This week, as the leaves turn color, the days grow shorter, and there’s simply no more denying the end of summer, Die Bärliner has prepared a special treat to warm the cockles of your heart. We’ve looked into the treasure trove of our archives and dug up some of our favourite pieces on Pankow and wider Berlin from recent years. Starting in the dorm gardens, we pay a loving visit to BCB and the Bees to learn more about their busy ways from local beekeeper Daniel Bauer. From there, our feet take us through the neighbourhood as we listen carefully to the Symphony of the Great Suburb, making sure not to miss out on the delightful and unexpected Stories from Pankow we might hear along the way.
Speaking of which — did you hear The One with the Park? I found it had some good tips of where to go to “park up” in both Pankow and Berlin.
With all these gems to admire above ground, we must ask ourselves: Why would anyone spend 15 hours on the S-Bahn?
Read on to find out…
BCB and the Bees – An Interview with Daniel Bauer by Lisa Vogel
…The “year of the bee” generally ends in October. Then, it’s wintertime until March. In this time, the bees all nestle together in a ball to keep each other warm, and in that formation they slowly make their way through their food stocks — that is, the honey they collected or the food that they got from the beekeeper. And then, in April, the beekeeper takes out all the leftover food, and puts empty honeycombs into the beehive. At this time, the bees start flying and collecting pollen again. The bees’ flying radius is about 3 kilometers in each direction, so I have no doubt that the bees from BCB also make it to the botanical garden, and that the bees in the botanical garden come here…
Pankow: Symphony of the Suburb by Liza Ostrovksa
…Can you hear the Panke? The puny stream swirling behind Schloss Schönhausen is the river that gave the whole district its name. On a sunny Sunday, it’s pleasant to follow one of the Panke’s streams, Zingergraben, all the way to the well-shadowed meadows of Volkspark Schönholzer Heide. But for now I stick to the Panke itself; flowing along the former homes of GDR politicians on Majakowskiring [*2] and the modernist red-brick labyrinths of Paul-Francke-Siedlung [*3], it leads me back and forth through layers of time…
Stories from Pankow (podcast) by Lucas Møller
Blog reporter Lucas Møller set out to explore the neighbourhood around the campus. Pankow has many hidden gems, among them a record store owner who shares his love for vinyl, a teacher who keeps a pet donkey, and a children’s bookshop which offers regular reading sessions.
Translation in the donkey segment provided by Philip Euteneuer (BA 2017, Germany)
The One with the Park by Tanya Sharma
…Amongst Berlin’s graffiti and art-scape, its tall buildings and narrow doors, lies the scenic park culture. I’ve never seen a city so comfortable in its rush and chaos as in it’s calm and collected half. Every district in Berlin has luscious open spaces. The city is built to accommodate your every need. Exhausted after a long day and tired of the hustle and bustle of the city? Park it up! Transport yourself to another time and place — there are so many parks to choose from! ….
Why would anyone spend 15 hours on the S-Bahn? By David Kretz
…Riding the Berlin S-Bahn seems to have become a thing among Bard College Berlin students. Some travel the Ringbahn for one hour to visit all 27 stations. Others go for the complete S-Bahn network in one go: 15 lines, 166 stations, 332 kilometres. Some even do it twice. Among them yours truly, who shall try to use the space of this article to convince you this grew neither out of out-right craziness, nor simply out of boredom beyond redemption, by taking you on the journey of how these journeys came about. For that we have to turn back the clock a bit to the warm and lovely days of spring 2014, when I was finishing the second semester of my second year at Bard College Berlin…