SVEIN OLAV KOLSET
Berlin
Off track
Original title: Berlin - Noen andre steder
Copyright © Svein Olav Kolset, 2024
Translation by Svein Olav Kolset
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SBN: 978-82-8328-314-3 (trykk)
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Partly Deep L translated and partly translated by the author.
Norwegian original version revised and rewritten by the author before translation.
table of contents
foreword 9
1 | Scandinavian 13
2 | Linden Trees 15
3 | Theatre 17
4 | Refugees 19
5 | Olof 22
6 | Gallery 24 Willy 26
8 | The Wall 29
9 | Beer Art 32
10 | Embassy 34
11 | Hiroshima 39
12 | Cabaret 41
13 | Anhalter 43
14 | Albert 44
15 | Otto 47
16 | Shot 50
17 | Sausages 53
18 | Seyran 56
19 | The Chinese 59
20 | Rough 61
21 | Robert 66
22 | Martin 68
23 | Cock 72
24 | Centre Point 77
25 | Peace Prize 79
26 | Nelly 84 27 |
28 | Wall piece 88
29 | Marlene 90
30 | Wernher 93
31 | Rudi 96
32 | Sofie 99
33 | Russians 103
34 | Football 105
35 | Larvicitis 109
36 | Germania 110
37 | Käthe 114
38 | Free art 116
39 | Hero 124
40 | Gay 126
| Siemens 130
| Red Island 134
| Reconciliation 136
| Marie 140
| Revenge 142
| T4 146
| Benno 150
| Brecht 153
| Cadillac 157 50 | Bronze medal 159
Acknowledgements 162
About the author 162
Photo credits 162
Once you have seen the most obvious places, Berlin has plenty more to offer for those who are interested.
foreword
What is it about Berlin?
Berlin is brutal and human, wonderful and raw. There is an incredible amount to see and experience in this city and there is something for absolutely everyone. Berlin’s legacy ranges from pioneering art and industrial architecture to brutality and human degradation of the worst kind. The famous sites are well documented and easy to find. Many are centrally located. The Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, the Reichstag, the television tower on Alexanderplatz, the museum islands on the Spree, Checkpoint Charlie
noen andre steder
and a small remnant of the Wall at Topographie des Terror are all within walking distance.
There are shops everywhere and food and drink on almost every corner. You can have a German breakfast until late in the afternoon. Culture, entertainment and fun are plentiful. Once you have seen the most obvious places, Berlin has plenty more to offer for those who are interested. I recommend going off the beaten path – just a little – to find hidden gems and wonderful experiences. Often it is as simple as turning a corner or walking a block off the beaten path.
The best way to get around the city is by bike. There is also a very well developed metro network, which connects to the railway system at many junctions. The
bus network is also extensive and easy to use. If you have good shoes and strong legs, you can see a lot just by walking. In all chapters, the places are described with addresses so that you can use Google maps to find them. There is so much to experience and learn. Here are some suggestions, based on my personal interests, what I have seen on my many bike rides, some by pure coincidence and others through tips from people I have met along the way. I took all but three of the photos myself.
There is something for everyone in Berlin. Good luck finding your own Berlin!
10 b e r l i n
1 |Scandinavian
Alternatively, should we say: Scandinavian road trip? The Germans have a special relationship to Norway, mountains, fjords and blond, strong men and women “with Viking blood”. This can feel a little uncomfortable when compared to the Aryan ideals of Nazism. The brutal contrast is Nazism’s view of so-called “undesirable elements”: Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, those with intellectual disabilities, the mentally ill, communists and socialists. Kaiser Wilhelm II (King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany 18881918) was fascinated by Norwegian nature. Some say he started Norwegian tourism. He made more than twenty summer trips to Norway on the ship Hohenzollern. In the fjord site Balestrand, we still find evidence of his fascination with the Norwegian fjord landscape. The 22-metre high statue of the Viking Fridtjof the Maiden stands there, thanks to the emperor’s initiative.
The fascination with Norway and the Nordic countries is also evident in the district of Prenzlauer Berg, which used to be part of East Berlin and had the Wall on its western side, facing West Berlin. If you take a trip to the northwest corner of Prenzlauer Berg, you can see a bit of the Scandinavian influence. There is
a separate neighbourhood here called Skandinavisches Viertel. On some maps, it is called Nordisches Viertel. If you start in the northern part, just outside the quarter itself, you will find Osloer Straße – Oslo Street. This street is close to a famous landmark associated with the events of 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down. If you follow Osloer Strasse eastwards, it becomes Bornholmer Strasse. This is the site for the first crossing of the Berlin Wall on the dramatic evening of 9 November. Some walked while others drove to West Berlin. There is a memorial at Bornholmer Strasse 70, called Platz der 9. November 1989.
If you take a walk in the Scandinavian Quarter, you will find Finnische Strasse, Isländische Strasse and Dänenstrasse. The Danes also have Kopenhagener Strasse. The Swedes have a bridge, Schwedter steg, which takes you over the many railway lines in the western part of the area. There is also a nice view from the bridge. For Norwegians, Norwegerstrasse is worth a visit. It runs north south and was the last street parallel to the Wall.
For Norwegians who want to take a photo of themselves on “their” street, there is plenty to see. You can choose between Bergener Strasse, Stavangerstrasse, Aalesunder Strasse and Nordkappstrasse. You can also check out the intersection of Ibsen Street and Björn-
sonstrasse. The area was right next to the Wall, and many oppositional East Berliners lived here before the Wall came down. Stasi agents and so-called collaborators also lived here, giving the area its own special aura. This neighbourhood is also vividly described in a novel by Torsten Schulz (available in German) called Mein Skandinavisches Viertel (My Scandinavian Quarter).
2 | Linden Trees
Unter den Linden – the famous parade boulevard with a historic buzz that is an important part of Berlin’s identity. The boulevard of linden trees.
Unter den Linden stretches eastwards from Brandenburg Tor to the Berlin Cathedral and the rebuilt 15th century palace on the banks of the River Spree. From here, the avenue turns into Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse in former East Berlin. If you continue west from Brandenburger Tor into the Tiergarten, the boulevard is named Strasse des 17. June in memory of the 1953 uprising in the East.
Prussian King Frederick William I originally constructed Unter den Linden in the 17th century. He wanted quick access to hunting grounds in the Tiergarten. Today, Unter den Linden and the Brandenburg Gate are two
of Berlin’s main tourist attractions. In the summer, both are packed with people from home and abroad.
Along Unter den Linden are several important institutions such as the State Opera, Humboldt University and the Berlin State Library. There are also museums and embassies interlaced with typical tourist shops, cafes and restaurants.
During the Second World War, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had all the trees removed from Unter den Linden, to give the public a better view of the Nazi parades. After the war, the East German government planted new linden trees, but they were of poor quality.
After the fall of the Wall, it was decided that hardier linden trees should be provided for this Berlin showcase. The choice fell on trees from Norway, specifically from Vestfold.
This is a well-kept secret for most international tourists, including Norwegians, who want to take selfies or just stroll along this historic parade route.
3 | Theatre
Or maybe stylish hairdressing theatre?
Berlin’s cultural offerings are vast and range from the popular, folksy to the elitist, and quirky. There is something for every taste.
In the district of Wilmersdorff, you will find something truly out of the ordinary. Charming and exciting. A hairdressing salon with a theatre. Get your hair cut during the day and in the evening, you can enjoy the theatre. It is not big, and only seats 36.
The hairdressing salon is used as a foyer for performances. The stage is in the back of the salon. In the window of the salon, there was a picture (2021) of Albert Einstein with the following text “Everything I know, my hairdresser told me”.
The hairdressing salon is called Der Theater Salon and the theatre is named Theater Unterm Turm. It is located at Düsserldorfer Straße 2. The company consists of four actors: two women and two men. Two of them also act as director and manager.
The theatre has its own loyal audience, many of them local, and its own website. All performances are in German and the repertoire is varied.
4 | Refugees
Berlin has been a refuge for the persecuted for several centuries. This is one of the many paradoxes of Berlin, the city that has also been a hotbed for the planning of the most organised and ideologically based persecutions that history has ever seen.
There were persecutions of Protestants in Bohemia when King Frederick William I headed his first government in Brandenburg from 1713-40. Fearing both the Habsburgs and the re-Catholicization that was taking place, he supported Bohemians who fled north for their faith and sought asylum. He opened Berlin to them and received them well.
They did not have to serve as soldiers and received tax exemptions to settle in the southeastern part of Berlin, today’s Neukölln (formerly Böhmisches Dorf), in the area around Richardplatz, where a statue of the king can be seen. On the pedestal is a copper engraving of peasants and craftsmen fleeing from Bohemia. In the motif called “Böhmischer Einwandrerer” (Bohemian Immigrant), you can see a woman carrying a large bundle with the most important things on her head.
The area has a charm of its own and is a reminder of a bygone era. There remain some small houses in the Bohemian village. The statue presents the eternal
question that is still uncomfortably relevant: If people are on the run because of conviction, conflict or war, where will they go and will anyone let them in?
This memorial is linked to another site in the centre of Berlin, in the district of Mitte, not far from Checkpoint Charlie, on Betlehemkirchplatz in Mauerstrasse. A steel structure that shows the framework of the former Czech Bethlehem Church has been built here. The original church was destroyed by bombs in 1943, and the East Germans demolished the rest in 1963. Before its destruction, it was widely used by Lutherans from the former Czechoslovakia.
Next to the church is an 11-metre high sculpture, Houseball, which has similarities to the woman with the bundle in Richardplatz. The construction resembles a large bundle from which furniture and other objects protrude. A reflection of some of the few essential things that people managed to bring along, on the run. The objects on the sculpture are strongly coloured and made by the artists Clas Oldenburg and Croosje van Bruggen in 1997.
…people are on the run because of conviction, conflict or war. Where will they go and will anyone let them in?
5 | Olof
In the western part of the Tiergarten is Berlin’s zoo, Zoologischer Garten, full of exotic and exciting animals. It is a popular destination for tourists and families with children. The entrance is on Budapester Strasse, in an area near the easily recognisable Gedächtniskirche and the busy Kurfürstendamm. The space next to the entrance is therefore easy to overlook. This is Olof Palme Platz (Olof Palme’s place).
Many Scandinavians may still know who Palme was – Prime Minister of Sweden for two periods: 1969–76 and 1982-86. A very prominent politician
(Social Democrat) whom many Swedes admired and respected, while others simply hated him. Palme was a sharp politician with self-confidence and courage.
He was brutally murdered on Sveavägen in Stockholm on 28 February 1986, on his way home from the cinema with his wife. The case remains unsolved and the tragic incident is still an open wound in Sweden. Conspiracy theories abound, books have been written and many investigations have been carried out.
The design of Olof Palme Platz gives the impression that something has been broken. In a circle in the middle of the square, large, flat stones of different sizes lie on top of each other. The effect is raw and brutal. Something is broken and in ruins. Between the boulders are larger pieces of metal looking like parts of a statue, one of them resembling a horse’s foot.
Perhaps the meaning of the installation is this: A life’s work crushed; a voice silenced. Something is broken.
The question is; what can emerge from the ruins?
In Berlin, people know more about this than in most capital cities. When passing by it is easy to think that something is being cleared or built, but this is definitely a space for reflection. You can read about Swedish political history and familiarise yourself with the life of Olof Palme. Many will be fascinated, while
others will say that Palme was not much of a politician. A big mouth, but what did he actually achieve?
That is what politics and democracy are all about. The exchange of opinions and disagreements, arguments, struggles and ideas. Olof Palme’s place also reminds us of the risks, weapons instead of discussion, violence instead of debate.
6 | Gallery
This is a gallery that is easy to walk right past. It is located at Alexandrinerstrasse 118-121 in the Kreuzberg district, not far from the Jewish Museum. It is a brutal cement building from the 1960s.
The reason for there being a gallery here, and for its appearance, is special in itself. This was a Catholic church named St. Agens Kirche. The congregation lived there until 2004. After that, it was taken over by an evangelical free church, which operated it until 2011. The church was sold, and renovations were carried out under the direction of gallerist Johan König. Since 2015, this has been a gallery with a focus on modern concept art and installations, which require large spaces. The remodelled church room is well suited for this. The sacred and magnificent that remains in
this room, combined with modern art of various kinds is a unique combination worth a visit.
For those who appreciate small galleries with few focal points, this is one of several possibilities in Berlin.
This is König Gallerie. Free entry.
Willy
A statue of Willy Brandt stands inside the headquarters of the German Social Democratic Party at the junction of Wilhelmstrasse and Stresemannstrasse, a few blocks south-east of Potsdamer Platz. The building is the Willy-Brandt-Haus.
Willy Brandt was an active German social democratic politician who fled to Norway in 1933 when the Nazis came to power. He learned Norwegian and became an active member of the Labour Party. Brandt fled to Sweden when the Germans invaded Norway and was active in the resistance throughout the war. With his Norwegian-born wife Ruth, whom he met in Stockholm, he built a cottage in Valdres, Norway, after the war.
Willy Brandt became mayor of West Berlin in 1957-66, during the dramatic period when the Wall was built. He later became Foreign Minister of West
Germany in 1966-69, and then reached the top of West German politics, as Chancellor in the period 1969-74.
Brandt was a prominent politician who did much to reduce tensions between East and West during the Cold War. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his work in de-escalation and bridge building.
Ironically, he was toppled as chancellor in 1974 because one of his closest aides, Günter Guillaume, was working as a spy for the East Germans. Nevertheless, Brandt is now regarded as a visionary and one of the most prominent politicians of his time in European history. His kneeling in front of the monument to the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1970, after laying a wreath on behalf of West Germany, is an important historical moment.
Brandt belonged to a generation of politicians who had seen the dark side of poverty and war, and who wanted to contribute to reconciliation and the building of a united Europe after two catastrophic world wars. He was clearly a visionary with the kind of will and perseverance that great politicians need to succeed. The links with Norway are still strong. One example is the joint German-Norwegian Willy Brandt Foundation, which aims to “… promote mutual knowledge of social life, culture and language in Norway and Germany. The
aim of the foundation is to strengthen cooperation and contacts between the two countries. Each year, the foundation awards the Willy Brandt Prize to individuals or institutions that have contributed to the promotion of Norwegian-German relations.
8 | The Wall
There is extensive documentation about the Wall that divided West and East Berlin, and there are still a few remnants, in Brennerstrasse and the East Side Gallery.
Berlin is full of memorials from the dramatic time when the city was brutally divided. One example is the memorial on busy Leipziger Strasse, which is a few blocks south and parallel to the famous boulevard Unter den Linden. This is perhaps the last street you would expect to find anything related to the Wall, because of how busy and hectic it is.
On Leipziger Strasse, on the corner facing a street called Mauerstrasse, there is a sculpture of two people, one with a head and one without. The bodies seem to be in active forward motion, as if pushing against something.
A wall…?
The plaque also says “Mauern durchbrechen” (To break through a wall).
There is no wall in the sculpture, but it is easy to imagine. A monument to the struggle against the many walls we humans create, both physical and mental. There are many ways to exclude people, to separate them from us.
The city of Berlin has many stories of walls. Will this small monument in a busy street inspire new generations who experience walls in other forms?
Berlin is full of memorials from the dramatic time when the city was brutally divided.
9 | Beer Art
Beer is an integral part of German culture. You can walk into even the smallest and most basic grocery store and find an impressive selection of beers, including non-alcoholic varieties. You will have no problem quenching your thirst for beer in Berlin, at any time of the day.
There are several breweries in the city, although many no longer produce beer. The best example is the brewery in Prenzlauer Berg, which is now a cultural brewery with cafes, a cinema, restaurants, exhibitions
and shops. The brewery was not damaged during the war and represents an intact piece of Berlin’s industrial history, after being fully restored in 1997–99.
A more recent version of the brewery’s conversion to cultural purposes can be found in the Neukölln district at Am Sudhaus 3. One of the most famous beers from this brewery is Berliner Kindl, with a bottle label showing a child in a beer mug.
The building once housed a large brewery, which closed in 2005 and was taken over by Salome Grisard and Burkhard Varnholt in 2011. It has been renovated and given a modern look, while retaining its industrial character. The new gallery opened in 2016 with a clear vision of contributing to current topics, both through lectures, discussions and educational programmes. The ambitions are also to contribute to increased social awareness and close contact with the local environment in Neukölln, including collaboration with local schools.
The gallery is named after the type of beer shown above and is called Kindle Zentrum für Zeitgenössische Kunst (the Kindl Centre for Contemporary Art).
The building is massive with an almost church-like appearance. Some of the large production rooms have twenty-metre high ceilings and can be used for large
art installations. There are also bright modern rooms suitable for video art and performances. The focus is on modern and contemporary art.
The beer production units have been preserved and the gallery café has been set up in the old production hall. A café with a very special atmosphere.
10 | Embassy
Or rather: embassies.
A unique collaboration between the Nordic countries has resulted in a joint embassy complex in Berlin. It is located in a beautiful area overlooking the Tiergarten and was opened in 1999.
Each Nordic country has its own building in addition to the so-called Common House, which includes an auditorium, exhibition rooms and a canteen. Standing at the entrance, you look straight at the Norwegian part of the embassy complex. It is easily recognisable by the huge stone in front of it: 14 metres high, 5 metres wide and 70 centimetres thick. It weighs 120 tonnes.
The mountainous country of Norway stands out in the centre of Berlin.
The address is Rauchstrasse 1 and the public can enter the community centre during the afternoon between 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. This is one of the few embassy complexes in the world where the public can enter for coffee or lunch. You can register online or at the entrance to the Common House.
The front wall of the Norwegian Embassy is a huge block of granite. The architect company, Snøhetta, wanted it that way. The granite block comes from Iddefjorden in Norway, the same place that the stone used for the Monolith monument in Vigelands Park in Oslo came from. The stone in the embassy is only slightly smaller. Getting it to Berlin was a feat, requiring special transport and strengthening of bridges. The stone is easily visible from the Reichstrasse; you do not need to be inside the embassy grounds to see it.
The embassy is also interesting for other reasons. On a small terrace, overlooking the Tiergarten, hangs part of an aeroplane wing. It belongs to an aeroplane used in Allied bombing raids over Berlin in December 1943.The Norwegian writer, captain and war correspondent Nordahl Grieg was part of the crew. The plane was shot down on 2 December 1943 and crashed in Kleinmachnow, south-west of the centre of Berlin, towards Potsdam.
Grieg’s final resting place is still a mystery, but one of the plane wings was recovered in 2002, after persistent work in archives and interviews with local people and former soldiers. The wing broke off when the heavy Lancaster bomber crashed. It ended up in the Teltow Canal, where a farmer found it in the 1970s. He used it as a roof for a goat shed. The plane fell in the park of Hakenburg Castle in Kleinmachnow. There is a memorial stone there. You can take the bus to Kleinmachnow and visit it.
Now the wing is preserved inside the Norwegian embassy.
If you go further up Rauchstrasse, to number 11, you will find the old Norwegian Embassy, which was supposed to open in 1940. It was not actively used until after the war, when the Norwegian military mission in occupied Germany moved in, and before an embassy was established in Bonn in West Germany in 1955 and in East Berlin in 1973. The building at Rauchstrasse 11 is now the Embassy of Georgia. However, the wrought-iron railing on the balcony still bears the Norwegian coat of arms.
The plaque to the right of the gate informs about the Norwegian military mission that was based here after the war. One person who worked here was Willy Brandt, on the initiative of the Norwegian Prime Min-
ister at that time, Einar Gerhardsen. Brandt was then a Norwegian, not a German, citizen. In 1947, however, he became a German citizen again and began his political work in Germany for the Social Democratic Party. Many on the right of German politics had not forgotten that Brandt had worked for a foreign nation, and during later election campaigns when he was fighting to become chancellor, pictures of Brandt in Norwegian uniform circulated. The aim was to portray Brandt as someone who could not be trusted, not a real German, but a traitor. Still, Brandt eventually became chancellor and one of the most prominent post war German politicians.
The front wall of the Norwegian Embassy is a huge block of granite. The architect company, Snøhetta, wanted it that way. The granite block comes from Iddefjorden in Norway.
11 |
Hiroshima
Hiroshima in Berlin?
The two biggest losers in the Second World War were Germany and Japan. After Germany surrendered, fighting continued in Asia and Russia was about to declare war on Japan. Then the Americans dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945). Japan surrendered. The Second World War was over.
To this day, these are the only times that atomic bombs have been used in war. Our hope must be that we will never again experience the horrors that unfolded after the bombs were dropped and the consequences for innocent people that followed.
You might think that the Germans had enough to deal with from their own misdeeds during the Second World War. Highlighting the atrocities in Hiroshima reminds us that the Second World War also took place far outside Europe.
Chinese, Koreans and other peoples still hold a grudge against the Japanese for their ruthlessness and brutality during the Second World War. There are interesting and thought-provoking differences in how Germany and Japan have presented the war in public spaces.
In the Schöneberg district, by the Landwehrkanal, not far from the Japanese embassy, there is a modest little bridge. You can cycle or walk across it without realising that you are cycling over history and a memorial that marks a turning point in modern war history. The bridge is called Hiroshima Steg (Hiroshima Bridge), and under the bridge on one side, the name is written in both German and Japanese.