Berlin Companion Podcast
Everything you never even knew you wanted to know about Berlin by the author Berlin history blog, theberlincompanion.com, Berlin Companion Audio Walks App and the Berlin Companion book series.
S2 E11 · Wed, February 26, 2025
S2E10 TUNING IN - ENIGMA'S BIG BERLIN SISTER
Love it or hate it - Berlin can and will keep surprising you. Sometimes those surprises will be less welcome but sometimes they will make your day, your week or even your next 20 years. Like this story did for me. In the last episode of Season 2 of the podcast, let me take you to a place I fell in love with from the go. Not a palace or a fancy apartment house - a factory site in Kreuzberg. Few of the former could put you on the trail that leads to history of espionage, history of small Berlin industries growing very big indeed and of machines battling each other first in war and then decades later for the pleasure of it. Enjoy ! Music and sounds used for this episode: Main themes (Mystery for The Witty and Assembly Line Frustration by Ionics (licensed via Soundtaxi) "Alte Leierkasten" by Lobo Loco via freesoundarchive.org | License: Attribution 4.0 "Mystery Keys" by https://freesound.org/people/quetzalcontla/ | License: Attribution 4.0 " Enigma machine cipher device 2 " by o_ultimo | License: Attribution 4.0 " Enigma machine cipher device " by o_ultimo | License: Attribution 4.0 Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Co
S2 E10 · Wed, February 19, 2025
REPEATED: DEATH AND RAILWAYS - THE CEMETERY AT POSTDAMER BAHNHOF
An old Yididish proverb says: "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans". The author heard booming laughter from above and thus planning to launch the last episode in the series had to be postponed. In the meantime you can enjoy a repetition of one of my favourite stories from and around Potsdamer Bahnhof: the story of a cemetery that was the first Berlin place for many arrivals to see and the last (the very last) one for a few to set their very metaphorical foot on. I hope you will enjoy it! Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S2 E9 · Mon, February 10, 2025
OF SPUDS AND GEMS: BERLIN'S PALACE MONBIJOU
In this episode of "Berlin Companion Podcast" we are travelling back in time to the second half of the 17th century to witness some royal shenanigans (including several weddings, an extramarital affair, a couple of deaths and a crowning) and follow the fate of a lovely royal palace, whose ghostly outline might or might not be still visible there on quiet moonlit Berlin nights... And whose gardens were the birthplace of Prussia's favourite veg. You will find Berlin's 1748 city plan ( Plan de la ville et des fauxbourgs de Berlin ) here - to locate Spandauer Tor and Spandauer Brücke look for St Marien Kirche und look right above it. Map via ZLB Digital. Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S2 E8 · Tue, February 04, 2025
SMOG IN THE CITY: "DICKE LUFT" IN WEST BERLIN
Those of us living in the city centre, close to industry sites or a very busy street junction know the smell only too well: fuel, burnt rubber, melting plastic and unspecified chemical stench that might or might not make your skin crawl (sometimes literally). Luckily for most, the days of potentially lethal air pollution in big cities like Berlin seem to be over. But in February 1987 West Berlin and West Germany were in the thick of it. Why this was not the case for the DDR is explained in this episode... You will also find out something about Thor and a very useful Berlin flower. Enjoy the episode! (Link to Berlin's page where you can control air quality in the city on per-hour basis: https://luftdaten.berlin.de/lqi) Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S2 E7 · Wed, January 29, 2025
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: BLACKOUT YEARS IN BERLIN
Are you afraid of the dark? The answer is is most probably yes. Few people are comfortable not seeing where they are going, or what might be lurking ahead. An extreme form of that fear is known as noctophobia. When in the 1930s Nazi authorities introduced blackout regulations in Germany - strict orders forbidding using any sources of light that could potentially reveal the size or the position, or even individual locations in a city - three things were clear: that a war was coming, that crime and accidents in Berlin would soar, and that people had to learn how to live their daily lives in one of the largest cities in Europe without any outdoor illumination. In today's episode of the podcast it all begins in 1935. Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S2 E6 · Wed, January 22, 2025
BERLIN WALL UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE: HOW TO SELL AN ANTI-FASCIST PROTECTION BARRIER
In December 1989 US department stores expanded their pre-Christmas offer by a very attractive item for late or for undecided Christmas-present buyers. It was small yet profound - filled with more deep meaning than it modest size or weight could suggest. It was well-known to and caused a certain frisson among all Americans, yet it came straight from Europe. It was being sold in the US stores, yet back at home it was - in fact - still standing. This is the story of the most concrete trade in human history: that with the Berliner Mauer. Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S1 E3 · Wed, January 15, 2025
REPEATED S1E3: HANNA FLIES TO HELL - THE LAST DAYS OF THE THIRD REICH IN BERLIN
Hello Berlin and Beyond! This is a repetition of a Series 1 episode - my family and I are about to say goodbye to a very dear person, and my mind is understandably elsewhere. It turned out to be impossible to get the planned episode ready. It will be launched next week. Today, those of you who have not listened to Berlin Companion's 2022 series and do not know the stories yet, might enjoy this particular one. It has it all: a daredevil female pilot (albeit on the wrong side of History), World War Two, Berlin inferno and the collapse of the Third Reich. Thank you for your understanding and you will hear from me again next week! In April 1945, as the Red Army was closing its grip on Berlin, coming closer and closer to Hitler's last refuge under the Chancellery gardens, one of his favourite pilots managed to fly a small aeroplane into the burning capital and land it near Brandenburg Gate. On board she carried a wounded future head of the Nazi Luftwaffe. Aircraft Capitan Hanna Reitsch. Here is the story of her remarkable Berlin coup. And of her post-war denial. Music theme: “ Assembly Line Frustration " © Ionics Music | TerraSound.de Sound effects: BBC Sounds (artillery barrage, Junkers Ju-88, Stukas, Messerschmitt, air-raid sirens, park ambience) Search Results | BBC Sound Effects (bbcrewind.co.uk) Freesounds.org (Junker Ju-52 by Reinsamba, Creative Commons Licence 4.0 https://freesound.org/s/128542/ Frog in the throat: private Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer)
S2 E4 · Wed, January 08, 2025
THE WHEELS KEEP ON TURNING: BERLIN AND "MANOLI LINKSRUM"
The sky over Berlin is never dark. Even at night. The main cause is the city's heavy light pollution. Berlin's streetlights, its signs, its permanently illuminated buildings - all they contribute to the problem. So much so that for the past two decades the city's observatories, like the Planetarium am Insulaner , have not been able to see the Milky Road. Light spreads over Berlin like a massive dome. One of the main contributors to light pollution in big cities like Berlin are light advertisements - former neon signs have been almost entirely replaced by environmentally friendlier but otherwise much more unforgiving LED lights. The first illuminated ad sign installed in the German capital was the 1896 "Molton-Wein" ad on Spittelmarkt. A year later a red-and-white illuminated sign appeared on Leipziger Straße. But it was the 1898 debut that made history: the first moving light ad in Berlin. Here's how it found its way onto Berlin's theatre stage and into the local lingo. And what it had to do with Berlin's most famous enfant terrible . Links and Recommendations: Christopher Isherwood Walking Tour " Isherwood's Neighbourhood " with Brendan Nash Jonny Whitlam's Waking Tours of Berlin " Whitlam's Berlin Tours " Photo of the Manoli-Rad on Berlin's Alexanderplatz Wilhelm-Foerster-Sternwarte at Planetarium am Insulaner More about Manoli Cigarette Factory in Berlin at Jewish Places . Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me s
S2 E3 · Wed, January 01, 2025
CRUSADERS, BLIMPS AND WHOLE LOTTA RUBBISH: HOW BERLIN'S LEGENDARY AIRPORT, FLUGHAFEN TEMPELHOF, WAS BUILT
During 2022 excavations in the area of Berlin's Molkenmarkt - a historic plaza and the city's oldest market place - archaeologists discovered Berlin's oldest street, a Bohlendamm (corduroy road or log road). Two years later they made another great discovery - this time a series of small white clay figurines of Christian saints. What would they find, though, should they start digging under what is now Berlin's largest public park, Tempelhofer Feld? Well, apart from the unexploded World War Two ordnance which is almost certain still to be lurking somewhere under the asphalt roads and spreading wide meadows, they'd probably come up with a lot of old rubbish. Literally so. To built Berlin's most famous inner-city airport, Flughafen Tempelhof (later known as Zentralflughafen Tempelhof) tens of thousands of large cartloads of Berlin's garbage helped level the ground. Something far more natural, yet even more unappetising enabled the airport builders to prevent dust clouds from building on the site. To find out who, why and using what ingenious methods built Berlin's favourite - even if former - airport; and what the Crusaders had to do with it, listen to this episode of your "Berlin Companion Podcast". A podcast about everything you never even knew you wanted to know about Berlin:-) Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S2 E2 · Tue, December 24, 2024
BERLIN AND THE CHRISTMAS TREE CONUNDRUM
Eight out of ten people in our (scientifically absolutely unreliable) survey with only one question "What is it that you could never imagine Christmas without?", named it. You can live with less or different Christmas dishes, fewer present are not a issue if the company is a match. And even spending the festive time away from your family can have its hidden charm (and be a blessing in disguise for both sides). But no Christmas tree? However symbolic (a twig, a paper cut-out or a medley of dry sticks would do), the Weihnachtsbaum is as much as part of our "collective Christmas psyche" as Weihnachtsmann and festive illumination. But when did that tradition reach Berlin? And what happened when, once hooked on the new symbolic, the city (or at least half of it) faced a Christmas-tree shortage? Today we are travelling back in time to 1959/1960. To West Berlin. Via Thuringia. Recommended links: Stadtmuseum Berlin Knoblauch-Haus 360° experience History Flakes Podcast Episode about Friedrich the Great Berliner Pyramide photo by Michael Setzpfand on Knoblauchhaus - Stadtmuseum Berlin page . Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Su
S2 E1 · Wed, December 18, 2024
ALL ABOUT WURST: THE STORY OF BERLIN'S PEA SAUSAGE
The first episode in the new series is both a starter and the main dish. It's a story of soup. Of instant soup that from the late 1860s on fed Prussian, German and even foreign armies, filled stomachs both on and off the battlefields, and was tested for its combat suitability not by one but by two "Soup Commandos". Until less than a decade ago it was a staple in most German households. Today's episode is about one of great Berlin inventions: about Erbswurst . Main theme for the podcast: “ Assembly Line Frustration " © Ionics Music | TerraSound.de Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S1 E8 · Sat, June 04, 2022
EPISODE 8 DEATH AND RAILWAYS: THE CEMETERY AT POTSDAMER BAHNHOF
Last week we talked about the long-vanished cemetery railway line which connected Berlin-Wannsee with Germany's second largest burial site, Berlin's Südwestfriedhof Stahnsdorf. This episode remains in the realm of both the dead and the railways but with a serious shift towards Berlin's centre. This time we are travelling to the first half of the eighteenth century and will take it from there until we have reached (and left) one of Berlin's best-known railway termini, Potsdamer Bahnhof. To see images of the old Dreifaltigkeitsfriedhof visit: File:M Dreifaltigkeitskirche Berlin 1910.jpg - Wikimedia Commons View of the church seen from Mohrenstraße looking west over Zietenplatz (Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1982-1213-508 / CC-BY-SA 3.0) - Wikipedia To see photos of the first and the second Potsdamer Bahnhof look here: First Potsdamer Bahnhof on a 1843 steel engraving by C Schulin after a drawing by E. Henning and in 1850 by an unknown author (both images in PD) 1890 Potsdamer Bahnhof with the cemetery before it (image in PD, here via Bildindex and Wikipedia) You can see the exact position of the cemetery on the historic 1846 Berlin map here: Kreuzberged - Berlin Companion Sounds: Main theme: “Assembly Line Frustration" © Ionics Music | TerraSound.de Via Freesound: " Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters).
S1 E7 · Sat, May 28, 2022
EPISODE 7 COFFINS ON WHEELS: THE CORPSE TRAIN OF BERLIN
What do large cities do when they run out of space to bury their dead? They go beyond their limits. Traditionally all large European cities like Paris, Vienna or London eventually established new burial sites further and further from their centre. Vienna even considered using the pneumatic tube system to transport their deceased to the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery). By the end of the nineteenth century Berlin faced a similar problem and dealt with it the same way: by opening new cemeteries on its outskirts. In two cases it went even further: it set up new burial grounds in Brandenburg. Here's a short story of one of them and the railway line (not a pneumatic one) built to serve its guests - a line which opened for regular service on June 3, 1913. To visit Stahnsdorf Cemetery with a guide, please visit the cemetery's web page at Veranstaltungen - Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf (suedwestkirchhof.de) To find out more about the famous Berliners buried in Stahnsdorf visit: Wikipedia page of the cemetery To see maps of the railway line known as "Leichenbahn" visit (highly recommended) page of Stadtschnellbahn-Berlin To watch a short film presenting the state of the line's remains today go to The Vanished Railway Line to Stahnsdorf by AirBerl To support the show and its running, please visit my Buy Me A Coffee page here . Sounds: Main theme: “Assembly Line Frustration" © Ionics Music | TerraSound.de Via Freesound: " Bells and religious hymn on the top of "Dell'Avocata" mountain " by Felix Blume "Magnificat" Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: <a href='https://bsky.app/p
S1 E6 · Sat, May 21, 2022
EP 6 SLEEPING IN BERLIN: LIVING IN A BOX
Many old Berlin flats in the typical 19th century apartment buildings are equipped with a curious feature: a small storage space under the ceiling, usually installed in the bathroom, the kitchen or the corridor. What makes these so curious is not their function today - a storeroom for suitcases, skis and snorkels or that gear you wore for your first Love Parade in the mid-1990s - but the original purpose for which they were built. In this episode you will find out why they were in fact an indispensable addition to many middle-class lodgings. You can follow Berlin Companion on: Twitter at @kreuzberged and @BerlinCompanion Wordpress blog at kreuzberged.com Voicemap audio-tours at Audio tours by Beata Gontarczyk-Krampe » Storytellers » VoiceMap To support the podcast via Buy Me A Coffee click here . Thank you! Sound effects: BBC Sound Effects Archive sound of wardrobe door and drawers Freesound " Silent Movie - Sam Fox - Hurry Music " by FreqMan " Berlin city courtyard in the evening " by SwampCommand Storyblocks Magic Chimes on Wind by None Main theme: “Assembly Line Frustration" © Ionics Music | TerraSound.de Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning
S1 E5 · Mon, May 09, 2022
Ep 5 SOUND IN BERLIN. WHEN HITCHOCK COMES TO TOWN
The 1920s in Berlin were an incredible time, full both of misery and wonder. It was the time which brought both the worst and the best in people who lived there. And sometimes it helped pave way for genius. Or future classics. Episode 5 of Berlin Companion Podcast tells the story of one such classic made in Berlin. Sound effects: BBC Sound Effects Archive bbc_animals---_07037493 piegeons cooing bbc_animals fighting for food Freesound " Suspense Comedy " by Tyops " Ambient Traut " by Vann Westfold " Silent Movie - Sam Fox - Hurry Music " by FreqMan Storyblocks Main theme: “Assembly Line Frustration" © Ionics Music | TerraSound.de You can follow Berlin Companion on: Twitter at @kreuzberged and @BerlinCompanion Wordpress blog at kreuzberged.com and via all most popular podcast streaming services out there. To support the podcast via Buy Me A Coffee click the link below. Many thanks, time-travellers! Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): <a href='https://buymeacoffee.com/berl
S1 E4 · Sat, May 07, 2022
Ep. 4 LANDING IN BERLIN
We all know how annoying air traffic can be these days for those who experience it from the ground - not only is it a time-bomb just waiting to make our environment go belly-up but it can also bring any conversation to a halt, if said conversation takes place under what is known as a flight corridor. But whenever if you think this is bad, here is a little story from the days where Berlin's first inner-city airport - the original Flughafen Tempelhof - became, at least for some, an ugly stain on the city's face. Join me on an aerial time-travel escapade to Berlin in the late 1920s and beyond! You can follow Berlin Companion on: Twitter at @kreuzberged and @BerlinCompanion Wordpress blog at kreuzberged.com and via all most popular podcast streaming services out there. To support the podcast via Buy Me A Coffee click the link below. Many thanks, time-travellers! Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S1 E2 · Sat, April 23, 2022
EP.2 TREFFPUNKT 8 UHR: BERLIN CLOCKS
In the 1920s elegant Berliners fell in love with a scent called "Treffpunkt 8 Uhr" (Rendezvous at 8PM). Made by a legendary local manufacture Schwarzlose - which still exists today - it stood for the Exciting and the Romantic but also for what Berlin seemed never to have enough of: time. From 1787 when the first public clock appeared in Unter den Linden, clocks dictated the pace of the city. Many appointments were scheduled under the chronometer. Later, the areas around public city clocks, the Normaluhren , became traditional meeting points for Berliners. So when in 1969 a new public clock was unveiled on the main East Berlin plaza, on Alexanderplatz, it became clear that the Weltzeituhr (World Clock) would be a witness to many a rendezvous in the years to come. As it has been until today. Here's the story of two famous Berlin chronometers. Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
S1 E1 · Sat, April 16, 2022
EP. 1 BERLIN O'CLOCK
When in April 1893 German Empire introduced new time measuring system based the Greenwich meridian, Berlin lost something big for good. It lost its own time. Here is the story behind it. Main theme for the podcast: “ Assembly Line Frustration " © Ionics Music | TerraSound.de Sound effects: ChaliceWell, Bidone, JRosin and LG (CC Licence https://freesound.org/s/56874/) via freesounds. Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
Trailer · Sat, April 09, 2022
Berlin Companion Podcast Pilot
For anyone interested in history, Berlin is your playground. From old Slavic and Germanic tribes through Crusaders, alchemists and feuding houses to Prussian expansion, Emperors and world wars, including the Cold one. But next to big events, which often changed the world - and not always for the better - myriads of smaller things happened here daily, turning the city into what it is today: a melting pot of cultures, languages and stories. And a treasure trove of trivia. This podcast aims to tell some of the most interesting lesser-known stories about Berlin from day one all the way until now. In no particular order, it will give you small insights into what's often forgotten or overlooked. Or is too small to make it into big history books. So join me as we explore the nooks and crannies of Berlin. Welcome to Berlin Companion Podcast! Main theme for the podcast: “ Assembly Line Frustration " © Ionics Music | TerraSound.de Support the show Read fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters). You can also find me at: Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzberged Instagram: The Berlin Companion Threads: theberlincompanion And if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below): Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer) Berlin Companion at Substack Music for the show by ...
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