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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 :) 

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