Berlin for Bibliophiles

Berlin / Go Shop
en af Spreebound /  William Thirteen, 4. mar 2010


Part of the Book Burning Memorial on Bebelplatz Photo: Chan'r

Being a booklover can be a burden when combined with a love for travel - literally! My insatiable lust for those finely bound objects of desire takes up not only precious room in my luggage, as I seem unable to board a plane or train without a half dozen readables tucked into my bags, but also a good portion of my travel budget, since every new destination offers countless opportunities to browse the local bookshops and secondhand shops. Embarassed as I am to admit it, I've now taken to bringing along an empty suitcase when I travel to a new city, in anticipation of all my new prizes.

Even here at home in Berlin I am not safe from this weakness for the written word. The Germans are notoriously literate (remember the Gutenberg Bible?), and in the years since reunification Berlin has once again grown to be a center of European culture and contemporary art. One can't walk fifty meters in any direction without coming across the windows of a bookstore whispering of the fascinating finds which may be waiting inside. As my apartment is relatively small, I try to keep my library pared down to manageable proportions by selling or giving away books once I am finished with them. Still I still accumulate books faster than I can read them and, since I long ago ran out of shelfspace, I am slowly being buried beneath thick volumes of Berlin history, psychoanalytic film theory, and paranoiac-critical surveys of art history.

A bittersweet malady this craving for life between the covers and, since misery loves company, I've compiled a short list of some of Berlin's best book pushers for visiting bibliofiends.

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Naughty Days & Nights in Berlin

Berlin / Go Night
en af Spreebound /  William Thirteen, 8. jan 2010


Photo: BoyWithCigar

As long anyone can remember, Berlin's been a city of dark and seductive glamour, the mere mention of its name bringing on visions of vice, abandon and sensual indulgence. The legendary late night extravagances of the Weimar era city were immortalized by Christopher Isherwood in the stories which would later become the film Cabaret, which established the city's reputation as Babylon on the Spree. The Golden Twenties ended with a political catastrophe but, despite twelve years in power and their vain attempts to clamp down on Berlin's libertinism, the Nazi's would leave little more behind than new drag for the already packed closets of the city's uniform fetishists. Later, during its years of post-war division the walled city became a magnet for sexual adventurers, a concrete cage serving the carnal appetites of pleasure seekers from around the world.

Today Berlin is a victim of its own success, the sexual liberation and libertinism pioneered here can now be found in almost every European city, and visitors to the German capital are more likely to be patronizing its modern art, music and fashion scenes rather than its more prurient pleasures. But those seeking a bit of erotic adventure won't have to venture far from the banks of the Spree to find a bit of the Babylon that made the city a libidinous legend. Here are few spots to start with:

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7 Lesser Known Berlin Sites Of Remembrance

Berlin / Go See
en af Spreebound /  William Thirteen, 29. dec 2009

Every city has its unique product - its main attraction.  Detroit has automobiles, Paris fashion, and Tokyo noodles. Berlin has history - and plenty of it. Unfortunately, much of this history is monstrous and tragic. I can barely walk down any street in this city without coming across a plaque, marker or memorial remembering those lost to the cruelties of Berlin's unique history. Every journey across town becomes a journey through the darkest days of the twentieth century.

All this history is really a bit exhausting and overwhelming. Around every corner and down every street I am constantly confronted with some of the worst chapters of Western Civilization. But this struggle to remember, to remember the victims, the perpetrators and those who resisted is all part of 'Vergangenheitsbewältigung' the German word for the process of coming to grips with the past. And, while this process is discomforting, enraging and saddening, it is only by engaging in it that we may regain our common humanity and develop the courage and determination to prevent such catastrophes in the future.

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Christmas Market Magic

Berlin / Go Shop
en af Spreebound /  William Thirteen, 1. dec 2009

It's that time of year again in Berlin; the skies are cold and damp, darkness falls early, stays late, and you can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a Christmas market.  One of the city's most loved holiday traditions; the markets are a time-honored way to lighten the gloom of Berlin's long December nights. This week I tried my luck at a 'traditional' Weihnachtsmarkt in front of Schloss Charlottenburg, on the far side of town.

Even from a distance the market glows invitingly, the twinkling bulbs of the Christmas trees framing the royal palace, festively painted with holiday colors. Crowded with merrymakers of every age wandering along the rows of wooden huts and rustic cabins, the palace's normally staid front lawn takes on the appearance of the small alpine village of Christmas fantasy.

The tiny sizes of the huts belie the wealth of goods they offer. I could have knocked out a good part of my Christmas list had I been in the mood, but I'm an unrepentant last minute shopper so i just browsed through, taking in the holiday cheer, the children's joyful shrieks as they whirled around the antique Christmas carousel or miniature Ferris wheel, and their wide-eyed wonder at the endless selection of toys and trinkets.

There’s plenty to tempt older children like me too. The vendors were laying out long rows of woolen gloves and scarves, fashionable felt hats, hand carved nativity scenes, and holiday house decorations. The stuffed shopping bags and cash changing hands confirm that this tiny alpine village is a one stop shop for every holiday need.

And then there are the edibles - lots and lots of edibles. Eating and drinking is a central part of the Christmas market experience and long lines of red noses circle cabins offering every sort of goulash, grilled beast and, this being Germany, a multitude of wursts. Bloodwursts, Bratwursts and Bockwursts are turning and burning on the grill and, though not a big meat eater, I waited in line like everyone else. There are few things that can warm the belly on a chill winter evening better than a smoked bratwurst slathered in mustard and washed down with a steaming mug of Glühwein, that sweet, warm, intoxicating brew that, as its name implies, adds an extra glow to every Christmas market. Afterwards I treated myself to a paper sac full of hot roasted chestnuts to keep that holiday warmth all the way home.

There are still a couple of weeks to go before the big day and I’m planning to make my way to a few more Christmas markets.  There’s the trendy Weihnachtszauber on the Gendarmenmarkt, the hipster market in Prenzlauer Berg's Kulturbrauerei, the proletarian market at Alexanderplatz with its ice skating rink, and even a Hanukkah Market at the Jewish Museum.  With so many to choose from I'll be able to keep the winter blues at bay and find plenty to marvel at while contemplating the true gifts of this holiday season.

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Meandering with Marx In Berlin

Berlin / Go See
en af Spreebound /  William Thirteen, 19. nov 2009


Photo: Doratagold

Berlin's position as Germany's capital has been the source of much difficulty down the decades, as every new regime attempts to remake the city after its own ideological design. The 19th century Kaisers with their proliferating palaces and Hitler & Speer's grotesque 'Germania' - a megalomaniacal reimagining of Berlin in the style of fascist monumentalism, are but two examples of the compulsion which seizes those who take up the reins of power. After WWII Berlin saw another episode of this regime rebuilding when the East German authorities, following cues from Moscow, decided to clear away acres of war-ruined 19th century housing and build a tribute to their new dictatorship of the proletariat.

To be fair, the construction was necessary measure to provide housing for Berlin’s bombed out citizens and similar projects were undertaken in the city’s western sectors.  But it was here, on the newly christened Stalinallee (renamed Karl-Marx-Allee in 1961), that East Germany’s propaganda machinery took full advantage of the reconstruction in an attempt to demonstrate the superiority of the young socialist regime.

Beginning at Strausberger Platz, home to a fine bust of Karl Marx, down to the twin domes of Frankfurter Tor and back, I walked the wide boulevard this past weekend, taken with the fanciful eight storey 'worker’s palaces', shining examples of Stalinist socialist classicism.

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