Curiosity is a highly underrated virtue. Especially in a city like Berlin, where curiosity–along with an observant eye–is frequently rewarded by an unending array of things to discover. Amazing things, beautiful things, tragic things–or oftentimes, a combination of all three. On a recent meandering walk through one of my favourite neighbourhoods for just that kind […]
Category Archives: History
Hier Wohnte // Neukölln’s newest Stolpersteine Holocaust memorials
If you live in Berlin and haven’t yet noticed the Stolpersteine, you haven’t been paying attention. These little brass-covered cobblestones–or stumbling blocks, as the project name roughly translates to–are installed into the sidewalk in front of the last homes of Holocaust victims, each stone engraved with one individual’s name and basic details about their fate. […]
Past Present // The Last Unrenovated Building on Hermannplatz
One of the first things that struck me about Berlin is the way the city bears its wounds. Unlike, say, Dresden, which reacted to the mass destruction it suffered in WWII by rebuilding much of its Altstadt as an exact replica of its pre-war self, Berlin shows its scabs and scars, and does so with resilience, […]