Of gay rights movement to the fall of the wall – a new App guides tourists to 200 places in Berlin which are connected with the historical moments of freedom. DW-reporter Frederike Müller on “the path of freedom”.
Freedom – a feeling that has moved the heart of Berlin. Also, and especially, given the Narrowness and lack of freedom by the Berlin wall, the city from 1961 to 1989, as the deadly border strip shared by the case 2019 30. Anniversary.
The struggle for freedom, which is also the red thread on the “path of freedom”, a virtual tour of the city in the new travel guide App the “About Berlin”. The Tourism of the city, Visit Berlin, they have developed together with the centre for contemporary historical research Potsdam.
From the debris field at the scene of the conflict between East and West
Where to start such a journey to freedom? The most famous place for the fall of the Berlin wall, the Brandenburg gate? Or at the historic Reichstag building?
No. The starting point of the Tour is a 17-storey house in the Hansa quarter, a high in-house settlement Dating back to the 50s in the district of Tiergarten. Not a known Hotspot, far and wide, not a Tourist. Why is it here?
“The city of tomorrow” – the title of the first Episode. Protagonist: Klaus Müller-Rehm, a young architect. The time travel leads to the year 1957. The international architectural Elite of Alvar Aalto and Walter Gropius hurried to the building exhibition in West Berlin in order to create a post-war rubble that was the city of the future. Of all things, architecture novice Müller-Rehm receives the award for the tallest high-rise in the new Hansa quarter! The project is West of Berlin minimalist-avant-garde response to the previously in the sugar bakery-style Boulevard of East Berlin, Karl-Marx-Allee. And Müller-Rehms high-rise to a self-confident, stable expression of the freedom of West Berlin. This is a story that is found in hardly any guide.
Müller-Rehms high house is called by the Berliners simply the “Giraffe” – after the Restaurant on the ground floor
Not only in the Hansa district, knowledge-thirsty, but also on 14 other stations. Extended 45 kilometers of this special city tour from the Tiergarten to Alexanderplatz, up to the edge of town to Potsdam. Plenty of material for two days in Berlin-Sightseeing, at least!
The “path of freedom” changes between Insider-tips-and-true tourist attractions. The Reichstag building is of course: in 1990, took place the Celebration of the German reunification, and in 1995 the spectacular veiling action of Christo and Jeanne-Claude; and since 1999, the German Parliament meets here.
The Tour also takes you to the former Tempelhof airport. During the Berlin airlift 1948/49, the aircraft of the allied forces landed here at one-minute intervals, in order to supply West Berlin during the Blockade by the Soviets. A further Station, the Glienicke bridge is replaced, on the East and West during the Cold war spies. And, of course, the Brandenburg gate, where Ronald Reagan’s words “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” are cited.
Berlin, “the same dit first house on the left”
Only a few steps from the famous gate, the “path of freedom” to the darkest Chapter of German history. Right next to the Brandenburg gate and the rebuilt Max-Liebermann-house. Who once wanted to visit the well-known painter, to whom he gave directions: “Come to Berlin, equal to dit first house on the left.” Rebellious against the Emperor, and the Academy of arts, whose President he was, later still, had to Liebermann, 1933 here, from his window, the Torchlight procession of the Nazis through the Brandenburg gate. And made his anger about it on the Berlin air: “Ick jar can eat not so ville, how I want to puke.” Because of his Jewish faith, Liebermann by the Nazis, is occupied with an exhibition ban, he dies in 1935, in his home at the Brandenburg gate. A place that many tourists do not perceive. And shows how close to freedom and unfreedom together.
At the Brandenburg gate just to the side looking: the Max Liebermann house is just as interesting
A missing place
Anyone who wants to, takes the liberty, of the predetermined Tour to depart. The App makes active proposals. Close to the Reichstag about it recommends the topic of “Sex is relative” and guides in the zoo Curious on a couple of wide steps between the Federal Chancellery and the house of the cultures of the world. Nothing evokes more the fact that this was from 1919 the address of the Institute for sexual science founded by Magnus Hirschfeld. The doctor studied in his Institute is love, their practices and their diversity, – stated in the App. He prejudices against homosexuals met with science and research. But Hirschfeld was lived like Liebermann, a Jew, in 1933, in the South of France in exile. There, he learned from the news, as the Nazis ransacked his Institute and its library burned. In 1935, he died in nice. Today, Hirschfeld is regarded as a pioneer of the gay movement, not only in Berlin.
Memorial plaque for Magnus Hirschfeld on the banks of the river Spree
Free App for bargain hunters and History buffs
A total of 200 places are integrated in the App “About Berlin”, equipped with offline-reading texts, 70 Hördokumenten via youtube and over 600 historic photos. Sometimes, the Navigation ends up against bushes or garbage cans. Partly historical Knowledge is set in advance. And yet: Who dares to such landmarks as the Brandenburg gate, the view to the page, the App is rewarded with exciting stories. And moves the human fates of the Berlin in the foreground, the mirrors big and small moments of the past.
Thus, About Berlin differs from the guide Apps like Tripwolf, Mytrip, or Marco Polo. Tips to Restaurants or Hotels? Buy a Ticket for the Museum or concert visit? Wrong! While the other travel guide Apps, dining, tourist attractions such as Madame Tussauds and Nazi memorials, equivalent manoeuvring, side by side, “About Berlin” to a content-based selection. The “path of freedom” is just one of a total of five tours. More are already in preparation.
Android, iOS
Storage space includes Offline texts and photos: about 300 MB
Languages: German, English