The shifting image of Berlin

Quick flashback. We had visited Berlin for the first time in 2002. Potsdamer Platz was in the making, and the Bundestag’s glass cupola was the absolute icon of that trip.

Lehrter Bahnhof, Regierungsviertel were just big sandy building sites, a big question mark was hovering above the copper-coloured Palast der Republik.

On the other hand the image of Berlin we were now forging in our minds, reading property ads, had very little to do with the Berlin we had fell in love with in 2002, all Friedrichstrasse/Potsdamer/Sony Center/Renzo Piano/Richard Rogers/Libeskind/shimmering glass/steel frames/daring cranes.

Leafy quarters, cobbled streets, bycicles, the urban village quality of life, a good local doner, this is what we were looking for. Not a fascinating one-night-stand with the city. Rather a sort of stable relationship.

Where it all started – Paris

Cosy grey Christmas in Paris

Christmas 2006. We were in Paris, visiting friends.

It was cold and grey. Good company, cosy home, hot tea and the Herald Tribune.

We read this article about Berlin. I tore the page and it travelled home in one of those brand new art books. Er…yes another clipping but we felt that this one was important.

We kept going back to that article, mainly in our discussions with friends, but it was still a fantasy or a day-dream.

And then we decided to go back to Berlin, five years after our very first trip in the German capital.

And look for a flat.

Why not sharing it?

We started an adventure in Berlin. We discovered that we are not the only ones, who at some stage stopped day-dreaming and decided to go for it.

Special thanks to all those who brainstormed along with us. Lys, Vivi, Eva, Astrid, Eckart, Franck-Paul, Claudia, Dorit, Giuliana, Gabi, Friederike…