Berlin's Teufelsberg

Devil's Hill   - Teufelsberg -  is the name of this location, an artificial elevation made from the debris of Berlin after World War II, construction waste of generations, the only "mountain" of Berlin. On top of it, the US built their spy station listening in on the chatter and random noise from the east bloc from here. Nowadays it is abandoned, the radar domes in disrepair, the area deserted. One of the truly "lost places" of Berlin, it has turned into a paradise for graffiti sprayers and photographers. For a small fee the owner lets you wander freely around the place.

Listening ... where? 

There used to be a road ...

 No man's land 

 View towards  Berlin

 in a sorry state

 in the dome

the tools of the Graffiti trade

Toy Stories - and a Graduation !

This is a series of pictures that I made when my daughter moved out to go to college in 2011. She had to leave her large collection of toy animals behind: Steiff animals, Beanie Babies or Happy Meal gifts, they had all been made welcome. I made a portrait series of them for a small book that she could take along. 

This year, she graduated! 

 her London study time is over...

Nosy and Tusk

Eggbert

Prance

Sally

Slippy

Wonton

 "Sheets" - a friendly ghost and her favourite for a long time, that she took with her wherever she went.

Finny - "So long - and thanks for all the fish!"

The Bridge of Spies

Have you seen "The Bridge of Spies" ?

Glienicker Brücke, today

I visited the bridge last weekend, as a tourist, in bleak grey end-of-January-weather. During the Cold War spies were exchanged here: in 1962 the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in exchange for the US fighter pilot Gary Powers. This is the topic of the latest, immensely fascinating film directed by Steven Spielberg with Tom Hanks, one of my favourite actors, acting the lawyer who represented the spy and organized the exchange. The film has been nominated for six Oscars. It was filmed in the famous Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam; one of the nominations is for the production design. To recreate the original scenes and atmosphere, the studio's craftspeople even produced their own barbed wire to make it authentic...

in Filmpark Babelsberg

This is the view from the bridge across the Wannsee towards several old and disfunctional castles of the bygone era of Prussian kings. The area has been peacefully neglected over the past 70 years and is still in need of repair.

As it was an especially nasty and grey cold winter day, the rendering in Black&White seemed appropriate.  

Schloss Babelsberg in its large parkland area. 

Babelsberg studios are actually quite close to the original location of the exchange. 

out-buildings

 Another building with a gruesome history is the House of the Wannsee Conference, close-by. Nowadays it holds a museum with a chilling documentation of the path leading down towards the Holocaust and an extensive collection of written artifacts. 

the House of the Wannsee-Conference

Wannsee in winter

The Photographic Garden Diary : Promises of Spring

After a wintery spell with temperatures down to -13°C, waves of sleet and dark grey days, the snow is gone now.  I went out into the garden with my camera in search of spring motifs of the new year and signs of awakening. 

The leafy buds of Sedum spectabile poke their green heads through the old last year's stalks .

Cyclamen coum is flowering in the lawn.

Helleborus orientalis under snow

Camellia "Hagoromo" has not yet opened. Last year she flowered over christmas - this year she was more careful and seemed to know about the coming cold. She will not be fooled.