dark clouds over Berlin © Lilly Schwartz 2011

Quite some time now I’ve been wanting to check out a street that I once drove through in a driving lesson. Back then I was pondering whether I should just stop and tell my driving instructor that I just have to take a couple of pictures. However, in the end I didn’t and I also forgot a bit about it. Yesterday I got the chance to see that street again. Originally we headed out to take a look at the book shop I mentioned the other day which is in a remote corner of the market hall down the street. When we got there the market hall was closed though which is probably normal considering that it was just before 6pm on a Saturday. We kept on walking and eventually I recognised a street close to the one I wanted to see, so we made a turn into that street and already found some very cool old houses. Then another left turn and we were there: Kruppstraße. I only recognised it when I looked it up on the map, but it definitely was that street.

About halfway down we found a really old building that was pretty run down and looked a bit abandoned. On closer examination it turned out to be a police station although part of it is probably disused. The building was neither repaired nor redecorated after the war which means that there were actual shot holes in the walls. There was an entrance on the side with a big metal door and a sign that said it was the Abteilung Verbrechensbekämpfung, the department for fighting crime, specifically fraud. There was a reasonably big standup ash tray with fresh cigarette buds as it seemed, which was probably the only sign that the building is actually still in use. Imagine working there, or even worse: imagine being brought in for questioning into a building with shot holes! The original house entrance was actually facing away from the street. A light blue door, rotten with the light for the house number crumbling and grimy. Someone had written initials next to the entrance in blue marker together with a little heart. Who’d choose a place like this for such signs of affection?

On the way back it occurred to us that the autumn weather with the fallen leaves, the cold wind and the crisp temperatures really added to the sinister feel of the place. Black clouds were moving in fast and we were walking briskly to get home before the storm hit. Obviously it was too late though. Yesterday’s picture was taken only a couple of blocks from Kruppstraße, but quite a way from home. We got caught in heavy rain without an umbrella. However, it was well worth it, because it added to the atmosphere of the rotten old police station. Interesting stories happen in this kind of atmosphere.