Fotoeins Fotografie

Berlin Cölln: 775 anniversary on fire (2012)

By HL fotoeins on 19 Nov 2012

The city of Berlin celebrated its 775th anniversary during the weekend of 27-28 October 2012.

The town of Cölln would have been located in what is now the Museumsinsel (Museum Island) stretching south to the Fischerinsel (Fisher Island), and is first mentioned in official documents in 1237. As the town of Berlin initially established itself on the eastern banks of the Spree (what is now Alexanderplatz and Nikolaiviertel), the first recorded mention to Berlin appears in 1244. Recent archaeological finds strongly point to even earlier settlements along the Spree river.

Earlier on Sunday, October 28, clocks switch back one hour from summer- to standard-time; sunset occurs an hour “earlier” from 545pm to 445pm. An earlier end to the day helps hasten to bring about the theme for the evening – lots of fire.

The skies are clear, the air crisp with temperatures hovering at a few degrees above freezing. No surprise then that there are lots of people out for the evening. Wandering into the middle of the crowd, I stop and close my eyes. When I open my eyes, a medieval-like town appears: the sight of flames from fiery clay pots and burning sculptures, the smell of paraffin and smoke, and the sounds of chatter and laughter. The French “fire poets” group Compagnie Carabosse provides the “Feuerzauber” or the magic of fire with “chupas” (spheres filled with burning charcoal), “torchères” (machines shooting vertical jets of flame), “réverbères de feu” (fire lanterns), and “Edmonds” (large mechanical flower whose leaves open and close).

I turn around, and the sight of the TV Tower (Fernsehturm) throws me back into the present.

Not bad at all, for kicking things live for the big 7-7-5 …

---

---

I made the photos above on 28 October 2012; this post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-2zV.