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I noticed these colourful steel pipelines running through the city. Turns out Berlin is built on swampland. The name Berlin, translates to swamp in German (or is believed to be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl which means “swamp”.

These pipes are carrying water and sewage from the grounds where new buildings are being constructed. There is so much development going on in the city, that these pipes almost blend in with the general atmosphere.

This is a photo of the people’s palace, also known as The Palace of the Republic (or what’s left of it). It was opened to the public in 1976 and is being taken apart (after much debate) because the government wanted to show the world that they are moving on and ridding its city of its communist past (that, along with some asbestos rumours). Citizens of Berlin protested its demolition, wanting to preserve the building for historical purposes, but lost out.

The city has decided to rebuild the original Royal Palace or the Berlin City Palace (which was finally destroyed in the 1950’s to build the people’s palace) and turn it into a museum.

I thought Montrealers were bad at making decisions but this city takes the cake.

They’re taking apart the building very slowly, piece by piece. If the city were to eliminate the building in one go, the loss of weight on the land would cause the Berlin Cathedral (featured below), which is located on the other side of the street, to sink.

This is what happens when you build a city on swampland.

Berlin Cathedral

The other thing I noticed when I first got here were the sidewalks.

Every bit of sidewalk in the city is made of tiny cobblestones. Apparently the city does this because it allows them to employ more people to maintain and build the sidewalks.

The effect is beautiful.

Check out more photos I’ve taken of the city on flickr.

The first thing I noticed (and fell in love with) when I arrived in Berlin were the traffic lights. A day later I learned that the Ampelmännchen is Berlin’s mascot.

There’s a whole history behind the traffic lights, which I learned on a walking tour of the city. The lights were created in 1961 and designed by a traffic psychologist named Karl Peglau. (Yes, a traffic psychologist). He thought people would respond better to traffic signals if they looked friendly.

Before reunification West and East Germany had different sets of traffic lights. The Ampelmann belonging to East Germany. After unification the west tried to standardize all the traffic lights, which meant the elimination of the Ampelmann.

East Germans, outraged by the notion, protested against its elimination and won. This little man with his bourgeois hat became the mascot for the East German nostalgia movement known as Ostalgie.

When I first got here I thought, ‘I wish I could get that on a t-shirt’ now I know that I can get a t-shirt and can cook little Ampelmännchen for dinner!

Here’s a link to the Ampelmann shop.

I’m thrilled to say that I got funding from SODEC to write a feature length screenplay!

I’m currently in Berlin doing research and absorbing the culture. I’ve heard such amazing things about the city - the artists community, the people, the food etc. that I’ve wanted to come out here for quite some time.

I’ll be living here for a few months finishing the screenplay and blogging about my experience.

If you have any suggestions on what to see or places to go I’d love to hear about them!