51/365: Snowy Germany

51/365: Snowy Germany, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 20th

A photo from the train ride home. It was very crowded, but we had seats because we got on at the first stop, in Dresden. After the border, people were packed like sardines.

50/365: Dwarf at the Cholera Well

50/365: Dwarf at the Cholera Well, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 19th

In 1841, an epidemic of cholera broke out along the Elbe. Through some fortune, it never touched Dresden. In gratitude to God for sparing the great city, the local baron Eugen von Gutschmid commissioned a Neo-Gothic fountain of granite and sandstone. The architect of this piece was Gottfried Semper (author of the eponymous Semperoper which stands across the street). The fountain looks like a church spire, with four figures on its four sides: Wittekind ,an 8th century Saxon prince, St. Boniface , the first apostle of the Germans, John the Baptist, and St. Elisabeth of Hungary. The basins are supported by dwarves, and green lizards climb over the edges.

49/365: The Golden Rider

49/365: The Golden Rider, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 18th

Goldener Reiter, a golden statue of Augustus the Strong, a Saxon prince who was also king of Poland, and so the statue depicts him riding East. More information about this king on Wikipedia- the story is tangled (what's a Polish king doing on a pedestal in Dresden, you might wonder) and full of silliness.

For example, Augustus did not actually win the election (Poland had been electing its kings since a bout of interregnum in the late 16th century, with hilarious consequences...but that's another story) but he decided that he didn't care, and raced towards Cracow, where all Polish kings were crowned. He arrived there before the actual winner of the election, the French prince Conti, and bribed his supporters to grant him entry into the capital. But once inside, he discovered an insurmountable obstacle: the doors to the castle vault, where the royal insignia were kept, were shut, and six of the seven keys required to open them were in the hands of men who favoured Conti!

What to do? To break down the doors would be a sacrilege. So, believe it or not, a hole was knocked in the vault wall. The sacred doors remained intact, the insignia were recovered, and in 1697, Augustus the Strong was crowned King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (we were a Commonwealth back then).

Seven years later, he was dethroned by the opposition...but refused to acknowledge the fact until 1706. And in 1709, he came back again! Backed by the Tsar Peter The Great, he climbed right back up on that throne.

That's just a fraction of this guy's story.

No wonder that his son decided his shamelessly perserverent parent deserved a golden statue in his honour.

48/365: Dresden bei Nacht

48/365: Dresden bei Nacht, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 17th

Riding the tram back to the gastewohnung, I decided to catch some city lights.

47/365: The corridor

47/365: The corridor, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 16th

Boring photo of boring building we boring sleep in.

46/365: Hauptbahnhof

46/365: Hauptbahnhof, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 15th

The Hauptbahnhof, or Main Station in Dresden. Not a particularly good photograph, but it was cold and I was in a hurry to catch the tram. I'm so sick of the cold weather, it's really dulling my appetite for photography.

45/365: Dresden is a decent place

45/365: Dresden is a decent place, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 14th

The sign is visible from Postplatz, a good hub for tourists since it's right around the corner from the Zwinger and the Semperoper and all the monuments a serious tourist must see. I always thought it was lovely- it means 'Dresden welcomes its guests!'

But yesterday was the anniversary of the Bombing of Dresden. Although it might have been hard to feel sorry for the German city in 1945, a sober look today must admit to the destruction of a beautiful baroque landmark, the so-called Florence on the Elbe- and that is to speak only of the city, and not the estimated 25,000 people who perished in the bombing. Dresden, much like my home town Warsaw, was razed to the ground. War has its rules, but it would be callous to feel any joy at this retaliation.

And here is where it gets complicated. Every year, on the anniversary, thousands of extremists and neo-nazis arrive in Dresden to demonstrate.

Dresden counters them with just as many policemen, a fantastic anti-Nazi march...and signs like the one in the photo. The black banner is an addendum to the permanent greeting, and the full phrase now reads:

"Dresden greets its guests...but we don't welcome the Nazis!"

Dresden doesn't mince its words. I was very deeply moved, as this was not the only sign of its kind. The nearby Dresden State Theatre proclaimed: No room for Nazis in our city!

Banners were hung from civilian balconies, and a heartwarming short film was playing on the public transport advertising system, in which a group of Dresdeners of all ages stood together to (non-violently) protect a black man from an obviously racist bully.

What can I say. Dresden has class.

44/365: Guten Morgen Dresden

44/365: Guten Morgen Dresden, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 13th

Remember how I said we hoped the spring had come? Guess not. First morning of work in Dresden, the snow came down like crazy.

By the time we were in the tram it was a regular blizzard.

It didn't last, but the cold certainly did. Brrr. I ended up wearing all of my changes of clothes at the same time.

43/365: Deutsche Bahn

43/365: Deutsche Bahn, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

February 12th

Yep, I'm in Germany. Ten days of animation workshops ahead.

276/365: Kaserne Elstal

276/365: Kaserne Elstal, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

October 3rd

Part two of my ghostly weekend trip to Berlin. Just outside the city, in the odd town of Elstal, there is a semi-abandoned Olympic Village, but this is not it. This is a building in an abandoned Russian Army complex, also in Elstal. The Soviets were stationed there, once. And that's really all I know.

275/365: Ghosts in Beelitz

275/365: Ghosts in Beelitz, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

October 2nd

I have a friend in Berlin who has a predicament; she is very fond of abandoned places, and yet can find no one among her circle of acquaintances with the same appreciation for them. Fortunately, Berlin and Łódź are only a train ride away, and what are weekends for?

She took me to Beelitz, a foresty place, with a sprawling sanatorium among the trees. Beelitz Heilstätten was a tuberculosis hospital built in 1898. During WWI it was converted into a general military hospital, then later in 1945 the Soviets took over it and held it well after the Reunification.

Parts of the hospital are still in use.

But when the Soviets withdrew, most of the sixty buildings that make up the complex were abandoned and are still empty today.

Incidentally, it was Reunification Day on the day we visited Beelitz.

I want to go back again. We did not have the pluck to break into the larger buildings, the operating theatre in particular, and there are photos to be taken there.

123/365: A failed relationship

123/365: A failed relationship, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 3rd

They tried, but it just didn't work.

122/365: I wanna dance with somebody

122/365: I wanna dance with somebody, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 2nd

There is a place in Berlin called the Mauerpark, a bit of green on what used to be the Death Strip just by the infamous Wall. There is a flea market there today, and music, and song, and waffles and beer. There are performers, picnics, swings, a stadium, and just by what is left of the Wall, a little stone amphitheatre which is host, every Sunday, to the Bear Pit Karaoke.

As my German friend linlen aptly put it, spending an afternoon in the park was like walking into a perfect Nokia commercial. An impromptu gathering of people of all races, ages and backgrounds dancing and singing together, with a crowd of hundreds to cheer them on no matter the quality of their performance. Magical.

121/365: The Radomes

121/365: The Radomes, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 1st

And we're in Berlin! Courtesy of wonderful people who work with me I got to see the abandoned NSA listening station on top of the Teufelsberg. This impressive elevation (called the Devil's Hill) is nothing but a mound of 12 million cubic meters of WW2 rubble piled on the carcass of an abandoned Nazi military college, overgrown with forest, and the cherry on the top is the spy station which the Americans used to eavesdrop on the Russians East of the Wall. It has been abandoned since the end of the Cold War and has suffered much decay.

You're not supposed to go there, but the three fence perimeter can't really stop the curious, and the payback in adrenaline is immense. You just need to be very careful not to injure yourself on any of the damaged construction, slide off a ladder, get lost in the creepy basement or fall into the open elevator shaft at the top of the main radome tower. Keeping all that in mind it is well worth the climb as the echo in the main dome is so strong, even your own breath is reiterated.

An unbelievable place.

More photos in the Flickr Set.