Berlin

Music and Cities: Berlin by Tom Oliver Payne

When I think of Berlin, the things that jump to mind are huge warehouse spaces, hard techno music, late night parties, and a city of free and liberal-minded people. It was probably one of my favourite films, Berlin Calling, which long ago planted this image in my head.

The city is considered the techno capital of the world, and Mali and I wanted to find out why. What better way to do this than to hit some parties, meet some DJs, and talk to the locals and urbanists?

After touching down in Schönefeld Airport, it wasn’t long before we were romping around Kreuzberg. As we explored, it was quick to see that this part of Berlin had a very different look and feel of cities of Western Europe: huge city blocks and old warehouse buildings lined the streets, grey concrete walls crumbled around us and dark alleyways stretched into the darkness. The neighbourhoods felt hard and weathered: an exciting, unrefined vibe, far from the lights and glitz of Champs-Élysées.

Trying our best to avoid the sub-zero temperatures we hustled into a coffee shop to meet long-time locals, Fanny Rybarsch and William R Wilkendorf. As city enthusiasts and owners of street-music company, Klara Geist, it was clear these guys knew a thing or two about the city.

Reflecting on his long history in Berlin, William told us about the alternative, and even anarchist, nature of the city. The Berlin Wall, he said, very likely played a strong role in creating this. East Berliners lived in a surveillance state, and on both sides, attempts to cross to the other side to meet friends or loved ones was likely to end in death. In addition, the wall created small neighborhood enclaves sitting against the Spree River. For decades these areas became run-down and derelict. But this also meant that rent was cheap, which attracted squatters, people making art, talking politics, and creating music.

With the rise of groups like Kraftwerk, electronica music began to hit the mainstream, and naturally Berlin’s alternative neighbourhoods were at the forefront of this music scene.

Heading north of the river to Friedrichstrasse we were welcomed into the home of Dr Jan Kuhn. Both a DJ and urban sociologist, he had for a long time explored the city’s relationship with the electro music scene. He talked us through the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and how the once divided city finally became unified.

Suddenly, the suppressed eastern side of the city was free to live in and travel to the West. And what were isolated neighbourhoods like Kreuzberg, now sat right in the centre of what were once two cities.

With a combination of alternative thinking, liberal laws, cheap or empty spaces (a third of all buildings in west Berlin were unoccupied when the wall came down), and an already pumping music scene, it wasn’t long before the now united Berlin became the world’s centre for electronic music.

Heading out into the night, it was apparent to us that this was a city that came alive after dark. Mitte’s streets permeated with lights and music flowed from the buildings and down the streets. All around us people from across the globe out to party, and even before midnight, the city’s famous kebab shops were filled with people seeking some post-alcohol sustenance.

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Fortunate enough to meet some of the city’s most impressive up-and-coming DJs, we soon learned why artists from both around the country, and around the world are continually attracted to the city.

Christoph Etmars (aka Escape to Mars) told us, “Berlin is the place to find yourself and your music… We have so many kinds of electronica music in Berlin…. That’s why Berlin, is Berlin, I think. ”

Vom Feisten couldn’t have agreed more, “Here is the new centre of this music in the world… People from all over the world come together, meet each other, work on different projects… the newest and biggest labels are from Berlin."

As we partied late in the city's bars and clubs, we felt the vibe that these DJs  got from their city. People around us had an energy to them - a slight edge. While the city is now unified, I guess Berlin’s sense of anarchy lives on in the music… and late into the night.

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What is Templehof? by Tom Oliver Payne

A couple of weeks ago I took off to Berlin to explore the city. A few friends suggested we head out to 'Templehof' one afternoon. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

Walking from the amazing Kreuzberg (and getting lost in a cemetery along the way), I decided to finally ask the question, "Ahhh guys, what is Templehof, anyway!?" The response wasn't really what I was expecting. The answer I got was simply "abandoned airport".

Having checked out quite a few cities, I've been managed to see some pretty interesting places: Africa's largest slum, a huge urban reservoir in the south of Spain, and to the top of the world's tallest building. I never thought however, that I would be standing in the middle of Berlin in a derelict Nazi-Germany airport, comprising what still is today, one of the world's largest buildings.

Laying in the grass, soaking up the last of the Autumn sunshine, I decided I'd do a bit of googling about the place that surrounded me. The more I dug, the more I found it difficult to believe where I actually was.

Built in 1927 this place was for a long time one the world's busiest airports - often referred to as the gateway to Europe. Designed by the Nazi government to resemble an eagle in flight from above, the airport is still considered by one of the world's most renowned architects "one of the greatest buildings of the modern age".

As I looked towards the main building I could see an old US troops carrier with stars embedded on its side. The plane looked more like something out of a 1950s Hollywood film then something that belonged in the deepest depths of Germany. Well, there's a reason why it was sitting there. Directly on the divide between the east and the west, Templehof was the epicentre of a global political divide. At the end of the World War II and into the Cold War, Templehof became the key air base for US forces in Europe.

As I heard bellowing electronic music begin to bellow from one of the hangars, how was it then that a place of such historical significance was now a place for parties, beers, sports and generally mulling about?

In typical Berlin-style, what could have become a derelict old airport was slowly opened to the public. By 2010 the government decided that instead of redeveloping the land for prime real estate, it would be opened as a massive public park. Then, in September 2015, it was decided that it would also be used to temporarily house Syrian refugees.

What the government and voters have decided to forego in short-term financial gain, has built a long-term asset which not only gives the local community and tourists an amazing place to hang out, but helps to build Berlin's brand as an incredibly liberal, unique and creative global city.

Berlin is a city which has been tormented by an incredibly dark past. This history hasn't been erased. Instead, it's been recaptured and re-invented to develop itself as one of the most forward-thinking cities in the world. Seriously, if you're in Berlin, take a stroll to this strange and wonderful place - it's worth it.

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