A post about a platz in Berlin, what has that got to do with unAustralian politics, culture or urban affairs (the ostensible semblance of a thread that hangs this fledgling blog together)? Well, I happen to think urban squares are something Australian cities do not do very well, and an area where we could learn a great deal from European cities in trying to make our own cities more livable. So there is the link.
I do love Berlin. I loved it even before I had been there really. It is such an interesting, exciting, constantly evolving city, a city of contrasts, a city with the most intriquing history, and despite all of that burden of history and expectation it is just such a liveable and fun city too. It's probably just about my favourite city, along with Hong Kong (although Paris and Amsterdam are notable mentions, as indeed is Melbourne.)
Viktoria Luise Platz is an elegant residential square in the Berlin borough of Schöneberg, famous as the birthplace of Marlene Dietrich and one time home of Christopher Isherwood and the setting for much of his stories in Goodbye to Berlin. The borough was the centre of Berlin's gay world in the 1930s and it was West Berlin's main gay area until reunification in 1989. It still has a pretty vibrant gay life, but much of the action has dispersed to other parts of the city now, leaving Schöneberg something of a fading flower. But what a lovely fading flower she is.
The centrepiece of the platz is a charming, oval-shaped park with a rather impressive fountain. The square itself was originally constructed in 1898, then renovated in 1957. Several of the lovely apartment buildings around the square were destroyed during the war, but still quite a few remain (you can see some of them here). Billy Wilder lived on the square at one time. There is a plaque somewhere attesting to this trivial fact.
The square hosts a playground and garden (although, being Germany, the grass, so tempting for lazing about on in the sunshine, is fenced off). It is surrounded by cafés, a pub, local shops and high density courtyard apartment buildings, most of which also feature private balconies. The square covers an underground U-bahn rail station. It is within walking distance of several other squares which are also community hubs, such as Nollendorfplatz, a gay hub, Winterfeldplatz, a laid back café cluster which hosts a weekly farmers market, and Wittenburgplatz, home to chic department store KaDeWe. Also nearby are the supermarkets and services of Prager Platz and Bayerischer Platz, and the friendly gay strip of Motzstraße.
The streets in this area are lined with stands of large, elegant trees. With its greenery, its human-scale high density, its diverse population of young families, older people, immigrants and gays, colourful street-level local businesses and a mix of affordable and more exclusive housing options, this charming corner of Berlin is my idea of a highly effective, desirable urban village.
