Temperatures in Berlin tended to the boiling point. It was hot, even in the early morning, and my motivation for one more exhausting day on the track of 1st Berlin Mural Festival was almost zero. My choice, to take an urban train to Spandau was caused by a story, my grandfather told me a long time ago:

As a young soldier of 30 years, in November 1918, he was demobilized and tried to get a job in his hometown, Duisburg. For a job interview an appropriate suit was necessary, but suit fabric was unavailable in the whole area. His mother, my great-grandma, had a sister in Spandau, and so my grandpa headed to Berlin; what don’t you do for suit fabric and a job. But he didn’t get that far. Just off the train in Spandau, he was arrested by the police and jailed for the weekend in Spandau Citadel. I suppose that this weekend coincided with the date of the riots around Berlin and Spandau in November 1918 and the November Revolution. The passengers of that train, coming straight from the red Ruhr Area, were jailed in advance, before they could participate any riots. After this memorable weekend my grandfather went home empty-handed. He always told this story with a warning, not to visit Spandau, because you might be jailed there innocently. Well – what shall I say – my grandpa was a passionate story-teller. The truth of his story might be found in the records of the Citadel and that was what I wanted to check that day. But I didn’t get that far. Just off the train, I stumbled across streetart hunter’s paradise in Klosterstraße 38. After 22 years of vacancy the old main post office in Spandau has been brought down, except the old packing station. 2017 a non profit organization Neue urbane Welten e.V was founded, to promote culture and art with urban context and to deliver an interface between people and the young arts. One of their projects is Urban Art Hall. Local, national and international artists are invited to color the walls around the old packing station, as long as it still stands. WOW! This premises are a playground of a special kind. I was paralyzed and I do not have to emphasize that my plans of a visit of Spandau Citadel had to be postponed in time. I got caught there and didn’t learn anything new about my grandpa that day.

Please find more pictures -> here

Spandau; Alte Post; KUZB 136

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