Mauerpark (wall park), not far from our house, was built up after reunification in the security zone between east and west Berlin (the wall was actually two walls, with a strip of the security zone in between). Here’s an aerial map of the park with the former walls in red and blue:
These days the park is the epicenter of Berlin punk and extreme left angsty revolution. Just the other day police came in and arrested a hundred teenagers who had created a giant bonfire after stealing and then setting alight wooden benches from the nearby stadium. On the weekends, though, it hosts an amazing flea market, with the strangest collection of clothes, furniture, vinyl albums and paintings you can imagine. I call it the detritus of the 20th century. It’s been an interesting place to go to on the weekends, but now, with the weather in the seventies, the freaks have really come out. We spent the afternoon grilling in the park with friends (that’s our friend Luca in the Easter-inspired bunny ears):
After the bratwurst, we took a walk through the flea market and the scene was much livelier than the groups of army coat clad punks standing around burning trashcans we remembered from the winter. Here’s a little video to give you a taste of some of the sights and sounds (after the jump is a little more video, including German boys rapping and a bicycle-fueled karaoke machine):
doneAs promised, this was the strange scene we found walking out of the park. A giant amphitheater (sight of the aforementioned bonfire) and at the center a bicycle-powered karaoke machine and unfortunate rendition of a song I would rather not have been reminded of:
doneAnd then there were the German rappers. God help the German rappers:
done– Gal
