Nestled just outside of the Ringbahn of Berlin, lay a historical little hub, a calm enclave carved out of a point in time when German Industry was at its height and technological discoveries were erupting regularly. Named after the British Queen, the area of Victoriastadt housed workers that spun wools and finery for her kingdoms consumption at high quantities. Initiating a spring of manufacturing from textiles to concrete, train brakes and pellet balls. Some relics still preserved, but virtually unnoticeable to commuters unless seen from an observing bike ride or by train window, for which the little city is surrounded by these silver snakes that guide trains. The train tracks create the boarders of Victoriastadt and their screaming lullaby is the soundtrack that signifies encapsulated mirages that poignantly speed by to be there one moment and gone the next. However all is well in the small gentle stadt, holding safe a close-knit community of artisans, historians, families and so on… a collection of people that are the result of over a century of evolutions. Though Victoriastadt is no longer an area to house workers to be employed by its nearby factories, the residue of its origins still remain. For instance, a switch-line booth may not hold the telephonic machinery it was intended for, but its shell houses a cultural craft of a newly developed artisanal kind. A tower that once dropped liquefied molton metals for its prize bounty, sits in remission above a block of row houses. And the robust bridges that safely elevate speeding trains above Victoriastads entry points, harbor mysteries of light sculptures beneath them. Glowing angels in hiding, waiting like dignified guardians, light the way to curiosity seekers that are beheld to uncover the hidden magic of a city within a city that awaits them.
Episode tip: Listen for the trains wisking by the background of this episode.
To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin
Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin
SHOW NOTES:
Articles explored for this episode:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoriastadt
https://www.everestate.com/blog/neighbourhood-profile-victoriastadt-in-lichtenberg
https://karte.industriekultur.berlin/standort/ehem-knorr-bremse-hauptwerk/
to visit some of the closed monuments once a year in September:
https://www.berlin.de/en/events/2860241-2842498-heritage-day.en.html
Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil serenading from the depths of the Schrotkugelturm
Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry @lacy_barry 2020, hiding in plain sight in the Linienverzweiger
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Nestled just outside of the Ringbahn of Berlin, lay a historical little hub, a calm enclave carved out of a point in time when German Industry was at its height and technological discoveries were erupting regularly. Named after the British Queen, the area of Victoriastadt housed workers that spun wools and finery for her kingdoms consumption at high quantities. Initiating a spring of manufacturing from textiles to concrete, train brakes and pellet balls. Some relics still preserved, but virtually unnoticeable to commuters unless seen from an observing bike ride or by train window, for which the little city is surrounded by these silver snakes that guide trains. The train tracks create the boarders of Victoriastadt and their screaming lullaby is the soundtrack that signifies encapsulated mirages that poignantly speed by to be there one moment and gone the next. However all is well in the small gentle stadt, holding safe a close-knit community of artisans, historians, families and so on… a collection of people that are the result of over a century of evolutions. Though Victoriastadt is no longer an area to house workers to be employed by its nearby factories, the residue of its origins still remain. For instance, a switch-line booth may not hold the telephonic machinery it was intended for, but its shell houses a cultural craft of a newly developed artisanal kind. A tower that once dropped liquefied molton metals for its prize bounty, sits in remission above a block of row houses. And the robust bridges that safely elevate speeding trains above Victoriastads entry points, harbor mysteries of light sculptures beneath them. Glowing angels in hiding, waiting like dignified guardians, light the way to curiosity seekers that are beheld to uncover the hidden magic of a city within a city that awaits them.
Episode tip: Listen for the trains wisking by the background of this episode.
To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin
Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin
SHOW NOTES:
Articles explored for this episode:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoriastadt
https://www.everestate.com/blog/neighbourhood-profile-victoriastadt-in-lichtenberg
https://karte.industriekultur.berlin/standort/ehem-knorr-bremse-hauptwerk/
to visit some of the closed monuments once a year in September:
https://www.berlin.de/en/events/2860241-2842498-heritage-day.en.html
Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil serenading from the depths of the Schrotkugelturm
Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry @lacy_barry 2020, hiding in plain sight in the Linienverzweiger
Looking out from the top level of an East German watch tower, the scene looks very different from the one over 30 years ago when the Berlin wall was still in place. I imagined giant slabs of erect concrete to my right and left, barbed wire from the middle along with various barricades and dangers placed along a long grave track. If this was then, my job would have been to be aware of trespassers and escapees and my duty to arrest or shoot if necessary… even if those escaping were a friend or relative. But the scene is very different now, the tower is surrounded not with walls and gravel but rather a park, busy leisure seekers and rustling traffic, as though this tower was never intended as a pillar of threat, just a park fixture like any tree or shrub. Instead of wearing uniform, I am in my chosen clothing, surrounded not by other soldiers and artillery, but art, books, and sunlight… Welcome to The Watch.
SHOW NOTES:
To discover more about The Watch, exhibitions, opening times and residencies, please go to: https://thewatch-berlin.org/ and visit them on Instagram at @residency.wachturm
To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at https://www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin
Join the community and follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin
Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil haunting the piano keys of the former GDR. https://www.rossanosnel.com/
Podcast mentions:
Allison Sommers artwork can be found here: https://allisonsommers.com/
Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry 2020, on look-out duty.
Secret Place Berlin
Nestled just outside of the Ringbahn of Berlin, lay a historical little hub, a calm enclave carved out of a point in time when German Industry was at its height and technological discoveries were erupting regularly. Named after the British Queen, the area of Victoriastadt housed workers that spun wools and finery for her kingdoms consumption at high quantities. Initiating a spring of manufacturing from textiles to concrete, train brakes and pellet balls. Some relics still preserved, but virtually unnoticeable to commuters unless seen from an observing bike ride or by train window, for which the little city is surrounded by these silver snakes that guide trains. The train tracks create the boarders of Victoriastadt and their screaming lullaby is the soundtrack that signifies encapsulated mirages that poignantly speed by to be there one moment and gone the next. However all is well in the small gentle stadt, holding safe a close-knit community of artisans, historians, families and so on… a collection of people that are the result of over a century of evolutions. Though Victoriastadt is no longer an area to house workers to be employed by its nearby factories, the residue of its origins still remain. For instance, a switch-line booth may not hold the telephonic machinery it was intended for, but its shell houses a cultural craft of a newly developed artisanal kind. A tower that once dropped liquefied molton metals for its prize bounty, sits in remission above a block of row houses. And the robust bridges that safely elevate speeding trains above Victoriastads entry points, harbor mysteries of light sculptures beneath them. Glowing angels in hiding, waiting like dignified guardians, light the way to curiosity seekers that are beheld to uncover the hidden magic of a city within a city that awaits them.
Episode tip: Listen for the trains wisking by the background of this episode.
To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin
Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin
SHOW NOTES:
Articles explored for this episode:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoriastadt
https://www.everestate.com/blog/neighbourhood-profile-victoriastadt-in-lichtenberg
https://karte.industriekultur.berlin/standort/ehem-knorr-bremse-hauptwerk/
to visit some of the closed monuments once a year in September:
https://www.berlin.de/en/events/2860241-2842498-heritage-day.en.html
Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil serenading from the depths of the Schrotkugelturm
Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry @lacy_barry 2020, hiding in plain sight in the Linienverzweiger
