Livegreenblog in Berlin Alexanderplatz

Berlin is celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the fall of the wall. A memorable date that Livegreenblog wants to commemorate with a tribute to one of the landmark squares of the German capital: Alexanderplatz. The site of the massive, peaceful demonstration of 4 November 1989, which culminated with the fall of the wall five days later.



We travelled to Berlin in Summer to meet Gaeta-Springall Arquitectos and Josep Ferrando at the Aedes Gallery; while we were there, we toured some of the city sites, and of course we stopped in Alexanderplatz, here immortalised by our photographer, Gianluca Giordano.





“Alex” as the Berliners call this large urban square, has existed since the Middle Ages. It was originally a livestock marketplace and in 1805 it was named Alexanderplatz to honour the visit of Emperor of Russia, Alexander I to Berlin. In the 1920s it was the heart of the cosmopolitan city and it strengthened its significant urban role in East Berlin after the division of Germany, when the Iron Curtain came down.





The paved square is surrounded by buildings symbolising the different historical eras, from the early 1900s to now, but it has maintained its socialist imprint, also thanks to art installations like the fountain of friendship between peoples and the Weltzeituhr (world time clock), as Berlin’s emblematic meeting place.





Alexanderplatz is also a key public transport hub with railway station, metro lines, buses and trams all converging here. It may not be full of plant-life and green in the strictest sense of the word, but its sustainability is indisputable, because the locals and tourists alike flock here, it’s a real community experience, they love it and live it, just like the times in Alfred Döblin’s novel, “Berlin Alexanderplatz”.  

(Christiane Bürklein)

Berlin Alexanderplatz, http://www.berlin.de/orte/sehenswuerdigkeiten/alexanderplatz/index.it.php
Photography: © Gianluca Giordano 2014
Link: Mostra Aedes