My first encounter with Berlin was Christopher Isherwood’s “Goodbye To Berlin.” This book pulled me into a world I never knew could even exist. I was relatively young when I read the book, so it made an impression on my young mind. So when I knew I would be in Europe, I had to go to Berlin. If just to walk in the same streets that Isherwood wrote about, the same-sex streets he walked through.
Of course, the Berlin I visited in 2013 is worlds apart from the Berlin of Isherwood before the war in the 1930’s and early 1940’s. Although the Berlin I visited is different from Isherwood’s Berlin, there were traces of the liberal spirit of Berlin that was chronicled in Goodbye To Berlin.
When I mentioned on social media that I would be in Berlin, a friend of mine suggested I stay with her and her boyfriend. They were on their way to a weekend away so their apartment would be mine for most of my stay in Berlin. This was an awesome development of events because I could save on accommodation, which means more drinking money. Also, I would have the privacy of a whole apartment to myself, which was awesome because I had been staying in hostels and small rooms in the cities I had been before Berlin. So this was a welcomed change.
My friend’s apartment was situated in Neukölln, Berlin. Like most of Berlin, the area has historical significance. My friends were telling that the area is gentrifying at a rapid speed, but is yet to truly become hipsterville.
I took a bus from the Airport to the apartment. It was a painless and straight ride to the apartment. It was long though. I took the bus because it was easiest, one bus ride all the way. One of the first things I noticed while on the bus was “Karl Marx street.” Now, this obviously makes sense because Karl Marx is German, but for me, it was strange because I had never been to a place where he is so obviously revered. I had spent some time in the States studying, and I can’t imagine having a street name called Karl Marx in the States. So in, a way this was radical for me, of course for Germans it is as ordinary as anything.
I knew I loved Berlin, and I knew I loved Neukölln when I walked past a bar that had a sign that said: “no homophobia, no racism, no sexism” on the window. This took me by surprise because I actually had never seen this anywhere else in the world. It was striking and shocking but so welcomed. I thought about how this could be a good practise for bars and restaurants in Cape Town. This could set the tone both for patrons and for staff alike.
The things I discovered in Berlin require a book to fully capture and describe. I went to the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. This was a moving experience. I also felt like the whole city was a Holocaust Memorial because I felt there was such a consciousness around it and the need to remember. Which is very different from the way white South Africans treat apartheid and colonialism. It’s all about forgetting.
The bread in Berlin deserves mention. The bakeries here have some good bread. And I love bread so appreciate people who can make good bread.
Berlin has a youthful spirit that embraces nightlife, drugs, and drag queens. It’s a city of art and all kinds of weird and beautiful things.
I was in Berlin over the weekend, so the Friday night I decided to chance it and go to the infamous Berghain. I had read about the club in the New Yorker, The New York Times, and Rolling Stones. Every publication was raving about the place, and how impossible it is to get in. So I decided not to go on a Saturday because that’s when everybody goes out. I went on a Friday night. I wore short shorts, black tights, my all-star almost knew high converse, and I can’t even remember the top. I arrived with a taxi because I didn’t know where it was. When I arrived at the line, it was long but not crazy. I was there around 23:00 I think. I looked at everyone around me and realised that most people were dressed interestingly, but some were not. Lots of people were being rejected at the door. There was a pattern in who was rejected, but once in a while, some rejects were a surprise. The people who didn’t make it wore denim, regular slacks, girls in ordinary short skirts, black dresses, sneakers, and people in large groups.
When I arrived at the door, the bouncer looked at me and told me to go inside. I was so nervous, but I didn’t show it. I acted like I was there the previous weekend. The place is another universe altogether. The experience of clubbing here will transform you. There is no describing the hedonism inside Berghain because it is beyond words and needs to be seen, felt, and experienced.
I also went to a club called the Kit Kat Club. It’s a magical world of debauchery where anything goes, with consent of course. I was not prepared for the freedom of people in Berlin. In Berlin, I learned that there is a kink for each and everyone one of us on planet earth. Yes, Berlin is a lesson in kink. Also, I feel like I just scratched the surface. I had the distinct feeling that there are levels to this kink thing, and also, it’s not just kink on a Saturday night, but a way of life.
One of the highlights was the Sunday when I met friends of a friend, Jan and Mary, who are Berliners, and they suggested a visit to the Mauerpark. This was a lovely day of German beer, German sausage, and German hospitality. There is art in the park as well, including graffiti murals. It was a hot summer’s day, so I wore my denim cutoffs and my Whitney Houston tank top that I bought in Sitges. It was a lovely and calm end to my time in Berlin. I promised myself that one day I would be back.
