Squatting pt. 1 - The rise and fall of squatting in West Berlin

They go by various names: garden homes, allotments, colonies, or in German: Schrebergäten, Kleingärten. The fact that they go by so many names reveals reveals their complex history and ongoing context within the city. If you are interested in getting one or understanding their history, significance, current troubles, and possible futures, tune in!Episode 07 is written by Katarina Petrović, Cody Swanson and Nic PinâArtwork by: Katarina PetrovicMusic by: Cody Swanson and One Man Symphony (https://onemansymphony.bandcamp.com/)

Berlin is known for many things, but playgrounds are not one of them. Which is weird because they’re amazing. They might not fit the poor but sexy image of Berlin’s never-ending nightlife, but the playgrounds here are some of the most creative and challenging around. And there are a lot of them. For the last 50 years Berlin has nurtured playground design and innovation, while many parts of the world retreated to boring plastic slides and rubber ground.In this episode we explore the complex relationship between city planning, political movements, creative risk taking, legal systems and the history of the playground itself. And discuss the importance of these often overlooked spaces.Episode 06 is by Katarina Petrovic, Cody SwansonArtwork by: Katarina PetrovicMusic by: Cody Swanson

In many ways, Tempelhof is both everything and nothing at the same time. A seemingly endless space that’s known and loved as much for all the things it has, as for the things it doesn’t. What is it that keeps people coming to this park year-round, and why is the public so invested in it?In this episode we explore the history of the park going back to the 1800s, what the future might bring and the different reasons people love it. Through interviews, soundscapes, and narrative we explore the largest park in continental Europe.Episode 05 is by Katarina Petrovic, Cody Swanson and Nic Piña.Artwork by Katarina PetrovicMusic by Cody Swanson

Hello and welcome to Another Berlin. We are Katarina and Cody. We both moved to Berlin a few years ago and the whole idea for this podcast came from wanting to explore the adopted city we love and its history and culture. We want to better understand what makes this city unique and inspires so many to want to call it home. So we will be doing in-depth dives into the ideas and movements that shaped this city and its culture, in parallel with the mainstream.

In this episode we start in the 1960s. Berlin was the center of a rising youth and protest culture and as the 70s began, a failed urban renewal policy stripped the city and provided the perfect environment for the start of what we consider to be the modern squatting movement in Berlin. We trace the evolution of counter culture events, the rise of communal living, and the evolution of squatting as a political and social movement as it takes over and transforms the fabric of West Berlin in ways that remain to this day.

This episode we travel to East Berlin right after the fall of the Berlin wall. It was in this “vacuum period”, lasting less than one year, where the second wave of squatting came, and then went. But don’t let the short timeframe deceive you. The art, culture and politics that came from this one summer may be responsible for the admiration and love much of world has for Berlin. We had the privilege to interview Marko Krojac, who came to Berlin two days after the Wall fell. He tells us about life in the vacuum and his firsthand experience at the most brutal eviction in the history of Berlin squatting--the eviction of Mainzer Strasse.

In this episode we take a moment to talk more about how a squat is, well, squatted and the everyday life of living in one. We also look into the reasons why so many were, and still are, attracted to this type of living and the lessons that can be learned for society in general. We also sit down with someone who currently lives in a former squat turned community building and why it’s so much better than living in a normal apartment.

For the final episode of this mini-series, the question we attempt to answer is - Can squatting still make a difference in Berlin today? In search of answers we visited the only living Berlin squat at the time, in Kreuzberg. We had the honor to sit with two members of the #Besetzen Collective and talk about what’s it like to squat in the city today, and where the movement can go as physical freespace becomes harder and harder to find.