I
first arrived in Berlin on a school trip with some very good friends of
mine and our excellent German teachers, who's enthusiasm I would still
claim is to thank for my passion for what Mark Twain called "The Awful German Language"! Our group took a walking tour of Berlin with an upbeat
Australian female guide, and I remember turning every corner and
finding it difficult to believe not only that one city had seen so much history, but that it's scars and successes were interlaced, coexisting, street by street. My 16 year old self was so fascinated by the city, that upon arriving back home in Newcastle, I compiled an incredibly detailed scrap-book full of my own pictures and commentary, which I still have today. I then came back to Berlin a year later with a couple of friends who were with me on the first trip, and it slowly became an annual event, until I eventually made the then-inevitable move!
Berlin changes fast. Is there a place in the city that has been altered/built on/knocked down since you have lived here, that you find particularly exciting, successful or grossly unsuccessful?
finding it difficult to believe not only that one city had seen so much history, but that it's scars and successes were interlaced, coexisting, street by street. My 16 year old self was so fascinated by the city, that upon arriving back home in Newcastle, I compiled an incredibly detailed scrap-book full of my own pictures and commentary, which I still have today. I then came back to Berlin a year later with a couple of friends who were with me on the first trip, and it slowly became an annual event, until I eventually made the then-inevitable move!
Berlin changes fast. Is there a place in the city that has been altered/built on/knocked down since you have lived here, that you find particularly exciting, successful or grossly unsuccessful?
I
often finish my Famous Walk tours with my favourite quote on Berlin,
one which inspired my Masters thesis on 'Cities of Becoming' and which
encapsulates the city I live in, but also why I live in it. The
historian Karl Scheffler in 1910 claimed that "Berlin is a city destined
to forever becoming, and never to being". These
timeless words have rippled hauntingly through the many turbulent
layers of Berlin’s modern history, coming to fruition more in the past
century than the author could ever have anticipated. But his words still
linger delicately in today's 'Berliner Luft', as the city transforms
before our very own eyes. Much has changed in the eight years I have
lived here and at first I found this change difficult to bear, for
example the planned destruction of the Palast der Republik, a relic of a
defunct state, but also of peoples memories, or the disappearance of
Bar 25, a club complex/hedonistic paradise on the river, a relic of
memories lost! But there was a moment when giving a tour back in 2008
that changed my perspective on change in Berlin. When walking onto
Museum Island a crowd had gathered to watch a dance performance, tens of
dancers in luminous costumes, one tiny figure in each broken window of
the former Palast, overshadowed by it's size and legacy. It was such an
unusual use of condemned space, so much colour and energy in something
about to be destroyed. I remember thinking that often Berlin is much more creative in its use of non-space than creating space anew. Today,
as the city is littered with more and more projects, hotels, high-rises
and apartment blocks, it would and can be easy to mourn what was. But I
find that often as places disappear and reappear, the open sentiment
remains throughout, and new bars/clubs created from new voids are often a
better version of their former counterpart. Of course, this is more
difficult with historical sites, but I feel that Berlin is not a city
which forgets its history, rather moves forward grasping it, with or
without physical reminders. If becoming really is the essence of the
cities spirit, which I believe it is, then the process of change is what
makes it so vibrant, dynamic, often controversial, but never dull!
Can
you tell me a bit about your masters. Have you found Berlin a particularly interesting place to
have as a backdrop to studying European Relations?
After
studying German and Mathematics at Durham University in the UK and then
a bit of time out from academia, I wanted to ensure that if and when I
chose a masters course, it would be something with practical relevance
but also something which combined many different spheres of study. I
completed my Masters in European Studies at the Viadrina University in Frankfurt Oder this July (the same course fellow tour guide Roy is
currently studying!). I thoroughly enjoyed it all, a combination of
politics, law, economics and culture, taught predominantly in German but
I also took some English courses in Poland and Spanish courses in
Buenos Aires on exchange there for six months! So truly international!
We had wonderful guest professors from Princeton and Austin, and even
the hour commute to Frankfurt Oder a few times a week was balanced out
with having a Semesterticket to travel the length and breadth of Berlin
and Brandenburg for a very reasonable student price! Of course the final
months of writing my thesis were somewhat tedious, but now having
survived and emerged with a good Masters I could not be happier!
Immediate plans for the future hopefully involve an internship at the
European Parliament this winter, but then returning to Berlin in April
for our busy summer season, and doing what I love best. Long-term I
don't see myself leaving Berlin, perhaps moving a little further outside
of the city to live by a lake! But the city has been a fantastic place
to study European Relations, the capital of one of the founding members
of the original European Community and a bastion of the European Union
today. Due to this there are many exciting European projects and
initiatives around that I'd perhaps like to be part of in the future.
Berlin is notorious for its public spaces and the vast range of activities people can indulge in (without having to spend any money) in their free time. Have you picked up any hobbies since moving to Berlin. You know, the usual, holla hooping, ping pong, juggling in görli...
Berlin is notorious for its public spaces and the vast range of activities people can indulge in (without having to spend any money) in their free time. Have you picked up any hobbies since moving to Berlin. You know, the usual, holla hooping, ping pong, juggling in görli...
I'm
a big outdoor Berlin fan and am incredibly lucky to spend so much time
outside through work. A favourite summer activity of mine is exploring the cities many lakes, cycling out of the city on hot summer days and
going for dip - we're so lucky to have so many to choose from and there
are still so many to discover. I fully intend to visit them all one day -
though perhaps not all in one summer as was our lovely colleague
Barry's aim a couple of years ago! Another 'free' outdoor activity I've
picked up since living in Berlin is running, I've done the half marathon
here twice now and can honestly say I've enjoyed the training more than
the day itself, finding new routes through the city, the Tiergarten or
around the abandoned runways of Tempelhof airport. Of course the feeling
of running through the Brandenburg Gate or by Charlottenburg on the day
is pretty special too, and all of the opportunities to run in Berlin
have kept me going! Otherwise, I'm terrible at hula hooping, juggling
and ping pong, but have attempted them all to no avail, and recently
went kayaking in the Spreewald, a wonderful day made all the more
hilarious by my complete incapability to steer straight! An unexpected
'hobby' which I seemed to have picked up over time too is exploring many
of Berlins abandoned sites, from ballrooms, to embassies, to entire
complexes of unused buildings, all beautiful in their disrepair and with
their own tale to tell. Who knows whats next? Perhaps paddle-boarding,
or swing dancing, but perhaps not tightrope walking in görli!
Just like Venice, Berlin is a city of bridges and vistas. What is your favourite view location of the city?
Just like Venice, Berlin is a city of bridges and vistas. What is your favourite view location of the city?
By
far my new favourite spot is the outdoor bar on top of the shopping
arcades in Neukölln, Klunkerkranich. A little further out of the city,
the view leads on to the city centre in the distance and over the
residential rooftops of the south west, highlighting the lack of built
up districts in Berlin and red rooftop after red rooftop. It's great for
afternoon drinks, pizza, pinpointing landmarks in the distance and then
watching the sun go down as the lights of our beloved Berlin begin to
twinkle.
It is beloved isn't it. Thank you Ashleigh!
It is beloved isn't it. Thank you Ashleigh!