clearly needed an airport with greater capacity than its existing Tegel Airport (in former West Berlin) and Schoenefeld Airport (in former East Berlin) combined. Authorities decided to replace the two existing airports with the new International Airport BER. Groundbreaking took place in 2006. Completion was slated for 2011. What happened then is almost comical. The opening of BER was postponed eight times for a myriad of reasons: Faulty fire and smoke alarm systems, escalator issues, too few check-in counters and baggage reclaim carousels, lights that could not be switched off, and many other issues.

2011 – Opening postponed to 2012.

2012 – Opening postponed to March 2013, then October 2013

2013 – Opening postponed to 2014.

2014 – Opening postponed to 2016, maybe 2017 or 2018.

2016 – Opening postponed to 2017 or 2018.

2017 – Opening postponed to 2018, 2019 or possibly 2020.

2018 – Opening postponed to 2020.

Ongoing Maintenance of unfinished BER

Every month the airport just sits there unused, it racks up millions of euros in maintenance and upkeep costs. The unfinished BER has to be heated, lit and maintained. Construction workers have to be paid. Empty trains have to run into the airport station every day to keep it ventilated. In early 2018, all 750 arrival and departure monitors had to be replaced. They had reached the end of their service life, having been switched on for six years, even though the airport was closed.

BER is not big enough

Sceptics believe that even if the airport opens on time, it will immediately face a problem: it’s not big enough. The German capital is now the second most heavily populated city in Europe after London, which is served by six international airports. BER’s engineering advisor Dieter Faulenbach da Costa cautions that more people than previously expected will be moving through the main terminal. More passengers will arrive through the railway station in the basement. Smoke and fire emergency systems will have to be adjusted once again to accommodate the increase. The adjustments will take additional time, making a 2020 opening unlikely.

BER – Berlin-Brandenburg Airport still unfinished in 2018. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Ditch BER and start over?

Faulenbach da Costa believes that BER was too small from the beginning, but the agencies wanted to save money. Even airport CEO Luetke-Daldrup admits that BER will not be able to handle more than 33 million passengers in 2020. And that number is equal to the capacity of Berlin’s two existing airports, Tegel and Schoenefeld, both of which are already bursting at the seams. As it stands, the expected cost to build BER will be 3.5 times the initial budget. A Lufthansa executive predicts that BER will never open. It may just turn out to be Berlin’s stillborn baby.

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

Tags: BER, Berlin, Berlin-Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport, Dieter Faulenbach da Costa, Engelbert Luetke-Daldrup, Germany, Schoenefeld Airport, Tegel Airport
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on BER – Berlin’s Stillborn Baby?

Berlin’s Lietzensee – Escape the Everyday

Monday, October 29th, 2018

The Lietzensee is a small hourglass-shaped lake, located in the heart of Berlin, not far from the radio tower and the exhibition grounds. It is my favorite stop-by place when I am in Berlin and want a reprieve from the city’s hustle and bustle or spend an entire afternoon on a secluded park bench watching the world go by.

The Lietzensee is surrounded by a beautifully maintained park, created by garden director Erwin Barth in 1918-1920. The park’s southwest and northeast segments form roughly a figure eight, sinched at its center by the Neue Kantstrasse, an embankment road that divides the lake in two. Since 1954 the two lake halves are surrounded by parkland and connected by an underpass and a canal.

View of the southern half of Lietzensee with the Great Lietzensee Cascade in the background. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2014. www.walled-in-berlin.com

The southern half of the Lietzensee Park is quiet and invites introspection. The Great Lietzensee Cascade splashes from the park’s southernmost entrance. Meandering paths weave their way along the shore past maple, sycamore and willow trees until they reach a tunnel, which leads to the northern half of the park. There you find activities for all ages. There is a children’s playground, grassy fields for sun worshippers and ball players, exercise equipment for seniors, lots of benches and best of all, the popular “Bootshaus Stella.” This is an idyllic café and biergarten with a sun terrace from which to watch the swans, ducks and grebes float by.

History of the Lietzensee and its surrounding park

The Lietzensee is the northernmost lake of a chain of lakes formed during the ice ages. It is completely fed by groundwater and drains through pipes into the River Spree. Since it does not have any inflow, aeration devices keep its water from becoming stagnant. The history of the park goes back almost 200 years. Once entirely surrounded by woods, the Lietzensee Park belonged to the Benedictine convent of St. Mary. The nuns fished in the lake. When Lieutenant-General Job von Witzleben, an army officer, was rewarded 20,000 thalers by King Friedrich Wilhelm III in 1823, he used the money to acquire the parkland and constructed a summer residence for his wife and eight children. After his death in 1837, the family sold the property. At the turn of the century, a developer built prestigious multi-family residences along the water’s edge. He also opened the lake and park to the public. In 1910, the then city of Charlottenburg (now a district of Berlin) purchased the Lietzensee Park.

How the Lietzensee got its name

The name Lietzensee derives from the village Lietzow or Luetzow, which was incorporated in 1719 into the former city of Charlottenburg. Lietzow or Luetzow are derived from the Slavic word luccina, which means “swamp“ or “ pool.“ Although the lake reaches a depth of 13 feet now, there were times in the 1800s when it was only one foot deep.

Tags: Berlin, Bootshaus Stella, Erwin Barth, Great Lietzensee Cascade, Job von Witzleben, Lietzensee, Lietzow, Luetzow
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Berlin’s Lietzensee – Escape the Everyday

Berlin’s former Nazi Prison Papestrasse

Monday, July 9th, 2018

The existence of Berlin’s former Nazi Prison Papestrasse is not well known, yet it is the only surviving historical site of early Nazi terror in the city. The former prison is located in General-Pape-Strasse in the Tempelhof district of the city. Between March 1933 and December 1933, shortly after Hitler had come to power, 100 such prisons were established throughout Germany. They were known as detention centers and were forerunners of the heinous Nazi concentration camps that followed.

Former Nazi Prison Papestrasse in Berlin – now a Memorial. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

In the Nazi Prison Papestrasse, the Field Police division of the Nazi Sturm Abteilung (Storm Troopers) – the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party – interrogated and tortured political opponents, Jews and other groups persecuted by the Nazi regime. Over the course of the nine months that the center was in operation, over 2000 people were imprisoned in its cellars. At least 30 lost their lives.

Following World War II, the role the building had played during the war fell into oblivion. It was not until 1981 that area residents began to recall its function during contemporary eyewitness interviews. Following much research, the building, which had largely been spared from the destruction of the war, became a Memorial site in 2003 and opened to the public in 2011.

Conditions in the Nazi Prison Papestrasse

The Field Police utilized the building’s gloomy basement rooms as prison cells and the upper floors as offices and interrogation rooms. Sanitary conditions in the prison were poor. The supply of food and water was inadequate and irregular. The cells were unheated. The floor was partly covered with straw. Prisoners either had to stand or sit on the floor because cots were reserved for seriously injured prisoners. Brutal interrogations were a regular part of detention. Detainees were beaten, tortured and raped. Detentions lasted anywhere from a few days to several weeks or months.

Prison cell in the former Nazi Prison Papestrasse, Berlin. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Use of the building prior to becoming the Nazi Prison Papestrasse

In the year 1841, the railway line between Berlin and Jueterbog, a small town south of Berlin, had opened. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to 1871, railways became important to Prussian Railway Regiments because they could transport soldiers and supplies much faster and more efficiently. That prompted the Prussian military to build two new complexes of barracks along General-Pape-Strasse to be used as utility buildings. But because of Germany’s defeat in World War I and the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, the regiments were soon dissolved. Although the buildings remained in state hands, public and private tenants moved in. Then, in 1933, about 180 Field Police moved into one of the former barracks to transform the building into the Nazi Prison Papestrasse.

Papestrasse Memorial

The Papestrasse Memorial is open to the public free of charge. For the most part, the prison cells are still in their original condition. Panels on the walls of the Nazi Prison Papestrasse document the history of the Nazi party. Wall graffiti created by the prisoners is still visible today.

Tags: Adolf Hitler, Berlin, Nazi concentration camps, Nazi Prison Papestrasse Memorial, Nazi Storm Troopers, Treaty of Versailles
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Berlin’s former Nazi Prison Papestrasse

How Adolf Hitler came to power

Monday, July 2nd, 2018

Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany during the Nazi period, came to power by bullying his way into office. He intimidated his opponents and promised the populace to make Germany powerful and proud again. The key government leaders already in office were accustomed to the democratic procedures of the Weimar Republic and unable to stand up to Hitler’s confrontational style. They meekly acquiesced while the majority of the population chose to look past some of Hitler’s misguided policies because he also promised to turn around the country’s dismal economic conditions, a result of the harsh peace terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. They focused on Hitler’s immediate promises rather than his long-term agenda.

Adolf Hitler came to power by bullying his way into office. www.walled-in-berlin.com

How Adolf Hitler eliminated political opponents

The appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the German Reich on 30 January 1933 marked the end of the Weimar Republic and of democracy in Germany. Since the Nazis had achieved only below average results in the 1932 elections in Berlin – the capital of Germany and center of German political power – it was of utmost importance to Adolf Hitler to gain full control in the city. While his people had pursued their aims primarily by means of rowdy propaganda and street violence prior to his appointment, as Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler took full advantage of all means of state power he had at his disposal. His aim was to eliminate political opponents and establish himself as a dictator.

Only two days after Adolf Hitler had been appointed Chancellor, the elderly Reich President Paul von Hindenburg was persuaded to dissolve the Reichstag (Parliament). In protest, the Communist Party called for a general strike. Upon Hitler’s urging, Hindenburg signed an emergency decree, which stipulated that demonstrations and pamphlets of political opponents would be forbidden. A rapid extension of the state police followed. Their purpose was to take action against “enemies of the state” with firearms.

With the Reichstag Fire Decree Adolf Hitler suspended civil liberties

On 27 February 1933, barely a month after Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor, the Reichstag chambers went up in flames. The Nazi government quickly blamed the fire on a communist coup and authorized another emergency law. It was called the Reichstag Fire Decree and was enacted the very next day for “the protection of the people and state.” The emergency decree suspended most of the civil liberties set forth in the Weimar Constitution, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right of public assembly, the secrecy of the post and telephone service, and it removed all restraints on police investigations. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007888 In other words, the decree provided the legal basis for the persecution of opponents of the regime. No warrant or judicial order was required, there was no right of appeal, and the arrests went into effect for an indefinite period of time. The number of people arrested rose abruptly after the Reichstag fire. Detention centers, such as the Nazi Prison Papestrasse were installed throughout the city and the country.

With the Enabling Act Adolf Hitler became a dictator

Less than a month later, on the heels of the Reichstag Fire Decree, Adolf Hitler passed another emergency law: the “Enabling Act” (Ermaechtigungsgesetz). It gave Hitler the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag. Together the two emergency laws abolished most civil liberties and transformed Hitler’s government into a legal dictatorship. The state of emergency remained in force until the end of the war in 1945. The climate of fear that spread throughout the country thwarted many potential attempts at resistance.

Tags: Adolf Hitler, Berlin, Enabling Act, Ermaechtigungsgesetz, Nazi Prison Papestrasse, Paul von Hindenburg, Reichstag, Reichstag Fire Decree, Treaty of Versailles, Weimar Republic
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on How Adolf Hitler came to power

Haus der Kulturen der Welt showcases culture

Monday, June 11th, 2018

Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of the Cultures of the World) is one of the city’s modern architectural landmarks. The building is located in the central district of Tiergarten and within walking distance of the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and the Chancellery. Since it is located beside the River Spree, it has its own pier so that visitors can also arrive by boat. The most striking feature of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt is its signature curved roof.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of the Cultures of the World) in Berlin-Tiergarten. Photo © J Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

From Congress Hall to Haus der Kulturen der Welt

The landmark building was erected for the 1957 International Architecture Exhibition in Berlin (Internationale Bauausstellung) and initially named Kongresshalle (Congress Hall). This gift from the United States to Germany was designed by U.S. architect Hugh Stubbins, Jr. as a symbol of friendship between the United States and Germany and as a forum for free expression. Stubbins likened the curved roof to symbolic wings and the promise that there would be “no restrictions on the freedom of intellectual work”. Because of its gravity-defying curved roof, Berliners soon dubbed the building “pregnant oyster.”

In 1980, part of the Congress Hall’s signature roof collapsed, killing one and injuring numerous others. The building reopened in 1987, reconstructed with additional supports and just in time for the 750-year anniversary of the founding of the city of Berlin. Two years later, the Kongresshalle was renamed Haus der Kulturen der Welt and proffered a significantly different venue.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt furthers international contemporary art

Since its reopening, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt has showcased culture from all over the world, with special focus on non-European cultures and societies. It brings together visual arts, music, author readings, theater, dance, film and digital media and creates themed exhibitions, events and international conferences. In cooperation with musicians, media professionals and artists, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt offers workshops in radio, documentary film, photography, music and drawing throughout the year. The Transmediale, a media art festival, takes place annually and the Berlin Documentary Forum takes place every two years.

Butterfly Sculpture in front of Haus der Kulturen der Welt

A massive polished bronze sculpture stands in the middle of a large reflecting pool in front of building. British artist Henry Moore created the 8-ton art piece and entitled it, “Large Divided Oval: Butterfly”. The sculpture was installed in 1987 when the hall reopened.

Carillon beside the Haus der Kulturen der Welt

When the original Congress Hall was restored for Berlin’s 750-year anniversary, a 138-foot bell tower was constructed beside it. The granite carillon was a gift from the Daimler-Benz company. With 68 bells, it is the fourth-largest carillon in the world. Every Sunday at 3 p.m. during the summer and on many public holidays, Berlin carillonneur, Jeffrey Bossin, plays live concerts with his fists and feet on a baton-and-pedal keyboard. Concerts are free to the public.

Tags: Berlin, Berlin Documentary Forum, Berlin landmark, Carillon, Congress Hall, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Henry Moore, House of the Cultures of the World, Hugh Stubbins, International, International Architecture Exhibition, Jeffrey Bossin, Jr., Kongresshalle, Transmediale
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Haus der Kulturen der Welt showcases culture

Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport rooted in change

Monday, May 14th, 2018

Constructed between 1936 and 1941, British architect Norman Foster dubbed Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport the “Mother of all Airports” because it introduced so many groundbreaking new features, which later were copied around the world.

In 1948/49, Tempelhof Airport was crucial to the Berlin Airlift. Following World War II, US, British, French, and Soviet military forces occupied Germany and divided it into four occupation zones. Berlin ended up 100 miles inside the Soviet-controlled occupation zone. When tension between the four Allies escalated, the Soviets blocked all road, rail and water access to West Berlin. The three western Allies responded by airlifting food, fuel and medical supplies to West Berlin. During the Berlin Blockade, Tempelhof Airport was used as the main takeoff and landing site. Some of the airlift pilots dropped candy for Berlin’s children from their planes. US Col. Gail Halvorsen was the originator of the humanitarian gesture.

Berlin girls with flowers for Col. Gail Halvorsen. Collage on display at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Berlin girl with flowers for Col. Gail Halvorsen. Collage on display at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport, Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tempelhof Airport during the US Occupation

In July 1945, the Red Army handed over Tempelhof Airport to the US forces. Following extensive repairs, the US Air Force turned it into a military base and constructed a radio tower for surveillance purposes. The Air Force also set up several training facilities, a shooting range, various function rooms, a bowling alley, a basketball court, a supermarket, a cinema and a disco area. At one point, 2,000 US military personnel were stationed at Tempelhof Airport. In 1951, US occupation forces released part of the airport for civil and cargo operations.

Tempelhof Airport reached its capacity

Tempelhof Airport’s capacity for civil operations was stretched to the limits by the 1960s. Following the construction of Tegel Airport in the French sector of the city in 1975, Tempelhof operations were suspended. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, Tempelhof Airport reopened for domestic flights on an “on and off” basis, then permanently ceased all operations in November 2008.

Closing of Tempelhof Airport

Despite the efforts of about 500 protesters and a majority vote in a referendum to keep it open, Tempelhof Airport officially closed on 30 October 2008. Three years later, Berlin’s city planners proposed development of low-income housing for 4,700 families, a large public library and commercial uses along the perimeter of the site, while promising to turn its center into a park. But locals remained unconvinced. Instead, they initiated the 2014 “100% Tempelhofer Feld” referendum. That initiative forced the City of Berlin to abandon its development plans and to keep Tempelhof Airport a giant park until 2024. Beyond that date, the airport’s future is unclear, although many Berliners would like to preserve its uniqueness. For now, kite surfers, rollerbladers, weekend gardeners, artists, cyclists, joggers, jugglers, baton twirlers and dancers have full use of the airfield, and events such as the Formula E races, horse racing and soccer are not uncommon.

Remembering Tempelhof Airport

During the 1960s, the height of the Cold War, I was employed by Lufthansa, German Airlines, and worked in their cargo section. Lufthansa was not permitted to fly into West Berlin at that time. Only US, British and French-registered airlines operating non-combat aircraft had landing privileges, and pilots were required to hold a passport of one of those three countries. That meant that Pan American, British Airways and Air France were permitted to fly into West Berlin while Lufthansa had agreements with those three carriers to transport its freight between West Berlin and West German airports.

My Lufthansa cargo office was once located in this hanger at Tempelhof Airport. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Lufthansa’s cargo offices were located in one of the large, covered airport hangers. During lunchtime, I usually headed for the cafeteria of the Berlin police department, located in the very building the police still leases today. It was in this building that I regularly rode the paternoster. If you have never been on one, you haven’t lived!

Tags: 100% Tempelhofer Feld, Allied occupation of Berlin, Berlin, Berlin Airlift, Berlin Blockade, Col. Gail Halvorsen, Lufthansa, mother of all airports, Tegel Airport, Tempelhof Airport, US Air Force
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport rooted in change

Mother of all Airports – Berlin Tempelhof

Monday, May 7th, 2018

British architect Norman Foster dubbed Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport the “Mother of all Airports” because it introduced so many innovative features, which later were copied around the world. The airport was built between 1936 and 1941 on the site of an existing, much smaller airport dating back to the German empire. Tempelhof Airport was designed by Ernst Sagebiel under Nazi direction. Planned in accordance with Hitler’s vision of Germania, it was built to impress. Its main building was once one of the largest structures in Europe.

Predecessor of the “Mother of all Airports”

The predecessor of Tempelhof Airport was constructed in several stages between 1923 and 1929. Its primary purpose was to test airships and balloons. Scientific weather forecasting was still in its infancy in the late 19th century, and previous observations had almost always been made from land. When in the late 1800s, a cooperative program between meteorology and aviation investigated the upper atmosphere with manned and unmanned balloons, the first manned, untethered test balloon was launched from the Tempelhof site. That was in 1891. Over the next few years, a total of 65 manned balloon flights were launched using 16 different balloons.

The “Mother of all Airports” was never finished

The buildings of the ‘Mother of all Airport” still stand today and are made of reinforced concrete with limestone façades. The main departure and arrival hall’s free cantilevered roof exceeds 1,000 yards in length. The hall’s floor-to-ceiling windows are designed to let in as much light as possible. But the airport’s most distinguishing feature is the curved roof that extends 130 feet over the tarmac. Almost a mile long, it protects passengers from the weather as they walk to and from planes. Tempelhof Airport’s physical appearance has not changed much during its 75-year existence with the exception that, unfortunately, many of the buildings are in poor condition.

Tempelhof Airport arrival and departure hall. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Despite having been erected to embody Nazi Germany’s greatness, the “Mother of all Airports” was never more than 80% complete. Hitler also wanted the airport roof to accommodate as many as 100,000 spectators at air shows and military parades. But the 13 staircase towers that were supposed to take onlookers to the roof, were never built. Likewise, Hitler had envisioned a giant stadium surrounding the airport complex with the potential of accommodating a million spectators. That plan did not come to pass either. In fact, the Nazis never even used the airport’s grand buildings for their intended purpose. That did not happen until after WWII. The Nazis used them to house military aircraft and weapon construction projects. Then, when bombs fell on Berlin during World War II, Tempelhof Airport served as a huge air-raid shelter. Its rooms contained beds, toilets, food, and other amenities and were filled with people. The paintings on some of the walls still hark back to those times.

Wall paintings in a WWII bomb shelter at Tempelhof Airport, the “Mother of all airports”. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

During the height of the refugee crises in 2015, airport buildings housed up to 3,000 refugees. Since then, most of them have been relocated. Today, the airport’s main tenant is the police, which has been renting space since 1951.

Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport’s, “Mother of all Airports” rooftop for spectator seating that was never completed. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: Berlin, Ernst Sabebiel, Hitler, mother of all airports, Norman Foster, Tempelhof Airport, test balloons
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Mother of all Airports – Berlin Tempelhof

Berlin’s integrated public transportation system

Monday, April 30th, 2018

Berlin, the capital and largest city in Germany, has a very efficient, well-integrated public transportation system. When, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the city’s Eastern and Western sections were reunited and turned into one big metropolis again, the newly reunified city was left without a shared public transportation system.

After East and West had experienced decades of conflicting political, economic and cultural approaches to urban development, it was difficult for Berliners to travel between the former eastern and western parts of the city.

City planners went to work, and 12 years later the revamped S-Bahn network (elevated rail) was completed. Together with the U-Bahn (underground rail) the two systems form a ring around and crisscross the city center and provide the backbone of Berlin’s integrated public transportation system. The two systems share the same fare structure but have different operators. The S-Bahn is operated by the S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, and the U-Bahn is run by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, the city’s public transit company. Trains, trams, buses and ferries connect to these two main public transportation systems and, of course, private cars, ferries, small cruise boats and bicycles co-exist.

Berlin’s Public Transportation System is frequent and affordable

The system is so comprehensive that private cars often become dispensable because car ownership and operation are expensive, parking opportunities scarce, and the use of private cars is restricted in the low-emission zone of central Berlin. Public transportation, on the other hand, is often the cheaper, quicker and more carbon-friendly alternative. Automobile-owning friends of mine often prefer to take public transportation to work and leave their car parked at the curb when they were lucky enough to find a parking spot close to home.

In contrast, the elevated rail runs every five minutes during peak hours and every ten minutes between peaks. The underground rail runs every two to five minutes during peak hours, every five minutes during the rest of the day and every ten minutes during evenings and on Sundays.

Berlin’s U-Bahn (underground rail) Buelowstrasse Station (elevated at this point) is part of the public transportation system. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

The biking alternative

The city’s flat terrain is ideal for cycling. According to recent studies, there are 7 bikes for every 10 Berliners. Men, women, children and seniors seem to be equally comfortable riding bikes in the downtown. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/berlin-a-bikers-paradise/ Bike racks are everywhere making bike-parking a snap. Bikes are considered a mode of transportation more or less on par with cars and subject to most of the same traffic regulations. Cycling in the wrong direction, running a red light, hurting a pedestrian in the pedestrian zone, talking on a cell phone while cycling, and cycling while under the influence of alcohol are all fined.

Tags: Berlin, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, biking alternative, public transportation system, S-Bahn (elevated rail), S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, U-Bahn (underground rail)
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Berlin’s integrated public transportation system

Empty Bookshelves – Book-Burning Memorial

Monday, April 23rd, 2018

The most unusual monument I have ever seen is the Book-Burning Memorial, called “Empty Bookshelves.” It is located in the Bebelplatz (formerly Opernplatz), a public square on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard in the center of Berlin, Germany. A glass plate, set into the cobblestones of the square, allows passers-by to peer into a sunken library. There are enough shelves in this underground library to hold 20,000 books, but the shelves are empty. https://www.visitberlin.de/en/book-burning-memorial-bebelplatz/.

“Empty Bookshelves” is the work of Micha Ullman and serves as a reminder that on 10 May 1933 twenty thousand so-called “un-German” books went up in flames in this spot under the direction of the Nazis. The inscription quotes 19^th century German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine’s words from his 1820 play “Almansor”: “Das war ein Vorspiel nur; dort wo man Buecher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen.” (That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately also burn people.)

“Empty Bookshelves” Book-Burning Memorial in the Bebelplatz in Berlin’s city center. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

How did the Berlin book-burning come about?

After World War I, many university students opposed the Weimar Republic http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/weimar-republic-can-democracy-be-too-democratic/ and found in National Socialism a way to express their political and social discontent. On 10 May 1933, the Nazi German Student Association and their professors hosted a book-burning in a nationwide “Action against the Un-German Spirit.” Students in as many as 34 other German university towns initiated book-burning ceremonies or marched in torchlight parades. They burnt the works of hundreds of independent authors, journalists, philosophers and academics. The books to be burnt were chosen according to blacklists and focused primarily on books written by Jewish, religious, anarchist, communist or pacifist authors, who were viewed as being subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. With the words, “No to decadence and moral corruption! Yes to decency and morality in family and state! I consign to the flames the writings of Heinrich Mann, Ernst Glaeser, Erich Kaestner…” Germany’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, tossed the first books into the fire. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005852. Other blacklisted authors included Berthold Brecht, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Heinrich Heine, Ernest Hemingway, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Helen Keller, Karl Marx, Leo Tolstoy and Kurt Tucholsky.

Other book-burnings

The 10 May 1933 book-burning under the Nazi regime is perhaps the most infamous one in history, but it was by no means the only book-burning during that time period. Years later, after having defeated Germany in 1945, the Allied occupation authorities in Germany drew up a list of over 30,000 titles. As part of the denazification program, they had millions of books confiscated and destroyed the following year. The books burnt ranged from simple school textbooks to poetry.

In the United States, German-Americans came under severe scrutiny when the US entered World War I in 1917. The American Defense Society urged Americans to burn German books and literature, and for a time, book-burning ceremonies became the rage in the United States. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/where-have-german-americans-gone/

Tags: Bebelplatz, Berlin, Book-burning, Empty Bookshelves, Heinrich Heine, Micha Ullmann, Nazi German Student Association, Nazism, Unter den Linden, Weimar Republic
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Empty Bookshelves – Book-Burning Memorial

Muckefuck – German for Coffee Substitute

Monday, March 5th, 2018

Muckefuck, pronounced “mook-a-fook” as in book, (not what you thought) is a colloquial German term for coffee substitute. Pronounced correctly, it’s a perfectly innocent word. In September 2011, Deutsche Welle, Germany’s public international broadcaster, listed Muckefuck in its language learning section as the new word of the week.

How did Muckefuck get its odd name?

The word, Muckefuck, is a relative newcomer to the German language. There are several theories as to how and when the term was first used. The most likely explanation dates back to the 18^th century. At that time, about one-third of Berlin’s population consisted of Huguenots who had fled France to avoid religious persecution. When King Frederick the Great, King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786, http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/frederick-the-great-shaped-modern-europe/ substantially raised taxes on coffee imports, Berlin’s Huguenots came up with an idea for a coffee substitute. They brewed roasted chicory roots along with a few coffee beans and ended up with a thin, very black hot liquid. They called it “mocca faux” (false coffee). Lacking in sufficient French language skills, their German neighbors thought they heard the Huguenots say, “Muckefuck” and the colloquial term for coffee substitute was born.

More than once have misunderstood foreign language terms led to unintentional misconstructions. The Berlitz School of Languages put out a Youtube with my very favorite, hilarious example. Although the skid doesn’t refer to Muckefuck, it points out what can happen when marginal English skills lead to misinterpretations. Watch what transpires when a German Coast Guard trainee tries to muddle through an SOS call made in English. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMUsVcYhERY/

What is Muckefuck?

Muckefuck is a non-coffee product intended to imitate coffee. Coffee substitutes are also often chosen by individuals who wish to avoid caffeine or are given to children. Ingredients used in coffee substitutes frequently include almonds, acorn, asparagus, barley, beechnut, beet root, carrot, chicory root, corn, soybeans, cottonseeds, dandelion root, figs, roasted garbanzo beans, okra seeds, persimmon seeds, potato peels, rye, sassafras pits, sweet potato or wheat bran.

Postum, an instant coffee substitute made from roasted wheat bran, wheat and molasses was popular in the United States during World War II when coffee was rationed. Caro and Pero made from roasted barley, malted barley, chicory and rye were popular in Germany for the same reasons. In addition to being a coffee substitute, the term Muckefuck is also used for very weak coffee, which is often referred to as Bluemchenkaffee (flower coffee). http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j/elke/ertle/coffee-saxons-connoisseurs-fine-coffee/

Drink your Muckefuck and eat it too.

I grew fond of my own Muckefuck and still prepare it occasionally as a treat.The best part of homemade Muckefuck is that you can eat the “grounds” as well. Once your brew is made, simply scoop the grain mixture into a bowl, add milk and enjoy a delicious cereal along with your hot cup of “mocca faux.” Here is my favorite Muckefuck recipe:

Muckefuck before roasting - grains are golden like honey. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2018. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Ingredients: 2 cups of coarsely ground bulgur, 1 cup of coarsely ground corn meal, ¼ cup molasses.

Process: Combine all ingredients and rub them between your palms until well mixed. Place the mixture on a cookie sheet and brown in a 250°F oven, gently stirring every 20 minutes. Do this until the mix has a rich, dark color. This will take a couple of hours. Store the mixture in an airtight container. Pour 2 tablespoons of mixture per 1 cup of water into the filter paper of an electric coffee maker. Perk and voila! Your Muckefuck is done. Enjoy!

Muckefuck after roasting - grains are dark like coffee. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2018. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: Berlin, Berlitz School of Languages, Bluemchenkaffee, coffee substitute, flower coffee, Huguenots, King Frederick the Great, mocca faux, Muckefuck, Muckefuck recipe
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | 1 Comment »