A City Within A City - Episode 10

Secret Place Berlin

Nestled just outside of the Ringbahn of Berlin, lay a historical little hub, a calm enclave carved out of a point in time when German Industry was at its height and technological discoveries were erupting regularly. Named after the British Queen, the area of Victoriastadt housed workers that spun wools and finery for her kingdoms consumption at high quantities. Initiating a spring of manufacturing from textiles to concrete, train brakes and pellet balls. Some relics still preserved, but virtually unnoticeable to commuters unless seen from an observing bike ride or by train window, for which the little city is surrounded by these silver snakes that guide trains. The train tracks create the boarders of Victoriastadt and their screaming lullaby is the soundtrack that signifies encapsulated mirages that poignantly speed by to be there one moment and gone the next. However all is well in the small gentle stadt, holding safe a close-knit community of artisans, historians, families and so on… a collection of people that are the result of over a century of evolutions. Though Victoriastadt is no longer an area to house workers to be employed by its nearby factories, the residue of its origins still remain. For instance, a switch-line booth may not hold the telephonic machinery it was intended for, but its shell houses a cultural craft of a newly developed artisanal kind. A tower that once dropped liquefied molton metals for its prize bounty, sits in remission above a block of row houses. And the robust bridges that safely elevate speeding trains above Victoriastads entry points, harbor mysteries of light sculptures beneath them. Glowing angels in hiding, waiting like dignified guardians, light the way to curiosity seekers that are beheld to uncover the hidden magic of a city within a city that awaits them. Episode tip: Listen for the trains wisking by the background of this episode. To support Secret Place Berlin, please visit our Patron at www.patreon.com/secretplaceberlin Follow us on Instagram @secretplaceberlin SHOW NOTES: Articles explored for this episode: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoriastadt https://www.everestate.com/blog/neighbourhood-profile-victoriastadt-in-lichtenberg https://karte.industriekultur.berlin/standort/ehem-knorr-bremse-hauptwerk/ to visit some of the closed monuments once a year in September: https://www.berlin.de/en/events/2860241-2842498-heritage-day.en.html Music by Rossano Snel @rossanofrombrazil serenading from the depths of the Schrotkugelturm Story, Narration, Illustration & Image copyright Lacy Barry @lacy_barry 2020, hiding in plain sight in the Linienverzweiger