SHANGHAI BERLIN PARIS (#3: Der Teufelsberg)

Hello, I know it is always hard to start in a blog when it’s not yours on first hand, but I will try anyway. Who am I ? I’m Pierre, 23, French, in Berlin since a month and a half, new intern at SHANGHAI BERLIN for a little more than a half year. I had the chance to benefit from a grant offered by my school. So here I am, out of Paris. And because I still discover amazing things about Berlin and its behaviors, why not share it with you?! This is my point of view on Berlin through the prism of Shanghai-Berlin. So from Paris to Berlin, lets have a little detour at SHANGHAI BERLIN to discover through my eyes, what is for me “so Berlin”. Can I really say “Das ist Berlin”? Nope! But these are tiny parts anyway.

This is one of the other things typical Berlin : the squats, or ancient “Kiez” like you call them. Here is my visit of Teufelsberg, an ancient american control center used to spy on the russians during the cold war. Let’s get it straight folks! this place is just outstanding!

First steps in the “field”, and you get the impression to be in the middle of a Terry Gilliam film; quite easily imagining yourself mind erased in one of the big “control rooms”, just like the hero of Brazil, lost in his thoughts like a new born. Scary detractors, disturbing and controlling your memories. This is just one of the “magnificent traumas” of Berlin: the force of a military control zone labeled one of the typical “new fancy place”. It’s one of the characteristic aspect of Berlin that is standing here: the ancient power of a difficult past, left forgotten and abandoned, has changed to a brilliant place to visit. Left under the Berlin sunset. Your dream starts where the horizon ends.