YOU ARE HERE: HARDENBERGSTRAßE
Berlin Past
Pedestrians waiting to cross Hardenbergstraße outside Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1961. Somehow both familiar and strange, if compared to today’s situation:
And just one regret: where did all the beautiful neon signs go…
Photo taken in by Harrison Forman, whose collection of slides is now part of Harrison Forman Archive at University of Wisconsin & University of Milwaukee.
This is a function of age and of relative time spent in the city during and after the Mauerzeit, but the first photo is somehow much more familiar to / resonant with me than the contemporary one.
Part of that is the role that Bahnhof Zoo filled during that time.
I find it difficult to convey its sheer centrality to those who only know the city Post-Wall.
And yes, the neon is a massive loss.