Berlin with a Leica iii – The Olympic Stadium & Teufelsberg

Graffiti is a serious endeavour at Teufelsberg with an attention grabbing backdrop to boot. Kodak Tri-X 400.

Berlin, Berlin. The first place in Germany I visited in 2022 and a city I still had a lot to explore. With my move to Japan coming ever closer there was a real risk that I wouldn’t be visiting the country for a couple of years. Furthermore, I realised that the Helmut Newton Foundation is based in Berlin and is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, definitely something I wanted to visit before I shipped out to the far east. Making the decision I booked myself on a mid-week trip with just a small backpack, my Leica iii and a few rolls of black and white film for round two.

The entrance to Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, built for the famous 1936 Olympic Games. Many visitors would have been using early Leica cameras like my Leica iii. Kodak Tri-X 400.

The stadium was all set up for Euro 2024. Kodak Tri-X 400.

You couldn’t miss these giant footballs dotted around the area. It makes me wonder what happened to them after the tournament finished. Kodak Tri-X 400.

I’ll talk about my visit to the Museum in next week’s blog but this week I’ll focus on two new places I visited – The Olympic Stadium and Teufelsberg. Berlin has a well-earned reputation for being a party city, but the main draw for me is Berlin’s other top attraction, its history. Last time I explored the city centre but now I wanted to see things on the outer edge. Though no matches were played in the city while I was there, I was in Berlin during this summer’s Euro 2024 tournament (which explained why many of the accommodation prices were higher than I had expected) and so it was only appropriate that I visited the Olympic Stadium where the final would take place, sadly a final that England would once again lose.

Rehearsals were being made for the pre-match show ahead of the final game. Kodak Tri-X 400.

I was surprised to see many of the Nazi-era stone monuments still up around the stadium as I assumed they’d all be destroyed during the Battle of Berlin. A piece of the past. Kodak Tri-X 400.

The bell tower is the middle tower in the background, it also serves as a viewing platform for the stadium. Kodak Tri-X 400.

What I really liked about this visit was that this stadium comes from the same era as my Leica iii. Many attendees would have brought theirs along to capture their trip, so it was all the more appropriate that I only shot back and white film (I had three rolls of Kodak Tri-X 400 and one roll of Kentmere Pan 400). It certainly suits Berlin as while it has a vibrant spirit, it doesn’t exactly have a vibrant colour scheme, with plenty of granite and hard stone. There wasn’t a great deal of activity on the day I went, but I did get to see people rehearsing for part of the pre-match final ceremony and I made the very wise decision to go up the bell tower which gives stunning views not just of the stadium but the entire surrounding area of Berlin. It was here I saw the ruins of a radio tower in the distance.

It certainly gives the best view of the Olympic Stadium, made all the better given the time-limited decorations for Euro 2024. Kodak Tri-X 400.

Parallax error? What parallax error? I managed to squeak in the left side of the bell but it was tight at 50mm. This is not the original bell as the old one now sits on display outside the stadium, having fallen and cracked when the original tower was destroyed. Kodak Tri-X 400.

This was the first time I saw Teufelsberg, and also the first time I knew of its existence. Kodak Tri-X 400.

Teufelsberg is another famous landmark in Berlin, but it was one I hadn’t known about, and when I looked it up online and saw it had now been converted into an outdoor art gallery, I knew I had to visit it. That’s very Berlin, taking something old, decaying and historical and turning it into a showcase for art. Situated on a hill in the Grunewald, I made my way over Drachenberg before arriving at the entrance. Amazingly Teufelsberg is an entirely man-made hill, as after the war Berlin was full of rubble that needed disposing of, but the Berlin Blockade and the rendering of Germany into two meant that the allied side could not take it out of the city. Later on, in 1963, the Americans built a listening station here as it provided a good vantage point, but once the Cold War was over it was shut down. Plans to renovate the site for housing later fell through and fast forward to today it’s now a showcase for graffiti art.

I headed over Drachenberg to get to Teufelsberg. Kodak Tri-X 400.

The entrance to Teufelsberg, the graffiti is immediately present. Kodak Tri-X 400.

Heading into the main building the big galleries are spread out over several floors. Kodak Tri-X 400.

I love urban exploration, so this was the perfect place for me to visit. You do have to be a little bit careful of broken glass and rusty metal but (at least on the day I went) there was a very calm atmosphere as you stroll around and climb up and down the buildings to see what people have created. At the very top with the shredded remains of the old antennae you have another great view out across the surrounding area and there were more than a few people using the backdrop for taking photos. Entry only costs €10 so it’s well worth visiting if you are in Berlin, especially as you can then further explore the Grunewald. It’s wonderful to have such a forest on the edge of a major city and it provides plenty of opportunities for walking as well as wild water swimming.

I’m not quite sure how I managed this double exposure, but here it is! Kodak Tri-X 400.

There are other smaller buildings with remnants of old machinery you can enter, they are very dark inside but there’s still plenty more to see. Kodak Tri-X 400.

Even the old machinery hasn’t escaped the artists’ can. Kodak Tri-X 400.

Teufelsberg is in fact named after the nearby lake Teufelssee and this perhaps the most popular outdoor swimming location in Berlin. Wild water swimming is very popular in Berlin and I believe popular across Germany as a whole. The water quality here is good, access via the train is easy and it provides an escape from the grey hustle and bustle of inner Berlin. There are certainly other lakes that people visit but this is the one surrounded by the most nature and on a hot summers day there are a lot of people here. In fact, finding a spot by the water can actually be quite challenging, though there’s plenty of room a bit further back.

On the roof you can get a closer look at the shredded remains of the old antennae. Kodak Tri-X 400.

They make an impressive backdrop for photos. Kodak Tri-X 400.

There is another tower but not all parts of the site are accessible to the general public. Kodak Tri-X 400.

On my first visit I didn’t go swimming, but I did come back twice more as it is something I enjoy but don’t get to do often back in the UK. One thing that is very German though is that most people here are also naked! Nudism or FKK as it’s known in Germany has long been a popular tradition, especially in East Germany and Berlin in particular. In fact, if you visit the East German Museum they have an entire section about it. The water is warmer than the seas back home so there’s no need to worry about the cold and as the saying goes, when in Rome…

As it sits on top of a (man-made) hill it offers another great viewpoint of Berlin and the Grunewald. Kodak Tri-X 400.

The graffiti artwork on the walls are not static display, new pieces are being added all the time. Kodak Tri-X 400.

Nearby Teufelssee provides a quiet natural space away from the business of city life. Kodak Tri-X 400.

It’s frequented by Berlin’s many nudists and there’s a platform you can swim out to in the middle of the lake. The first day I went was quiet but the next day brought much better weather and with it the crowds. Kodak Tri-X 400.

My final visit to the Grunewald on my last day turned out not how I expected as the blue skies gave way to a thunderous downpour that was so bad the entrance to the station was completely flooded and I had to take my shoes off to get out. Though an added bonus was befriending a German man on the train who took an interest in my Leica iii. Unfortunately, that final shot of the station in the rain was the final shot on my final roll of film so there’s no physical record of all that water. At least the Leica iii doesn’t have any electronics.

As ever I do encourage people to visit Berlin and if you haven’t quite been swayed this time around, hopefully I can finally convince you with part two next week.

Light through the trees, I was surprised how well this uncoated lens held up against sun flares. Much better than my Kodak Pocket camera. Kodak Tri-X 400.

I visited this old oak tree after seeing it appear on Google Maps. I believe this is the Knorriger alter Baum, which translates as ‘gnarled old tree’. It certainly fits that description. Kodak Tri-X 400.

The final photo of the trip was this shot of Grunewald station during a torrential downpour, which saw the station entrance flood. A couple of hours later it completely cleared up but I had ran out of film. Kentmere Pan 400.

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