Everyone knows Berlin is a mega party city, but it is not a generic type of party that is easily found in other cities. Berlin attracts a number or eccentric weirdos, and it is great to go people watching at nearly any venue within the city. This specific image reveals a dance party, featuring American Bounce musician Katey Red and her crew performing at Sudblock.
I came up with this music venue long time ago, I think through a blog in 2009. I used to check every week the concerts they had at that time at the very beginning when the West Germany avenue was still underground and almost unknown. I like it here because I always discover new music bands and of course because of the venue itself which is located in a former doctor’s office.
A green oasis wedged between the continuous blocks of apartments, this Cemetery provides a place to be alone or take sleeping kids. I love how from the front it looks slightly macabre and a rigid with it's iron gate. But if you dare to enter its a fantastic place to escape and think.
There's a battle going on locally about adding a building inside the ground to help fund the archive and maintenance of the site. The Chair Anke Reuther feels the park is being disrespected with children playing on the headstones and people using it as a place for picnics.
Whilst i don't know the in's and out's I love seeing this beautiful 'life cycle' playing out under the trees (which have probably seen it all before). I love that people use a cemetery for living and in our ever crowded cities a green space is being claimed by the community. I do feel there is a hushed respect that i don't see in other parks which gives the place a reflective mood. Personally another building would ruin the magic of the place.
Perhaps some more input from the people who use it could be the key? Or even a re-examination of the inscription above the gate:
Make life
good and beautiful here,
no other world is,
no resurrection.
One of the most beautiful pieces of Berlin actually is a piece of another city (Al-Hillah, Iraq). Normally Berliners are laid back and like to hang around, drink beer and chat till sunrise. Sometimes they do get excited though, and then they start taking old war-battered stones and piecing them together to (re)form walls. The results are great as can be seen all over Berlin, but the Ishtar gate in the Pergamon museum is where they’ve really outdone themselves.