Berlin with a Leica iii – The Olympic Stadium & Teufelsberg
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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…
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.
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