Berlin’s abandoned theme park, Spreepark Plänterwald, must be one of the most well-known urbex destinations in the world. The neglected amusement park has been in my thoughts often since it was bought back by the city of Berlin in March 2014. Spreepark hasn’t been open as an amusement park since 2002, when the owners ran […]
Der Letzte Cowboy der Nation – The Story of the Witte Family and Spreepark Plänterwald
I stumbled across Der Letzte Cowboy der Nation when I was trying to find out more about Spreepark Plänterwald and why this once prosperous theme park in Berlin lies abandoned. The flashing imagery and chaotic cutting of this short documentary are ideally suited to the extraordinary story of Norbert Witte’s fall from charismatic fun park […]
Snow at The Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park
The Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park is one of the most impressive sights in Berlin in any weather but adding a blanket of snow takes the wow factor up a notch. The memorial, which covers an area of about 100,000 square metres is also a cemetery – 5,000 of the approximately 80,000 soldiers killed […]
White Trash Fast Food – Rock n Roll Bingo
Last week I made my third Wednesday night visit to Rock n Roll Bingo at White Trash Fast Food in Berlin. The venue on Schönhauser Allee* is dark and slightly dingy – part restaurant, part bar, part club – and has an eclectic mix of art on the walls, all of which combine to give […]
Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park
One thing I learned from visiting the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park is that the Soviets knew how to honour their dead. The memorial in Treptower Park is the largest of the three main Soviet war memorials in Berlin – the other two are on Strasse des 17 Juni and in Schönholzer Heide. When I got my first […]
AliCé in Wunderstadt
I realise that the title is Denglish – it’s not grammatically correct in German and doesn’t make sense in English (and the name AliCé is neither) – but I couldn’t resist it. Good Friday really lived up to its name for me. I walked around Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg taking photographs of the incredible art of […]