Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Reminders of the great days of railroading.... (3)

Until the reunification, Wustermark Gbf was one of the big shunting yards outside Berlin
Two turntables, an engine shed, a water tower and all the office buildings are still there...
unused since just a bit more than 10 years, the whole area is rapidly recovered by nature
attempts to convert the whole area in a museum failed....
there are too many premises like these left over from long ago to preserve them all

20 Years later....

...some parts of East Germany do not look less desolate than shortly after reunification....
ruins for sale
Deserted downtown streets because all the business went to shopping centers outside town...
High unemployment, but there always seems to be some money for spray-paint
Brandenburg/Havel, a more than 1000 year old scenic town on three islands full of monuments

....Wolfgang Buescher (Berlin - Moskau), pg. 80
"...dass ich ploetzlich so etwas wie Mitleid mit dem Kommnismus empfand:
Er nahm menschliche Zuege an. Alt war er. Er konnte nicht mehr. Ich ging durch sein gefallenes Reich, durch die Hallen wehte der Wind, Unkraut wuchs in seinen Saelen, ich traf ihn in seinem letzten Stadium an und betrachtete ihn mit der etwas angeekelten Neugier, mit dem man einen alten Wuestling und Familientyrannen anschaut, jetzt, wo er nur noch die Ruine seiner lebenslangen Raserei ist, einer Empoerung gegen Gott und die Welt, wie sie war, wie sie ist, wie sie sein wird."

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

For children?

If you ever thought a puppet theatre is for children only.... look at the Salzburg puppet theatre museum

Men rule the world.....

There is no shelf called "Frauen Reisen" at Salzburg airport. There is no decent bookstore anyways.... for such a city full of culture