The Topography of Terror (Topographie des Terrors) consists of three main elements: the Indoor Exhibition; the Outdoor Exhibition (referred to in the site’s literature as the Exhibition Trench); and Berlin Wall Monument, a remaining section of the wall. The ground on which the exhibitions stand was the site of the Gestapo, SS and Reich Security […]
The Stasi Museum
The former headquarters of the Secret Police in Berlin is now The Stasi Museum. This is the building that was ‘stormed’ in 1990 by protesters looking for the files that were kept here. With all the secrecy that surrounded this building in a divided Germany, it seems apt that since re-unification it has become accessible to […]
Border Experiences: Everyday Life in Divided Germany
Built in 1962, the departure hall for the border checkpoint at Friedrichstrasse train station soon became known as the Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears), as it was frequently the sight of tearful farewells. Here, those bound for West Berlin were subjected to passport checks, baggage searches and probing questions. After the fall of the wall the […]
Museum für Kommunikation: Fashion Talks
I was checking out the What’s On listings on Anglo Info last week and read about ‘Fashion Talks’ at the Museum für Kommunikation (Museum for Communication) in Berlin. Berlin is blessed with a wealth of great museums and I’ve been to quite a few during my three trips but as I hadn’t been to this particular […]
Gestalten: Mark Jenkins – Glazed Paradise
As I left Barcomi’s Deli, my lunch spot for the day I noticed what I thought was a bookshop across the courtyard and wandered in to have a look around. Gestalten is a bookshop but it’s so much more too. The building I had entered is also a gallery and there was a Mark Jenkins […]