Du bist verrückt mein Kind, du mußt nach Berlin
"You are crazy, my child. You must go to Berlin." - Franz von Suppé
So off I went, only because I had to ofcourse ;)
I've been to Berlin as a kid with my parents and visited all the main tourist attractions like Checkpoint Charlie, Mauer park, the Reichstag and ofcourse the remaining bit of wall, but this tiny city-trip had a very specific destination: Spree park.
This entertainment park in the Berlin district Treptow-Köpenick was opened in 1969 as Kulturpark Plänterwald, covering an area of 29.5 hectares. It was the only constant entertainment park in the GDR, and the only such park in either East or West Berlin with some 1.7 million visitors a year at its peak. Since 2002 the park has not been open for visitors but huge debts remained and the area was allowed to fall into disrepair. The Ferris wheel and remains of other attractions can still be found on-site, abandoned to the elements, its rollercoasters rusty and neglected, buildings boarded up, and fun-rides left only for the birds and rats to enjoy.
I was crazy lucky, it snowed the day before but it was a crisp, blue-skied morning when I took the S-Bahn to Plänterwald and walked between joggers and families with dogs towards the amusementpark. Walked around the whole perimeter of the fence looking for a hole to squeeze under to get in, eventually found a ladder that someone left and just climbed right over.
Walked around this mystical place covered in a thin white layer for about 45 minutes, admiring the eerie atmosphere in the snow-caused silence and took these pictures with my new lomo-camera. I'd read that there are normally more people there but didn't run in to anyone, until I came to the main bit where an unfriendly looking security dude with huge barking dog came shouting in German that I had to leave and stood next to me while I climbed back over the fence.
Had some curry-wurst and visited a couple of delightful secondhand-clothing-by-the-kilo shops before heading back home, definitely worth the trip!
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