Teufelsberg, Weihnachten

To grasp the magnitude of destruction German cities endured, visit their “Trümmerberge”- rubble mountains.  Every major Germany city has one or two heaps where debris was deposited during reconstruction.  In Berlin, there are nine.  The largest and most mysterious is Teufelsberg- named for a nearby lake on the western edge of the city.  Teufelsberg rises 80 meters tall- the highest point in Berlin- and is constituted by 75 million cubic meters of debris.

The mountain is weedy and traversed by ribbons of paths; the debris lies beneath a thin layer of soil.  It is not hard to find shards of plates, tile, chunks of brick and ceramic.  Much of the rubble is from buildings that were demolished in a 1950s building frenzy- the dumping here continued into the early 1970s.

From the top of Teufelsberg, you get a pretty good survey of Berlin- in particular, the smokestacks of Reuter and Steglitz power stations.  But also, strangely, one sees the way this city is surrounded by wilderness.  A mere 15 minute walk from the S-bahn, wild boars are said to roam the area, and only woods are visible to the western horizon (see photo).

Teufelsberg was originally to the location of a Nazi military-technical college- a complex designed by Albert Speer and envisioned as part of the World Capital Germania.  Demolition of the complex- still under construction as the war ended- proved too difficult, and instead it was simply buried under debris.  This is yet another example of the odd ways that reconstruction had to negotiate the grandiose that Speer had launched.

The "Listening Station" - a complex consisting of three or four radomes, some concrete buildings, and oil tanks- was established by the U.S. National Security Agency in 1963- a prime spot for intelligence gathering from behind the iron curtain. The facility discontinued operations after reunification.

The perimeter of the complex is lined with a barbed wire fence- heavily patched and reinforced- and the campus buildings are covered in graffiti.   Also there are strange tree-houses on the property.  Apparently, the listening station has one legal resident- a Shalmon Abraham- who can arrange tours and rent the facility.  The torn covering of the towers flap loudly in the wind.  David Lynch is said to have purchased property on Teufelsberg with the aim of establishing an "Invincible University" for the teaching of meditation and yoga.

Nearby, there is another huge mound where- I am told- people attempt to hang glide, fly kites, and in the winter, ski.  It affords another good view of the listening station, the infamous olympic stadium, and still other disasters of modernism- to be covered in future installments.