English edition 2025 “On my way to school,I stop at the newspaper stand in the U-Bahn. August 13, 1961 The Berlin Wall is erected by night.1966 We head to Pfaueninsel for a photography assignment. Crossing the Havel by ferry. Beneath the water lies the Iron Curtain,rusted iron posts visible. “Cold War”chills down the spine.In the distance: armed Russian soldiers.”Russkies”.Kalashnikovs aussaultrifles ready. Vopos StG44 rifles shouldered.”
Munich 1969 So we come into this Bavarian apartment on Stollbergstrasse. It’s summer. The windows are covered. It’s a bit dim. A TV sits on the floor. Rainer is sitting cross-legged.Rainer(werner fassbinder) knows me—so he says—from the experimental film shown on TV3.Rainer walks up to me.He’s happy, says:“I just finished a film, we’ve been invited to Berlin. Wanna come along?”I say no—because I wasn’t in it. But I did travel to Berlin to see my mother.Rainer: “I’m working on a play now. Want to take part?”If I wanted to be in his next film—or this play, right away?“Passt scho.”
Berlin 1966 At nearly every corner, an empty lot,craters of rubble. You could still feel and hear the culture of the 1930s speaking to us. Streetcorner speaking with war ruins