‘Health & Fitness’ Archives
The Badeschiff
Looking to beat the summer heat? Try Berlin's Badeschiff - a swimming pool in the Spree... Badeschiff - literally "bathing ship" - opened in 2004 as an art project organized by Berlin's Stadtkunstprojekte (City Art ProjectSociety), the AMP Architectos (Teneriffa), architect Gil Wilk and local artist Susanne Lorenz.The initial aim was to enliven city life along what was then a long-neglected stretch of the Spree, between the former Osthafen (East harbour) and Flutgraben, a small [...]
Canoeing in Gosen
William Thirteen paddles in the watery footsteps of Frederick the Great... In 1752 Prussian ruler Frederick the Great took time out between war with Silesia and witty banter with his friend Voltaire to found the small village of Gosen. Gosen and neighboring village Neu Zittau were intended to be home to the workers of the new weaving and spinning mills being established in the area as part of Frederick's efforts to develop the local Brandenburg economy. In the intervening two and a half [...]
Strandbad Wannsee
Berlin's oldest and most famous lido still packs in the punters... You're in Berlin. The sun has got his hat (and rave shades) on and you suddenly find yourself longing to escape the city - to flee the concrete, traffic and shadows for some sand, sea and fresh air. The East (Baltic) sea is at least three hours away: too far for a day trip, especially since you're not an early riser. But wait. What's that large mass of water south-west of the city, en route to Potsdam? Of course -- it's [...]
The Pfaueninsel
William Thirteen explores art and artifice in "Prussia's Arcadia"... "On Rabbit Island neither the merest tree nor bush may ever be felled again!" With this bold edict in 1793 Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II took possession of a small island in the Havel river, erected a fairy tale castle for his favorite mistress and rechristened it Pfaueninsel. While he disported himself here among the peacocks for only two short summers before dying in 1797, Friedrich's royal proclamation [...]
Prinzessinnengärten
Berlin’s newest urban garden has a royal name and a noble mission… Prinzessinnengärten, or Princess Gardens - is the romantic name of a not-very-romantic urban street in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, hidden away in an alternative enclave of Turkish culture and noisy traffic near the Moritzplatz roundabout. In the center of this largely unused and cluttered space, two ambitious guys began an urban gardening project. Robert, one of the two founders of Prinzessinnengärten had lived [...]
Walking The Landwehr Kanal
Kevin Braddock ponders the infographic and the psychogeographic during a stroll along the Landwehr Kanal at –15˚C... A Berlin mate of mine happens to be a very successful illustrator known for composing colourful infographics and tiny, pixelated portraits of popstars. We often spend evenings in the bars around Kottbusser Tor pontificating on life, on the whole agreeing with each other. One day though we happened upon a quite intractable difference in our views. It crystallised around [...]
Cycling in Berlin
British journalist and cycling enthusiast Kevin Braddock changes gear for an inaugural Berlin bike ride... Everyone cycles in Berlin, and in Berlin everyone cycles in the same way: slowly. I recognised this one day not so long ago as I was riding north along Warschauer Strasse, from Kreuzberg to Friedrichshain. It was a hot sunny afternoon, and in common with very few other streets in Berlin, there’s a mild incline to the stretch running parallel to the S-Bahn just north of the [...]
