History, Architecture
Ian Roderick
Berlin's Oldest Street

Archaeologists have unearthed Berlin’s oldest street, and it is actually pretty cool. Even though it was likely built in the 13th century, the wooden planks look surprisingly fresh.

Berlin's Oldest Street
Ian Roderick
Berlin’s Mietskasernen

From the 1860s through the Second World War, Berlin was notoriously crowded, with many of its working-class residents packed into suffocating Mietskasernen (“Rental Barracks”).

Berlin’s Mietskasernen
Ian Roderick
The Mainzer Straße Evictions

On November 14, 1990, approximately 3000 police from across Germany forcibly evicted several hundred mostly young squatters from 13 buildings along Mainzer Straße, in the eastern district of Friedrichshain.

It was one of the largest street battles in Berlin since the (failed) revolution of 1953, and had repercussions that continue to be felt.

The Mainzer Straße Evictions
Architecture, History
Ian Roderick
Containerbahnhof Frankfurter Allee

If, like me, you’ve spent a lot of time traveling Berlin’s S-Bahn ring, you might have noticed the large empty space directly to the east of the Frankfurter Allee S-Bahn station. It looks like any number of former industrial sites in the city: run-down, abandoned, with a few remnants here and there.

I was surprised to learn that this particular space wasn’t just a random factory: it was a so-called “Containerbahnhof,” where shipping containers could be on- and off-loaded to and from railcars.

Containerbahnhof Frankfurter Allee
Transport
Ian Roderick
Berlin's Radschnellverbindungen (Express Bike ...

Berlin has committed itself to building 100 kilometers of express bike lanes (Radschnellverbindungen) in the next 5 years or so. I made a deep-dive into one section of that network: the route from the Tiergarten to Alexanderplatz and beyond. What I found is very exciting, but construction is still a long way off.

Berlin's Radschnellverbindungen (Express Bike Lanes)

The Reichstag

The Reichstag

The Reichstag building  lies in the heart of Berlin's political district, just a stone's throw from the Brandenburg Gate and directly on the River Spree. Since its completion in the 1890s as the seat for the newly formed country of Germany's parliament, it has been associated with the different iterations of political rule in the country as a whole.

The Reichstag building is a wonderful example of Berlin layers. Not only has the Reichstag building's official role changed dramatically over the past 100 years, but the physical architecture has, too. Each new form incorporates some of the past while symbolizing the attitudes of the present. These new forms were created intentionally, through design and sabotage, and unintentionally, through war and division.

The Creative Industry in Berlin

Over the past decade, Berlin has gained a reputation as a city filled with artists, musicians, and other types of creative people. After six months (has it been that long already??) living here, I can tell you that the stories are true. In certain neighborhoods there is a pervasive sense of perpetual creativity. There are lots of small galleries, lots of pop-up parties; lots of strange, funky looking buildings, parks and people.

This isn’t just anecdotal evidence sold to enthusiastic tourists and newcomers like me. I’ve been doing research about the impact of creativity on Berlin, and it seems to me that creativity is a defining feature of the city. What’s more, it promises to play an even more important role in shaping Berlin’s future.

Berlin version 2.013

​During the 20th century, Berlin has had many faces: an imperial hub and thriving business center in the early 1900s, a chaotic yet culturally dominant mega-city during the inter-war years of the 1920s; the stage for the grisliest drama of the 20th century during the 1930s and 40s; a shattered, divided city during the Cold War; and finally the "poor but sexy" capital of a reunited and resurgent Germany.

I'll try to go into depth about each of these aspects in other posts, but for now I wanted to write a brief description of the city as I've found it.

Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.

I'm taking Horace's advice - about beginning, anyway. Like most new blogs, this one is a work in progress. I don't know  what the blog will look like tomorrow, next week, or next year. One thing I do know is why I started it: to talk about Berlin, about history, urban living, politics, and...other stuff. I've begun, but boldness and wisdom might be too much to hope for.

Welcome to the site, and I hope you enjoy it!​

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