Our apartment is in the former East German Mitte neighborhood. Our closest U-Bahn (subway) stop, Rosenthaler Platz, was a “ghost station” during the Cold War. This means that the trains from West Germany would pass through it, but could not stop, so for 30 years it was filled with barbed wire and barricades. It is mostly a “hipster” area, filled with fusion restaurants and juice bars. The enormous Circus Hostel and Hotel next door makes it a very international and youth oriented neighborhood.
Great Tit (Parus major), Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Russian Food at Gorki Park Cafe, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Church Door, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus), Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Bird’s Nest in a Cherry Tree, Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Bee on Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium), Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Siberian squill (Scilla sibirica), Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Russian Food at Gorki Park Cafe, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Graffitti in Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Russian Food at Gorki Park Cafe, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Forsythia × intermedia, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Magpie, Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Me in Gorki Park Cafe, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Violets, Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Russian Food at Gorki Park Cafe, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Heinrich Heine, Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Tulips, Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Elliott’s First Döner, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Vines, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Ben and Elliott on Rosenthaler Platz, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Zionskirche, Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Weinbergsweg Apartment, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Berlin Kitchen, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
May Day, Kreuzberg. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
May Day, Kreuzberg. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
May Day, Kreuzberg. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Me, Opfermoor Vogtei. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
May Day, Kreuzberg. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Holocaust Memorial, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Tiergarten, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Brandenburg Gate Selfie. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Der Neue Wache Memorial, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Goethe and Schiller, Weimar. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Drinking Absinthe in a Kreuzberg Bar, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Museuminsel, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Denkmal für die im Nationalsozialismus verfolgten Homosexuellen, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Me, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Me & the Brandenburg Gate
Me in our Berlin Courtyard, April 2016
Me and Ben, May Day, Kreuzberg. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Ben and me, Kottbusser Tor, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Holocaust Memorial, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Me in Our Courtyard, Berlin. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Me in Weimar, Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Me in Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
May Day, Kreuzberg. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Me in Leipzig. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Me Leaving Opfermoor Vogtei. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
May Day, Kreuzberg. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Me in Gorki Park Cafe, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
May Day, Kreuzberg. Photo by Elliott Cribbs
Elliott and I stopped by Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof to see the graves of the Grimm Brothers. This is about 30 minutes away by train, a completely random and out of the way corner of Berlin near the Steglitz borough. As we are walking through the cemetery taking photos, I see someone slowly coming towards us in the distance that triggers a familiar response in me. We continue to walk up the path, stopping to photograph or read the headstones, and the person on the path does the same. After about 20 minutes of this, we get lose enough that I see who it is. Out of 3 million people in Berlin, our friend from Bellingham, Ben Kohn, is standing in front of me. Seriously, I can’t tell you how astronomical the odds of that are, that we happened to be at the same cemetery, at the same time, let alone that we happened to be walking up the same path he was coming down. We decide such implausible synchronicity deserved a beer.
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Elliott alerted me to a sign he saw advertising a fairy tale festival at a museum that is a recreation of a medieval German village. We decided to attend, and while it was very lovely and fun, it was raining quite hard and the actually storytelling was forced into tiny tents. Rather than elbow children out of the way for my own selfish interests, I opted to wander the grounds and try to talk to the staff. Language proved to be a challenge, because contrary to popular belief not everyone in Germany speaks English, especially older people who grew up in the East before the reunification. However, I did manage to learn a bit about “Schlüsselblumen”, or “key flowers”, which is the flower we call Cowslips. She explained that it was part of the folklore of fairies, elves, and woodland spirits, although I am not certain how. It is also known as the more Christianized “Himmelsschlüsselblumen”, or “Keys of Heaven Flowers”. It was a lovely, if not rainy, afternoon.
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
Museumsdorf Düppel, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger
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An Study of the German Forest in Song, Myth, and Folklore