Cold War

The Berlin Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park is the biggest of the three war memorials the USSR left in Berlin after the end of the Second World War. It was built to the design of the Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky as a memorial for 5,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who died in the Battle of Berlin between April and May 1945. It opened four years after World War II on May 8, 1949, and it used to serve as the central war memorial in East Berlin.

Berlin Soviet Memorial: Treptower Park

Berlin
5 min read
08/05/202021/12/2023

Lenin statues, with some historical importance, were the source of some impossible satires during the GDR times. East German propaganda had something to say about this Lenin statue that came from Eisleben, Martin Luther's hometown in Saxony. We know for sure that this statue was made in 1925 by the Soviet sculptor Matwej Maniser and that it was the first statue of the Soviet hero standing in German soil.

All the locations that we found Lenin in Berlin

Berlin
7 min read
22/04/202021/01/2024

Clive James’s Postcard from Berlin was part of a TV travel documentary series that was broadcast in Great Britain in 1995. In this show, you can see Australian broadcaster and comedian Clive James exploring the German capital a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of the country.

Postcard from Berlin with Clive James

Berlin
3 min read
09/02/202002/03/2020

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, the former Staatsratsgebäude was used as the seat of the Federal Chancellery under Gerhard Schröder. Between 2003 and 2005, the historical building went trough renovation extensively so that the European School of Management Berlin could take over it, they opened their doors in January 2006.

The Staatsratsgebäude: A Historical and Architectural Gem in Berlin

Berlin
5 min read
02/02/202014/06/2024

In Berlin Moves, Alex Soloviev tries to capture the German capital from the eyes of a local. At the same time, he tries to show how beautiful the city is from the perspective of a tourist. He wants to show you all the small things that you overlook while you walk around Berlin, and this is one of the many reasons why we had to write something about his latest video.

Berlin Moves with Alex Soloviev

Berlin
3 min read
24/11/201915/04/2024

Budapest is a fantastic city, so rich in history that it might be complicated for some people to wrap their heads around and focus on exploring the city. This is why, after a couple of visits, we decided to come up with a brief list of our favorite places to visit and things to do in Budapest.

Our Favorite Places to Visit and Things to Do in Budapest

Budapest
7 min read
30/09/201915/02/2024

Located in the hill south of Budapest, Memento Park seems to be the place that communist statues go to die. There, Lenin stands next to Karl Marx and Engels, together with crucial Hungarian communist leaders. All of this behind brick walls that make up a surreal and unique open-air museum that feels more authentic than most sights in the city.

Memento Park: A Surreal Time Capsule of Budapest’s Communist Past

Budapest
6 min read
14/08/201916/07/2024

It weighs more than three tons, and it was buried and almost forgotten deep in a forest around Berlin. But nowadays, you can visit the head of Lenin at the Zitadelle Spandau in an exhibition focused on German history.

The Unearthed Head of Lenin at Zitadelle Spandau

Berlin
5 min read
10/07/201903/07/2023

Back in 1988, one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Tilda Swinton took her bike and cycled round the Berlin Wall, together with the filmmaker Cynthia Beatt. What they created came to be known as Cycling the Frame and it’s a beautiful and surreal document that shows a city scarred by a wall that cut it in half.

Cycling the Frame: When Tilda Swinton cycled by the Berlin Wall

Berlin
3 min read
19/03/201915/04/2025

The public transport system in Berlin is quite complete and includes ferries, buses, trams, and trains split into the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn. But, for a brief moment in time, there was also the Berlin M-Bahn, and we will always regret not being able to take a ride in one since it was made out of service back in 1991, a little after the reunification of Germany.

Berlin M-Bahn: The Brief History of the First Maglev train in Germany

Berlin
3 min read
25/09/201814/11/2024

It’s 2018, and there are still some Lenin statues left around Germany. We visited one of these statues in Berlin, and we continue looking for them around the country. One day we got lucky, and we managed to find two of them on the same day. That blessed day was back in October 2016 when we took our bikes north and went to Fürstenberg to do some urban exploration.

Hunting Down Lenin Statues in Fürstenberg

Urbex
6 min read
14/09/201810/12/2023

Sometimes I go on Youtube and search for movies related to Berlin in any way. This is how I discovered some of the youtube videos I have written about here, and this is how I found out about Background to Berlin, a NATO Information Service movie that explains, in a little less than 30 minutes, the history of the German capital from 1945 to 1961.

Background to Berlin: A NATO Information Service explaining everything about Berlin from 1945 to 1961

Berlin
3 min read
25/07/201808/10/2024

Back in 1999, local historian Christian Bormann found something that it wasn’t supposed to be lost. Nine years after demolition began, he found a piece of the Berlin Wall, somehow forgotten in the woods between a train station and a supermarket. More than 80 meters of the original Berlin Wall, built in 1961, is standing there, some with the V-shaped brackets that once had barbed wire on it. It’s hard to believe that something with this historical importance was lost and this is why we went there to see it with our own eyes.

The Newly Found Original Berlin Wall that was lost in the woods in Schonholz

Berlin
5 min read
05/02/201823/05/2024

Walled in! – The inner German border is a computer animation produced by Deutsche Welle together with the Berlin Wall Foundation to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. The short movie describes in details the fortifications and the way that the border between East and West Germany was set up and it’s an excellent resource for those who want to know more about it.

Understanding the Berlin Wall with Walled in! – The inner German border

Berlin
3 min read
30/01/201820/05/2024

During the years where Nick Cave was living in Berlin, back in the 1980’s, he was filmed for a Dutch documentary called Stranger in a Strange Land. Produced by Bram van Splunteren for the Dutch TV channel VPRO, you get a glimpse of the life of Nick Cave in Berlin even though some parts of the movie are voice-over in dutch. But you don’t need to worry about it, all the interviews with Nick Cave are in English.

Nick Cave in Berlin: Stranger in a Strange Land

Berlin
3 min read
16/12/201713/08/2024

Risiko was a legendary bar & club in the West Berlin of 1980’s, and Uli M Schueppel did a short film about its last morning, all the way back in 1986. The footage captures and documents a little piece of Berlin history with a cover of Lost in Music by Anita Lane and Alex Harvey as the soundtrack of this movie shot in Super8.

Last Morning of Risiko, one of Berlin’s legendary bars from the 1980’s

Berlin
3 min read
11/12/201730/12/2023

I was in Kaliningrad in the last days of October 2017, and the House of Soviets caught my attention since I arrived in the city. The building can be found in the middle of the central square of Kaliningrad, close to where the Königsberg Castle used to be but not quite there. The House of Soviets was built over the moat of the castle, and you can clearly see this in the following picture. There you can look at the ruins of the castle and the abandoned building in the back.

The Monster of Kaliningrad: The Story of the House of Soviets

Kaliningrad, Russia
7 min read
22/11/201730/10/2024

It was August 21, 1988, and four people decided to risk their lives crossing the Spree River in an attempt of escaping East Germany in hope for freedom in West Berlin. Three men and a woman risked their lives and watching it today make everything look like a distant event in the past, but that was Berlin at the time.

Escaping East Germany: Swimming Across the Spree into West Berlin in Video

Berlin
3 min read
12/11/201705/02/2024

Konrad H. Jarausch explains the Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall on a TED-ED video animation

Konrad H. Jarausch explains the Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall on a TED-ED video animation

Berlin
2 min read
07/10/201708/04/2024

Why you need to visit the Olympiastadion even if you dont care about sports_

Why you need to visit the Olympiastadion Berlin even if you don’t care about sports

Berlin
8 min read
30/08/201719/03/2024

Like I said before, We Will Forget Soon is a fantastic book that documents a part of German history that most people don’t like to talk about but that needs to be told. Dario-Jacopo Laganá and Stefano Corso did a fantastic job with their book, and I believe that everybody that has some interest in this part of history needs to have this on their bookshelf.

We Will Forget Soon: An Interview with Dario-Jacopo Laganá

Berlin, Interviews
11 min read
08/05/201722/02/2024