MetaFilter posts tagged with Germany and berlin

Endbahnhof, bitte aussteigen Sie!

acb — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:35:52 -0800

Endbahnhof , a collection of photographs of every U-Bahn station in Berlin, organised by line and showing the variety of architectural styles in the system. There is an interview with the photographer, Kate Seabrook, here.

Bowie: "Get your own pig!"

The Whelk — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 09:39:32 -0800

"There are reasons why this film is obscure. It is, in the most charitable possible evaluation, a mess: Bowie has described it as "my 32 Elvis films rolled into one." And yet life on that ever-dwindling island of not-on-region-one DVD films is a harsh fate for any film and particularly for this one, which is at least as interesting as its cast suggests and a good deal more. You don't need to dig out the VHS player to watch Mick Jagger run an agency of gigolos in The Man From Elysian Fields—you shouldn't have to do so to watch Bowie play one. " David Bowie's Lost 70s-era Weimar Berlin Movie: Just a Gigalo.

Fußball ist kein Tennis

hoyland — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:33:32 -0800

During the month of December, 1. FC Union Berlin raised money to finance a new stand in its stadium by selling shares in the stadium to fans, under the slogan We're selling our soul. But not to just anyone! (YT--German). This is the second phase of renovation at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, to bring it up to 2. Bundesliga standards. Much of the work on the first phase was done by the fans themselves (DW video--English). Offering stock in the stadium is considered unusual. However, unlike in, say, the NFL (aside from the Packers, previously), German clubs are typically member-owned, courtesy of the Fifty plus one rule (part two).* *The exceptions are Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Wolfsburg, due to traditional ownership by Bayer and Volkswagen, respectively.

1936 Berlin in Farbe

naturalog — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:46:26 -0800

Color footage of 1936 Berlin , in what appears to be a promotional film for the city before the 1936 Olympics. (SLYT)

It's kind of like Minecraft, except you drive a bus in Germany...

schmod — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:11:14 -0800

Do you like video games? Have you ever wanted to comprehensively reenact the daily life of a double-decker bus driver in 1985 West Berlin? Your prayers have finally been answered. Aerosoft's impressive Omnibus Driving Simulator allows you to take command of the venerable 1980s-vintage MAN SD200 and SD202 double-decker buses (in 20 authentic 1980s advertising liveries) along West Berlin's Omnibus Route 92, complete with an accurate simulation of all four production-runs of the SD200's transmission, drivetrain, climate control, and passenger information systems. If the SD202 doesn't cut it for you, or you want to escape the clutches of West Berlin, there's a comprehensive map editor and scripting engine at your disposal. (via) Also included: This Awesome Soundtrack.

United States v. Tiede

jedicus — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:08:32 -0800

On August 30, 1978 a Polish airliner was hijacked and redirected to Tempelhof airport in West Berlin. Torn between a policy of supporting defection and a recently-signed anti-hijacking treaty, the West German government ceded jurisdiction over the defendants to the United States government, which was still technically an occupying power and had an interest in the case because of the US Air Force Base at Tempelhof. The result was the one and only decision rendered by the United States Court for Berlin, United States v. Tiede. From the beginning, Judge Herbert Jay Stern found himself fighting against the State Department, which wanted to limit the defendants' constitutional rights and generally run the trial for itself. In the decision, Stern held that the US Constitution mandated the full panoply of constitutional rights for the defendant, including a jury trial, and he ordered that a jury pool of 500 be drawn from the United States sector of Berlin. He forcefully concluded his order with the note that the US occupation authorities must "state on the record that they will comply with, and implement the Court’s directive [or else] the charges lodged against these defendants will be dismissed." In the end, the charges against the co-defendant, Tiede's girlfriend Ingrid Ruske, were dropped. In the first jury trial in Germany since 1924, Tiede himself was convicted only of taking a hostage and was sentenced to time served. Here, taken from Stern's book Judgment in Berlin, is his account of the sentencing (as excerpted in Robert Cover's famous and excellent law review article, Violence and the Word [pdf]): "Gentlemen [addressing the State Department and Justice Department lawyers], I will not give you this defendant. ... I have kept him in your custody now for nine months, nearly. ... You have persuaded me. I believe, now, that you recognize no limitations of due process. ... I don't have to be a great prophet to understand that there is probably not a great future for the United States Court for Berlin here. [Stern had just been officially "ordered" not to proceed with a civil case brought against the United States in Stern's Court. The case was a last ditch attempt in a complicated proceeding in which the West Berlin government had acquired park land -- allegedly in violation of German law -- for construction of a housing complex for the United States Army Command in Berlin. The American occupation officials had refused to permit the German courts to decide the case as it affected the interests of the occupation authority. American Ambassador Walter Stoessel had officially written Stern on the day before the sentencing that "your appointment as a Judge of the United States Court for Berlin does not extend to this matter."] Under those circumstances, who will be here to protect Tiede if I give him to you for four years? Viewing the Constitution as nonexistent, considering yourselves not restrained in any way, who will stand between you and him? What judge? What independent magistrate do you have here? What independent magistrate will you permit here? When a judge sentences, he commits a defendant to the custody -- in the United States he says, 'I commit to the custody of the Attorney General of the United States' -- et cetera. Here I suppose he says, I commit to the custody of the Commandant, or the Secretary of State, or whatever ... I will not do it. Not under these circumstances. ... I sentence this defendant to time served. You ... are a free man right now."

The Taxi Gourmet

jontyjago — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:05:07 -0800

The Taxi Gourmet Every week, I get in a taxi, ask the driver to take me to his or her favorite restaurant. Layne Mosler tests the recommendations of cab drivers in Buenos Aires, Berlin and New York, where she is also a licensed cabbie herself. Want to cut to the chase? NY & Buenos Aires have a Top 5.

"Berlin is rather a part of the world than a city"

mkb — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:25:55 -0800

Postcards from Berlin is a call from a Berlin (Germany) design studio for virtual postcards from all of the places in the US named Berlin.

A Home Movie Featuring Adolf Hitler (SLYT)

zzazazz — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:14:29 -0800

A family traveled to France and Germany in 1938 and shot this footage which features two appearances by Adolf Hitler. It's creepy seeing this Nazi spectacle shot by an amateur. It's a perspective I don't know if I've ever seen. The video opens in France and the Nazi footage starts around 1:45.

The collector writes: "The Basement Collection presents: An 8mm film bought at an estate sale back in the 90's. This reel is part of a series of a family vacation movies to Europe in 1938. On this reel the family visits France and then Germany. The footage of Hitler is from a celebration in the Berlin Stadium on what I think is a May Day celebration (May 2, 1938) then another celebration at Berlin's Lustgarten. (on May 1st). (I think the reel was edited together out of order)."

Berlin is colorful

malapropist — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:13:47 -0800

Matthias Heiderich takes colorful pictures of Berlin, among other things. I think this one is my favorite. [via] The photos on Heiderich's Flickr were all shot since 2006, yet they feature a deliciously retro quality and a color palette that is hard to imagine existing in reality. There's some overlap here, but if you just want a quick peek without sifting through his Flickr, check out one of these blog posts: Color Berlin at Grain Edit Color Berlin at Sooner Than Now Color Berlin at Core.Form-Ula Color Berlin at Escape Into Life

Jelly Donuts or Bananas?

The Whelk — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:50:32 -0800

"In hindsight, it’s often seen as inevitable that the two Germanys would reunite. But this, too, is a somewhat revisionist view. " Tim Mohr writes about the "awkward twist" about the fall of the wall, many of the protestors did not seek unification.

We were so free

tellurian — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:43:01 -0800

Moments in Time 1989/1990 - The Fall of the Wall and reunification. Films and photos from private collections. With woodpeckers.

Forgotten Architects

sveskemus — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:38:40 -0800

Forgotten Architects: In the 1920s and early 1930s, German Jewish architects created some of the greatest modern buildings in Germany, mainly in the capital Berlin. A law issued by the newly elected German National Socialist Government in 1933 banned all of them from practicing architecture in Germany. In the years after 1933, many of them managed to emigrate, while many others were deported or killed under Hitler’s regime. Pentagram Papers 37: Forgotten Architects is a survey of 43 of these architects and their groundbreaking work. The paper is based on the extensive research of architect Myra Warhaftig. Warhaftig spent twenty years investigating the fates of these architects and only recently published her findings in her book German Jewish Architects Before and After 1933: The Lexicon. David Sokol has written about Warhaftig and her project in an article published in the Jewish culture blog Nextbook.

Berliner Trance

empath — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:47:44 -0800

Berliner Trance. A 1993 documentary tracing the origins of modern trance music in East Berlin. Featuring interviews with many of the biggest names in trance, including a very young Paul Van Dyk, now currently ranked as the #1 DJ in the world.

What a pratfall!

parmanparman — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 07:33:56 -0800

The Berlin District Court has ruled that Deutsche Bahn must rebuild whole sections of the new Hauptbahnhof according to the architect's plans, setting a spectacular precedent. Berlin's new main train station, the Hauptbahnhof, cuts a solitary figure in the surrounding wasteland as it awaits an urban development that will complement its ambition, aesthetics and vast dimensions. But the verdict pronounced by the Berlin District Court on Tuesday November 28 has brutally nipped this development process in the bud. The judges ruled that the German rail company Deutsche Bahn has unlawfully violated the intellectual property rights of the station's architect, Meinhard von Gerkan. The rail company must rebuild the station according to the architect's plans. The station opened in May this year after a 13-year construction period.

Dropping Knowledge

divabat — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:49:31 -0800

On September 9th 2006, 112 of the world's writers, artists, activists, and social entrepeneurs (nominees here) will gather for a Table of Free Voices in Berlin, Germany, discussing questions about the important issues of today. Who provides those questions? You.

Threatened architecture

tellurian — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 00:11:11 -0800

Postwar architecture of Berlin. Photographing architectural icons before they disappear. Some I kind of like. Some I don't. Others, I just don't know what they were thinking.

"Sieg whaaat?"

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 17:15:46 -0800

Everybody knows that gangsta rap promotes sexism, homophobia... and fascism. Take Bushido, for instance - the Berlin rapper of Tunisian descent that all the neo-Nazis love. Confused? (nyt) Well, so are the Germans. And then we're not even talking about Fler, whose "This is black-red-gold, hard and proud!" nationalist lyrics never fail to piss off the German papers (in German), and who likes to pose in his videos with a nice symbolic eagle. (Then again, Helmut Kohl didn't mind.) Still, Fler's flag-waving, eagle-loving rhymes are no match for Bushido's "Salute, stand to attention, I am the leader like 'A'". The A stands for Adolf, you know.

fifteen minutes

mwhybark — Sun, 25 Jul 2004 02:32:09 -0800

What do you do if it's 1979 and you are a sixteen year old in East Germany? Your Mom and her boyfriend, an officer in the intelligence service, have decided to defect. If you are Thomas Wagner, you wait twenty-odd years, and then you post the whole experience to your blog.

Propeller Island

Feisty — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 19:23:45 -0800

Propeller Island City Lodge "Universal Art Objects & Hotel"

Gives New Meaning to

djspicerack — Wed, 22 Oct 2003 12:12:41 -0800

Now's your chance to get with Jenna Jameson... Okay, not really. Apparently, the new gig in Berlin, Germany as of last month is pr0n Karaoke - you and a partner (or two, or three?) get together on stage, with a movie up on the screen, and "act out" the parts being played out graphically. So.... practice your faking and get ready to go!

Woof

Mwongozi — Wed, 15 Oct 2003 08:24:27 -0800

German man arrested for teaching pet dog Nazi salute
And he had a moustache too.
(No, not the dog.)

Berlin Love Parade - July 13, 2002

Voyageman — Sat, 13 Jul 2002 08:39:11 -0800

Berlin Love Parade - July 13, 2002 "A million and half techno fans brought together for a day is something you just don’t see in America.... It’s something every American dancer should experience." Can be seen live on VIVA.tv