Wedding

This den of iniquity known as Wedding has the worst crime rate in Berlin. Cramped, high rise tenements and streets lined with filth and litter make up the residential quarters. The buildings were built during the 1920's and 30's. Parts of Wedding are divided into /Viertels/, or quarters. North of Seerstrasse are the regions of Englisches Viertel and Afrikanisches Viertel. South of the same road are the regions of Bruesseler Kiez and Sprengelkiez.

/Arbeiterbewegung/ (the Worker's movement) in Germany gave rise to political parties like the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Many politicians of the SPD, including former city Mayor Willy Brandt, cut their teeth here in Wedding. The more radical KPD moved east to form the German Democratic Republic. Wedding is “Red” for a reason—because the unions have held sway here since the Kaiser was in power.

## Locations

### **Afrikanisches Viertel**

The streets have names like Ghanastrasse, Guineastrasse, Swakopmunder Strasse, Togostrasse, and Ugandastrasse. It was named in the 1910's when Carl Hagenbeck, adventurer and animal trader, wanted to built a zoo to showcase the people and animals from the German colonies of Africa. His plans were never realised. The names remained, and in recent years, it has attracted African immigrants looking for some sense of familiarity in a foreign land.

The community is new but vibrant; amongst the tenements sprouted small restaurants and shops selling African goods. Recreational activities are centred around church groups and community centres. The parks west of the quarter, Volkspark Rehberge and Goethepark, are dilapidated and run-down. The rent is cheap and the housing units are in poor condition.

#### **U-Bahnhof Afrikanisches Strasse**

A U-Bahn station under Muellerstrasse, nearby to its intersection with Afrikanisches Strasse. This station has pale blue walls and grey floors and ceilings, and is also badly illuminated. There is a bus depot close to the station.

### **Quartier Napoleon**

Wedding is under the control of the French occupation, for which a base has been established at the Quartier Napoleon, close to the Tegel Airport. This part of Wedding was restored to a somewhat inhabitable state. The French forces built Cite Joffre, a residential area, and concentrated their troops at the barracks of Quartier Napoleon, formerly known as Hermann-Goering-Kaserne. They also installed a radio service and the Center Francais de Berlin to promote French culture. The military units stationed here are called the Forces Francaises a Berlin. The safety of this neighbourhood is maintained by the Gendarmerie.

#### **Quartier Napoleon Barracks**

Wedding is under the control of the French occupation, for which a base has been established at the Quartier Napoleon, close to the Tegel Airport. The compound is triangular in shape, with roughly 130 buildings arranged around an oval ring road. The narrower end of the road points towards the HQ building of the French administration. The wider end of the road encircles a sportsfield, often used as parade grounds. The Charles-Corcelle-Ring road marks the perimeter of the compound.

The barracks contain accommodations of various grades for the officers and enlisted men. Daily businesses of the administration are conducted here. Various training facilities such as a gym and a swimming pool, and recreational facilities are available for the personnel. The units stationed here are collectively called the Forces Francaises a Berlin.

### **Sprengelkiez**

Sprengelkiez, on the banks of the shipping canal, is just downriver from the harbour and part of the district of Wedding. Its residential area comprises of tenement houses built during the 1920-30's, as part of the Wilhelmine Ring. The living conditions are lacklustre, and crime and poverty is rampant. Wedding is “Red” because it has been under the tight grip of the unions since the time of the Kaiser. To get anything done in Wedding, palms have to be greased, and deals are done in the smoky backrooms of dockside bars.

The Communists lead violent revolts against the Prussians and the Nazis. And now most of them prefer to be known as “Socialists”. They fly the red flag, championing for the rights of the common man. The Berlin chapter of the SPD (Social Democratic Party) is headquartered here, at Kurt-Schumacher-Haus on Muellerstrasse. It was once the office of Willy Brandt, former City Mayor and former Chancellor of the West German Republic. Junior politicians of the SPD often start out here before moving on to bigger and better things.

#### **Kurt-Schumacher-Haus**

* Politics 3

These “socialists” fly the red flag, championing for the rights of the common man. The building is the headquarters of the Berlin chapter of the SPD (Social Democratic Party). It is situated on the corner between Muellerstrasse and Burgsdorfstrasse, one block away from the U-Bahn station of Wedding. The architecture of the building is an example of post-war modernism. The five-storey structure is made from steel and concrete; it has an assymmetrical front with four wide windows on the right side and a four-by-four grid of narrow windows on the left side. The first floor has a cantilevered sitting room, with a huge glass window to allow the occupants a view of the street. The glass “box” is protected by a slanting cantilever of concrete, which acts like a huge awning.

This was once the office of Willy Brandt, former City Mayor and former Chancellor of the West German Republic. Junior politicians of the SPD often start out here before moving on to bigger and better things.

#### **Rudolf-Virchow-Krankenhaus**

* Medicine 4
* Status: Health

Rudolf Virchow, the founder of cell theory and modern pathology, built this hospital between 1898 and 1906. It is a large campus with twenty-or-so buildings, on a block adjacent to Sprengelkiez and Brueseller Kiez. The term used to describe the campus design is “Pavilion-style”. Hospital blocks are made out of smaller buildings, connected to each other via walkways. The central building has glass panes in the middle third of its facade and a gigantic arched glass roof.

The hospital has three entrances; the entrance at Seerstrasse provides access to a multi-storey car park. The roads within the campus allow for navigation between the buildings. The central road is called Mittelallee. The other roads are named after their associated cardinal directions; examples include Nordstrasse, Nordring, Suedstrasse, Oststrasse, and Westring. The various institutions and departments are housed in the different buildings scattered throughout the campus. The hospital is adequately equipped but extremely busy.

**Pathological Museum**

Entering from the front door, you are likely going to be hit by the pungent, acrid smell of formaldehyde. This building is hidden in some forgotten corner of the campus, and is used to store the pathological specimens collected by the founder of the hospital, Rudolf Virchow. During his tenure, Virchow amassed tens of thousands of specimens and put them on display, in this exhibit spanning five storeys. The catalogue is sorted by anatomy and organ systems. Visitors can gaze upon blackened, cancerous livers and lungs scarred by tuberculosis. The specimens are preserved via wet and dry methods, plastinised or stored in vats of formaldehyde. Rows and rows of specimens are on display on tall metal shelves.

In the museum, you may come across malformed dead foetuses floating about in jars, with their swollen, contorted little faces and their fingers curled up against the glass. There are skeletons of giants and dwarfs and a man whose soft tissue had been replaced by bone. Also of interest is a display of rusty, archaic medical equipment. One hopes that they are no longer in use today.

***Lecture Hall Ruins***

Attached to the museum is a lecture hall, where Rudolph Virchow held his pathology lectures from 1856 to 1876. It was heavily damaged by World War II bombings and neglected during the subsequent restoration. The hall has arched doorways and a two-storey high ceiling, and could have sat about a hundred students. It has no furniture, and all four walls are charred by fire, reduced to bare, crumbling brick and mortar. The large windows high up on the walls are missing windowpanes. Above, the ceiling beams are exposed, charred and black with mildew.

#### **Schering AG**

* Medicine 3
* Science 4
* Must be employed by Schering AG or have allies that are employees of Schering AG.

Schering AG was founded in 1871 in Wedding, and from then it grew into a multinational pharmaceutical company with 140 subsidiaries world wide. The interests of this conglomeration are multifaceted and all-encompassing. Its presence is felt in the market by a huge line of diversified products—in fertility control and hormone therapy, diagnostics and radiopharmaceuticals, psycho-pharmaceuticals, and even specialty industrial chemicals and electroplating. Its portfolio is expanded by aggressive overseas acquisitions in Europe, South America, Japan, and the U.S.

Here in Berlin, the headquarters are situated in a multi-storey building by the banks of a small stream. The building is white with blue-tinted windows, about the size of a small city block, and clean, with an almost hospital-like appearance. Here is where innovation is being made in new ways to cure diseases. The scientists employed by the company have access to a very generous budget and state-of-the-art equipment. There is also a sizeable corporate staff—sales, legal, marketing, and various other suits with vague job descriptions. The entire company is presided by a six-member executive board.

#### **U-Bahnhof Wedding**

There is an S-Bahn station not far away from here, shut down due to the boycott of the Berlin Wall. The U-Bahn station is underground and has bright orange tiled walls. It has seen better days.