RaeAllen.net

Tag: wp

  • Teufelsberg

    Teufelsberg

    I hardly know where to start with describing Teufelsberg (or Devil’s Mountain). I went up there today on a tour led by former US Army analyst Christopher McLarren. McLarren was stationed here at Field Station Berlin during the Cold War and since settling in Berlin, has become an expert on not only it’s history as a listening post, but also on how the mountain was created, and what has happened since the station was closed in the 1990s. It was a fascinating and personal tour dotted with anecdotes of spies caught (Valery Kirukhin) and missed ( James W. Hall )

    I’ll write separately about the art work on the site but so far this has been my favourite trip in Berlin, including as it does, a walk through the Grunewald to get there.

    Links worth reading

    http://flic.kr/p/nonX2q

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  • Cycling in Berlin

    Cycling in Berlin

    Just like the suburb I normally live in, cycling is very big in Berlin generally, and in Prenzlauer in particular. There are however some noticeable differences.

    1. Very few people wear helmets
      I have seen some children with helmets and two adults, but that is about it. Everyone else wears what they would normally wear out, beanies, caps, or scarves. looking at the laws, since 2011 “helmets are required by law for children under 13 years old”
    2. No-one wears lycra
      Well I assume there are some people who wear lycra, but I have yet to see anyone wearing much more than their normal street clothes. I have seen a couple of people wearing sweat pants and shirt but that is about it.
    3. Most people ride street cycles
      I assume there are bicycles with racing handlebars and skinny tyres but I haven’t really seen any around this area. What I have seen is lots of comfortable street bikes, and customisation is normally to add wooden shopping baskets or the like
    4. Nobody rides very quickly
      Most of the actually cycling I’ve seen is more in the way of a promenade through the leafy streets and cafes. I have seen people in the heavy traffic areas riding more quickly commuting from work, but no packs of riders on the roads. I assume this adds to the lack of helmets as there is little speed involved on either side most of the time.
    5. Cycling is obviously only part of the picture
      Since arriving I’ve seen numerous people smoking as they cycled along, and one guy with his shopping hanging off one handlebar, and an open bottle of beer in the other hand. They looked very civilised. I did also see some-one riding while talking on a mobile phone which I understand is illegal.

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  • Brücke Museum

    Main trip today was to Brücke Museum which “houses the world’s largest collection of works by Die Brücke (“The Bridge”), an early 20th-century expressionist movement. Apart from the artwork the building itself is a neat design with natural light wells illuminating the artwork on the walls.

    http://flic.kr/p/nkwaQa

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  • Sleeping Giant

    Sleeping Giant

    Sleeping Giant, is by Alaniz, a street artist from Argentina living in Berlin. This piece is in Friedrichshain, Berlin

    http://flic.kr/p/njYbjV

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  • Art at work

    While I was at Urban Spree in Friedrichshain, one young artist was working on a piece near the front door to the gallery space.

    http://flic.kr/p/nhTqhh

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  • Brucke Museum

    Main trip today was to Brücke Museum which “houses the world’s largest collection of works by Die Brücke (“The Bridge”), an early 20th-century expressionist movement. Apart from the artwork the building itself is a neat design with natural light wells illuminating the artwork on the walls.

    http://flic.kr/p/nkwaQa

  • Gesundbrunnen bunker

    Gesundbrunnen bunker

    I had heard about this bunker, and the tours run from the local U-bahn station. In a very heavily tree park is a hill and this bunker stands on top of it , although much of it is underground. I was amazed at how big it was, you can see the man standing next to the wall below to give some perspective. From what I could read what you see is the Flakturm or anti-aircraft tower

    Wiki

    http://flic.kr/p/njSPE8

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  • Bauhaus Archive

    Bauhaus Archive

    If you are interested in design this place is fantastic. The history of Bauhaus is fascinating enough, but add to that the impact their designs have made across the world and its an amazing body of work

    Wikipedia

    http://flic.kr/p/ninQTG

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  • Yard 5, Friedrichshain

    Yard 5, Friedrichshain

    Street art, Yard 5, Friedrichshain. I caught this only briefly between the M13 and M10 trams and the rain about to set in and my camera battery dying. The project looks interesting enough for me to make a trip just to look through the yard, painted over the Easter long weekend.

    Yard 5

    http://flic.kr/p/nfEmgE

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  • Neue Nationalgalerie

    Neue Nationalgalerie

    The New National Gallery “is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its sculpture gardens were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and opened in 1968.”
    Wikipedia

    Neue Nationalgalerie, Potsdammer Strasse, Berlin

    http://flic.kr/p/nhGh1P

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