Berlin 3: The present in dialogue with the past

2/9

The Wall remembered at Bernauerstrasse

At the edge of Wedding is Bernauerstrasse on the old border of East Berlin. A sort section of the Wall  has been rebuilt and double row of poles marks the old wall with no man’s land a grassy swath. There are markers where the first tunnel was built through which people escaped into the west until leaking pipes made it impassable. 

The Church of Reconciliation

The Church of Reconciliation stood on the other side of the wall until 1985 when late in the life of the GDR it was blown up for no discernible reason, for security purposes. The rubble of the old church was mixed into the concrete t build the new church and a piece of the original altar that survived stands at the head of the inner circle.

Ironically, the west houses built to show the east the superior quality of life in the west now pale in comparison to  the new luxury apartments rising just on the on the other side of where the wall was. 

Later in the day, I meet my friend Uli in Charlottenberg for Indian food. He was last in New York a year ago at the peak of the Occupy experience and took part in the meeting where Ben and Jerry and other progressive capitalists put forth the challenge to come up with measurable, achievable specific projects that they would fund, thus throwing Occupy into ideological confusion.

Uli in front of Heilig Kreuz Kirche

We go to the  Heilig Kreuze Kirche in Kreuzeberg to see if our friend Juergen is there. His church was an inspiration to me on my first visit in 2008. Built around the same time as West-Park, it was a big cold cathedral of a church with few parishioners rattling around on Sundays. They creatively used the entire interior as a landscape to create a more intimate worship space, a cafe, smaller performing spaces and a host of offices for arts and culture and social change, including the Berlin home of church asylum for refugees from war torn countries. Their work began back in the ’80’s with Palestinian refugees from he war in Lebanon. 

When I compared their work to what my friends had been doing back in Arizona with Central American refugees, they said that work had been their inspiration. So with the help of a small foundation grant, i had arranged to get workers from Arizona and German together to share experiences in border work today and work cooperatively for humane borders. 

Heilig Kreuz is exactly what I hoped West-Park could be. Of course, it helped that most of the renovation for adaptive reuse had been funded by the government through church taxes. Landmarking New York has no such support. 

Both churches reminded me of what had so impressed me on my first trip. In Berlin, architecture encourages a dialogue between the present and the past. There is preservation but with a fluid architectural adaptive free association. In New York City, with far less history, preservation  sometimes becomes a fetishization of the past. Of course it is easier to let go if much of your city has been bombed to hell and back and occupied and reborn.  

But nevertheless, I had seen in churches and factories and art houses examples of what I thought could happen at West-Park. It’s what young artists saw when they’d wander through the church house and  say it had an ambiance somewhere between Berlin and Brooklyn. (With maye a touch of Havana thrown in.)

It’s also somewhat easier for Heile Kreuze because it stands alone on its block, not hemmed in by other buildings. Still, I envy that cafe. As the sun  disappears, Uli and I sit and enjoy coffee and apple cake. The volunteers who run the cafe are finishing for the day. 

Zeljko arrives tonight. 

Cunning, baffling, powerful

9/23

A meeting with Mark. He has a lot of sound equipment he needs to store. If we can find space for him  to do that, he’ll be happy to have us use the equipment for concerts.  And if he’s free, to help us. We show him a room off of the sanctuary that looks like it should work. This could be  a good deal. 

Sarah has come to work with us on developing publicity for the series on Forgiveness. 

Jana comes in. She is visiting from Germany. She knows this church well.  She worked with Uli and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She led at least three delegations of young people to New York.  They would come for a week or more, sleep in our gym, cook in our kitchen and learn about living in multicultural settings, organizing for peace and justice and would visit and work with groups like the Interfatih Assembly on Housing and Homelessnes, Westside Campaign Against Hunger and God’s Love We Deliver. She last visited here a year ago fall.  

Jana

 I ask Sarah and Danielle whether I should take Jana on a tour or let her be surprised when she comes  back  later tonight to see the Tenant. Sow her now wins out. The last time she was here, we were in ruins and had gates up on our doors and worshipped on the steps.  As we go from room to room, she’s amazed at the transformatiom the Woodshed people have created.  

Danielle has created a card just for the Monday night P&G’s memorial concert.  RL is pleased.  

Jane comes in with one of her people to show the building.The continue to want to come here. Restrooms continue to be a problem.  And Paula has raised some questions about air quality we need to resolve. 

Outside, Edward is asleep on the steps. Two 40’s beside him in brown paper bags. I tell him it’s too early. He knows the rules, that he can’t sleep here during the day.  He looks up at me blearily.   Shakes his head, nods off.  OK, so we’ll try Reachout again. After that, well, I’m not sure. I go in to talk with Danielle about this.

Jane and I walk out together. I share with her my concerns about Edward. She tells me three words used in AA to descibe alcoholism.  Cunning, baffling, powerful.

I’m off to go to an Interfaith Assembly meeting. 

Later that night, I take Jana to see the Tenant. Two of Micah’s friends, Tom from Edinburgh days and now Berlin and Marina, also from Berlin. Another young German woman from Brooklyn has joined them as well. We meet downstairs in the bar for preshow drinks.

This time I follow the story of Francois and Marie whose anniversary celebration has been taken over by Alain, Michel and Marie. It’s very Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf in feel and tone. Tonight Trelkovsky’s jump is as close to perfwct as it can be. People hold their breath as he leans out and the lights flash. Stunning.

In the bar after, Tom says it’s the most impressive theatrical experience he’s had. The space reminds him of Berlin. Jana is blown away and glowing. This place was so dead...and now, look, it’s full of life. That was so good. Doing this here is important. She's impressed with this as an example of adaptive reuse. She’s filled with creative ideas we could do to build on this. What we could do with the space. The kind of programs we could do. Teddy points out that the raised area in the hospital would make a fine cabaret stage. And Jana is spinning out plans for a cafe.

As we walk home up the street, Edward is still there, asleep on the steps. Cunning, baffling, powerful.