PACK DIE BADEHOSE EIN (PACK YOUR SWIMMING TRUNKS) - OFF TO WANNSEE IN 1930

The Wannsee Lido on a summer day in 1930. Photo by NN for “Het Leven”, now in the the collection of Spaarnstad Photo. [SFA022829431], Het Leven, Spaarnestad Photo.

Taken on a hot summer day in 1930, when Berlin was already being shaken by more and more palpable tremors of the 1929 world financial crisis as well as ripped apart by extreme political groups (principally the Communists and the Nazis). Most Berliners, however, grateful for a sunny Sunday and access to the wonderful new facilities built by the city on the spreading river bank (Wannsee is not a lake but a bulge at the river Havel), flocked to the place which was the epitome of fun and leisure as well as of “Luft, Licht und Sonne” (Air, Light and Sunshine) that the Weimar Republic authorities in Berlin were determined to guarantee the city’s residents.

With the modern, elegant and user-oriented lidos at the Wannsee and right across the metropolis, at its eastern end at the Müggelsee, Martin Wagner (the city councillor in charge of conctruction and urban planning) and his teams delivered projects which would not be (and are not) out of place today, a century later.

And here’s a photo you wish you could walk into and stay for a while. Not too long, though. Dark clouds are gathering fast.