Rising to 115 metres Berlin’s Teufelsberg is not only one of Berlin’s highest points, but also a place steeped in history. Berlin’s university headquarters were to be based here under National Socialism, after the war it became the largest depot for post war rubble and later the winter sports, climbing and wine making centre of the city. A radar station was built on Teufelsberg and the Western allies listened in to the East from the top. The equipment has been abandoned since 1992 and Teufelsberg has succumb to vandalism and decay. No use has been found for the area despite numerous plans and attempts.
This ‘lost place’ in the inner city districts of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf has become a place of myths. This book tells the true story.
Excerpt:
The plans for the athletic development of the mountain had, however, always been public and once again demonstrated: Berliners were never shy about offering a stage even to basically meaningless things. Even the rubble of their destroyed city could be put to good use!
But what does a real mountain need? First of all, one should be able to ski there in the winter, and children should be able to ride sleighs. …
Table of Content
SUBMARINES IN THE GRUNEWALD?
FROM A GRAVE OF RUBBLE TO THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN BERLIN
SNOWMEN, HIKERS AND SOLDIERS
AMERICA’S BIG EARS
‘LIGHTNING’ STRIKES THE TEUFELSBERG
HOT JOB IN THE COLD WAR
SECRETS AND RUMOURS
FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE
FROM PRIME LAND TO HIKING PATH?
GALERIE
SOURCES
Books
Articles
TV and Film
Images
About the author
Klaus Behling
Born 1949, studied Asian Studies at the Humboldt University Berlin with a focus on Cambodian language and culture. He worked as a diplomat in Laos and Cambodia from 1972 to 1977, as cultural attaché in Romania from 1981 to 1987. After the reunification Behling worked as senior assistant at the Institute for International Relations in Potsdam as an Indochina expert. From 1991 until his retirement, he was a journalist with Springer Publishing. Behling published work on topics such as GDR espionage, the news service of the National People’s Army, and the allied military missions in Germany.
Andreas Jüttemann
Born 1985, studied Psychology and Urban Planning with a focus on cultural and political psychology at the Free University Berlin and in Bremen. He had already discovered his personal field of interest ‘historical urbanistics’ during his school days. In 2010 he founded a small tour guide company alongside his studies, with which he was able to offer the first guided tours of the former allied listening station on the Berlin Teufelsberg, which had been inaccessible for 40 years.
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