Berlin MB Kreuzberg

Over Napoleon's grave, a plaque with a photo of him and a stuffed animal (pig?) in leather, with the following heading: porcus mortuus est / the pig is dead Below the picture: In der pfalz geboren, seit 1980 in berlin lebend, liebend, sterbend. Autor von "Schweine müssen nackt sein" und anderer illustrer Werke. "Ich bin gestorben, wie ich gelebt habe - über meine Verhältnisse!" / Born in the Pfalz (Rhineland), in Berlin since 1980, alive, loving, dying. Author of "Pigs must be naked" and other illustrious works. "I died as I lived - beyond my means!"

An AIDS memorial site. I don't know the history of the memorial, but if you look at the lifespans the deaths are relatively recent. All of the deaths here occurred in 2003 or later, in my cohort the highest rates of death were from about 1985 until the early 1990's.

On the grave marker, various indicators of a life lived fully. Grave site for Andreas Meyer-Hanno, a German theater and opera director, professor, and activist who co-founded an LGBT organization and helped in the building of a memorial in Frankfurt to homosexual who died under Nazi rule. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Meyer-Hanno

Gravesite for Hedwig Dohn (1831-1919), credited with being one of the first feminists to see gender roles as learned, not innate. The saying at the top translates to "Human rights have no gender." An inscription on the back of the marker indicates that this is a newer marker, created in 2007 by an association of journalists.

Memorial for those who were involved in a July 20, 1944 plot to kill Hitler. The bodies were originally buried here, but were later removed to an unknown place. Per the Wikipedia article (link below), the goals of the conspirators were not as nobel as popularly believed. The conspirators largely supported the goals of the National Socialists, but had lost confidence in Hitler and wanted to bring the war to an earlier end. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_July_plot

A small section of military graves, with this on an introductory monument: allen opfern von krieg und gewaltherrschaft 1939-1945 / all victims of war and tyranny 1939-1945 It was only fortuitous that these were next in line to be posted, but given the responses to Istanbul/Beirut/Metrojet/Paris, it's a good reminder of the costs of military action. See photos posted earlier for comments on the cemetery:

A placard that was at the site, with interesting photos, describing the Berlin airlift. This is a continuation of previous postings about Tempelhof:

Monument in front area of Templehof honoring the US and British airlift of supplies into Berlin during the Soviet blockade of Berlin in 1948-49. During that period the Soviets blocked road, rail, and canal passage through East Germany to Berlin. The aim of the blockade was to force West Berlin to cede control to the GDR, but the US and British decided to instead supply Berlin by air, creating a Luftbrücke (lierally, air bridge). During the 15 months of the airlift there were over 278,000 flights to Berlin with the U.S. bringing in the majority of the supplies. Templehof was the main airport used but the British used some flying boats and flights went to Gatow (a British-supported base) and Tegel (a French-supported base). See Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Blockade

Almost at the entrance to the former Templehof airport, an interesting building with raised brick lettering, of an unknown (but not recent) age. The lettering says "Verband der Deutschen Buchdrucker" (Association of German Publishers and Printers)

An iconic symbol of the slow death of the Cold War, and thus an appropriate end to the posting of photos from my Spring explorations of some sites related to 20th century fascism/totalitarianism. From the operational side of Tempelhof; the plane sitting on the tarmac is a C-54 (DC-4) commemorating the role of the airport in the Berlin Airlift. The airport closed in 2008 due to being too small for the demands of modern commercial aviation. The runway and taxi areas are now one huge park.

Tempelhof was originally designated as an airport in 1923 and its first terminal was constructed in 1927. What you see when visiting is the massive reconstruction of the airport begun by the Nazi's in the 1930's. The architecture is stunning and very monumentalist in design, though difficult to capture in photos due to the size (the main building was once one of the largest buildings on earth). The largest versions of this and other pictures show the detail. In this picture, the eagle head (on the right side of the picture) was once on a very tall eagle statue (see next picture) that was on top of the building. The statue was removed in 1962 to make room for radar equipment and only the head remains. An excellent source on the building, with photos of its construction, is the following: www.thf-berlin.de/en/about-tempelhofer-freiheit/history/national-socialism/architecture

A photo of the approximately 6 meter (over 19 feet) high eagle that once stood over the reception area; the photo was taken as the eagle was being dismantled. The very aggressive appearing eagle was a signature style of the airport and once included a swastika at the base. The swastikas were removed immediately after the end of WWII. (This photo is of a photo that is in a placard at the airport.)

A proposed revision of one wing of the building as space for 'the creative industry'.

One of the Nazi-era eagles (swastika removed) on the building.

Unusual window grills dating back to the original construction.

The end of the north wing of the main terminal building. Looking at a larger version of the picture you can see the continuance of the strong attention to detail and very ordered appearance, even in this comparatively remote portion of the building. (The radar/antenna dome is obviously a post-war addition.)

From the operational side of Tempelhof. From this and the adjacent picture you can tell that center section was the passenger terminal section and the sides were hangars and offices.

From the operational side of Tempelhof. From this and the adjacent picture you can tell that center section was the passenger terminal section and the sides were hangars and offices.