Secret Place Berlin Secret Place Berlin

Nestled just outside of the Ringbahn of Berlin, lay a historical little hub, a calm enclave carved out of a point in time when German Industry was at its height and technological discoveries were erupting regularly. Named after the British Queen, the area of Victoriastadt housed workers that spun wools and finery for her kingdoms consumption at high quantities. Initiating a spring of manufacturing from textiles to concrete, train brakes and pellet balls. Some relics still preserved, but virtually unnoticeable to commuters unless seen from an observing bike ride or by train window, for which the little city is surrounded by these silver snakes that guide trains. The train tracks create the boarders of Victoriastadt and their screaming lullaby is the soundtrack that signifies encapsulated mirages that poignantly speed by to be there one moment and gone the next. However all is well in the small gentle stadt, holding safe a close-knit community of artisans, historians, families and so on… a collection of people that are the result of over a century of evolutions. Though Victoriastadt is no longer an area to house workers to be employed by its nearby factories, the residue of its origins still remain. For instance, a switch-line booth may not hold the telephonic machinery it was intended for, but its shell houses a cultural craft of a newly developed artisanal kind. A tower that once dropped liquefied molton metals for its prize bounty, sits in remission above a block of row houses. And the robust bridges that safely elevate speeding trains above Victoriastads entry points, harbor mysteries of light sculptures beneath them. Glowing angels in hiding, waiting like dignified guardians, light the way to curiosity seekers that are beheld to uncover the hidden magic of a city within a city that awaits them.
Episode tip: Listen for the trains wisking by the background of this episode.

To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin

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SHOW NOTES:
Articles explored for this episode:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoriastadt
https://www.everestate.com/blog/neighbourhood-profile-victoriastadt-in-lichtenberg
https://karte.industriekultur.berlin/standort/ehem-knorr-bremse-hauptwerk/
to visit some of the closed monuments once a year in September:
https://www.berlin.de/en/events/2860241-2842498-heritage-day.en.html


Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil serenading from the depths of the Schrotkugelturm

Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry @lacy_barry 2020, hiding in plain sight in the Linienverzweiger

Housing in major global cities is an issue all over the world, especially in Berlin where it is often said ‘looking for an apartment is like applying for a job or a visa’. There’s a lot of paperwork, a lot of requesting, a lot of rejections before you find the one, …or it finds you. In this episode we explore a 1980’s housing project that asks inhabitants to construct the future living they desire in an eco setting. Positioned in the center of Berlin, the Ökohaus embodies the ‘green heart’ of the city and puts forefront blooming desires for healthier, greener, community based future living… possibly highlighting the reasons humans from near and far relocate to the German capital to begin with.

To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin

Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin

SHOW NOTES:
Resource links for this episode can be found here:
https://www.the-offbeats.com/articles/building-together-the-okohaus-frei-otto-collective-improvisation/
https://www.solidar-architekten.de/oekohaus-berlin-mitte-tiergarten-corneliusstrasse-11-12/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/t-magazine/berlin-treehouses.html

In German: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6X-ifClSE0&t=206s

Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil waving from a rooftop garden.

Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry @lacy_barry 2020, foraging wild wisteria and elderflower.

When you wish upon a star, whether or not you’re near or far,
The celestial theatre of every night is tempting you to observe under moonlight.
For those stargazing with extra curiosity, may be delighted to get closer to nebulosity,
From a telescope over a century old, the greatest made as we are told.
A humble astronomer with large starry dreams, equally designed a mechanism for viewing planetary means.
Placing this great telescope on an observatory of wonder,
teaching all beings of the skies we live under.
Debuting such an anomaly as a fair ground attraction, the instrument still holds the universe in its gentle refraction.
Archenhold was this astronomer’s name and The Great Refractor telescope is his ardent acclaim.

To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin

Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin

SHOW NOTES:
For guided tours, events and a view of the Observatory museum, see the Archenhold
and other planetariums programs at www.planetarium.berlin

Music by violinist Alice Colley @laydee_plague serenading an eclipse.

Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry @lacy_barry 2020, charting lunar phases.

When the summer approaches in Berlin, lakes and waterways become the splendor of Berlin residents. Spending many joyful afternoons at waterside, wading in its shores and floating on its surfaces. In and around Berlin, there is a menagerie of lakes and rivers to choose from, and leisure seekers take to its shorelines with joy and happiness, baptizing themselves in their waters each year. But what of some of the relics and hidden lore found on and at the depths of these beloved waters? In Episode 7 of Secret Place Berlin, come with me as I take you on a discovery in two cherished lakes or ‘see’s’ in German, of the mythical sea creatures that reside on its surface and the not so mythical that dwell beneath.

SHOW NOTES:
‘Der Nök vom Treptower Karpfenteich’ is Käthe Wetzel’s poem about the Nök
News articles citing the famous Monster of Schlachtensee have been sourced from various Berlin news outlets; The Welt, Der Tagesspiegel, Berliner Zeitung and various others.
The story of the SS soldier remains found a in the giant catfish was found at Snopes.com

To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin

Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin

Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin
Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil form the mysterious watery depths. https://www.rossanosnel.com/ with special thanks to Maria Laskowska

Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry 2020, floating dreamingly on the waters surface.

We hear, read and watch a lot about Berlin in the 1920’s but what did it smell like? After all scent charges the memory like none other of the five human senses. Almost a century’s old perfumery holds such coveted scents, from Marlene Dietrich’s preferred floral, to the musky scents of the 1970’s Berlin smoking clubs and the spicy preferred scents of now.

SHOW NOTES:
To discover more about Harry Lehmann & Parfum nach Gewicht, Künstil. Blumen, and to order exquisite and delicate perfumes please go to: www.parfum-individual.de

To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at https://www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin

Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin
Music by violinist Alice Colley @laydee_plague among lavender fields.
Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry 2020, gazing into the perfume shop window.

Looking out from the top level of an East German watch tower, the scene looks very different from the one over 30 years ago when the Berlin wall was still in place. I imagined giant slabs of erect concrete to my right and left, barbed wire from the middle along with various barricades and dangers placed along a long grave track. If this was then, my job would have been to be aware of trespassers and escapees and my duty to arrest or shoot if necessary… even if those escaping were a friend or relative. But the scene is very different now, the tower is surrounded not with walls and gravel but rather a park, busy leisure seekers and rustling traffic, as though this tower was never intended as a pillar of threat, just a park fixture like any tree or shrub. Instead of wearing uniform, I am in my chosen clothing, surrounded not by other soldiers and artillery, but art, books, and sunlight… Welcome to The Watch.

SHOW NOTES:
To discover more about The Watch, exhibitions, opening times and residencies, please go to: https://thewatch-berlin.org/ and visit them on Instagram at @residency.wachturm

To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at https://www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin

Join the community and follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin

Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil haunting the piano keys of the former GDR. https://www.rossanosnel.com/

Podcast mentions:
Allison Sommers artwork can be found here: https://allisonsommers.com/

Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry 2020, on look-out duty.