Georg-von-Rauch-Haus

A building next to my office has much more interesting history than anybody passing by expected.

The Georg-von-Rauch-Haus was occupied by activists in 1971 during West Berlin's housing protests and became one of the symbols of Berlin's squatter movement. It is named after Georg von Rauch, an activist who was killed by police shortly before the occupation.

There this amazing symbol song about the house https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYSFGT7UGS8

The Art Manifesto at Bethanien

I visited an exhibition at Bethanien and ended up spending more time thinking about an art manifesto than the artwork itself.

Bethanien itself has an interesting history. It started as a hospital in the 19th century and later became one of Berlin's most important cultural and artistic spaces.

Gecekondu at Kottbusser Tor Berlin

There is a small hut near Kottbusser Tor called "Gecekondu".

"Gecekondu" is a Turkish word meaning "built overnight". This one was built as a protest against rising rents and the privatization of social housing in Berlin.

Behind it is Kotti & Co, a movement formed by local residents, many from Turkish guest-worker families. What looks like a simple wooden hut is actually a political meeting point, community center, and symbol of resistance against displacement.

There are many dramas foing on inside this initiative but the hut standing there is a real statement.

Schwerbelastungskörper

I didn't know that there was a giant concrete cylinder in Tempelhof without an active purpose right now.

The Schwerbelastungskörper ("heavy load-bearing body") was built by Albert Speer between 1941 and 1942 to test whether Berlin's ground could support a gigantic triumphal arch planned by the Nazis.

The arch was supposed to be around three times larger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The arch was never built, but the test structure remains. It is one of the strangest reminders of how ambitious and absurd some of the plans for Nazi Berlin were.

Timmy the Whale

I went down a rabbit hole reading about Timmy, a whale that became a national story in Germany.

What interested me most was the public reaction. Scientists argued that intervention would likely cause more suffering and that the whale should be left alone, but many people demanded that something be done.

Germans went a bit too emotional almost hysterical on this topic.