Skip to main content

Two sides of Berlin: Reichstag und Teufelsberg


Image result for reichstag
Reichstag
On my first visit to Berlin we are heading towards the historical center and visit the renovated building of German parliament (Reichstag). We climb slowly along the spiral ramp, listening to voice from headphones describing the scene behind the modern glass dome and observe modern buildings, renovated remains of historical monuments, parks, TV tower... Reflectors are lightening the evening scene and leave the impression that we are standing on the border of a modern future ...


Teufelsberg - NSA tower

... a few weeks later we are again in Berlin. This time we are climbing stairs of an old tower hidden in the middle of the forest, which used to serve as a listening tower during the cold war. It surrounds us by mystical creaking, screeching and drumming as sheets and torn parts of the tower casing are crashing into the metal structure. Graffiti cover every free piece of walls around us and vegetation is slowly winning over the human. Out of a sudden, it is getting dark on the stairs, because some light bulbs are missing ...

Reichstag and Teufelsberg - two opposite sides of Berlin. Both very true and having a strong and catchy atmosphere.

Teufelsberg 



 The U7 subway line takes us to the foot of the artificial mountain, on top of which is standing Teufelsberg. We quickly become absorbed by the world of beggars, homeless people, drug dealers, and a cigarette smoke. In today's frost, it seems even more incomprehensible why homeless people choose for living such an uncomfortable cold place like Berlin instead of moving in the southern direction where begging is just as good and only your feet are freezing less. As if we were slowly moving away from the civilized Germany of modern times, and immersed deeper and deeper into its dark side.

The path to the tower itself is worthwhile. You are wandering through a deserted, fast-growing forest, because nothing better could grow on this poor subsoil, the original landfill, consisting of the remnants after the war. That is how the highest point of western Berlin was created - the overgrown dump of post-war ruins. The place, where the military university should be built, the Hitler's dream, which was never finished; the place where the ski slope took place; and the last but not least, the strategic NSA point, which was used by the US Army as a spying place to listen to Moscow. I was surprised by the fact that between this place and Moscow there is no hill. Check the map, it's true!

And what really caught my heart on this "remote"  (where S and U bahn takes you in 20 minutes from the city center),  "abandoned" (with the ticket office and entrance fee)  and "lost"  (found every day by so many tourists)  place?  The top sphere of the tower with amazing acoustics and echo was great, as well the view over the city was not bad,  but those sprayed cats and dogs and their phrases were simply great. I simply couldn't get enough of them :) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

La Palma - Vacations that cleans your head and body

  We are back from La Palma Island—one week earlier than planned. As Heraclitus put it: ‘The only constant in life is change.’ Autumn had been long. Too much work, too much admin, too little joy. I needed to get away, regain motivation, and clear my head before I could keep going. I tried to leave in December, but that was too crazy. So I planned January. At first I wanted three weeks somewhere far: South America, Mexico, South Africa, Southeast Asia… The options multiplied until I couldn’t choose at all—I kept switching frantically between forecasts, maps, and flight tabs. And then it clicked—like it always does—and I knew I had the right solution. I don’t want exotica. I don’t want decisions. I don’t want a daily puzzle of where we’ll sleep and what we’ll see next. I just want to switch off. I want mountains, simple movement, and thoughts that finally go quiet. La Gomera surfaced first, then La Palma: Canary Islands I hadn’t been to y...
Post a Comment
Read more

First real trip in 2025 - cycling in Germany

  We’ve just returned from the first real trip of the year. A real trip is one where the idea of working doesn’t even cross your mind—because you’re focused entirely on survival. Every step matters, you’re figuring out where to eat, where to pitch your tent, and whether the stream or lake water is warm enough to bathe in—or if you’ll have to settle for dousing yourself with a bottle. A real trip begins where the internet ends, where meals for the whole family are cooked over a gas cooker in one pot, where you sleep as long as the kids do, and where you forget the world—except for the one right around you. A lot of people are afraid of real trips. They’re not used to being alone with themselves, carrying their life on their backs, relying solely on their own ability to take care of themselves. Many people pretend they’re going on a trip, but can’t resist the pull of wifi, checking in with friends, a warm bed, or a three-course meal. They’re terrified of disconnectin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retirement in Germany and Czech Republic: Lerne die Regeln des Spiels und dann spiele besser als alle anderen.

This summer it happened, that we were meeting Jan's parents, who are enjoying their life in Greece. Sun, fresh vegetable, slow traveling, and  above all, one another. One of those people who decided to spend their retirement (or at least part of it) and sabbatical abroad. I have to admit, that I feel a huge respect for them. Not that they had such a dream - so many people do. Not even that they travel - so many people do. But that they made the dream truth, that they were able to completely change their way of living, leave everything which makes the life stable (e.g., flat, job, belongings,...) behind and started to really live on the boat with all what they need fitting inside that small place ( http://sc-meerkat.de/ ). That they showed that it is not about excuses why you cannot do what you dream about, but that it is about finding ways how to realize these dreams. Seeing them in their happiness, building up a great team is something which is something that clearly shows that th...
Post a Comment
Read more