Germany: Ali Luedke (The Five Senses in Berlin)
The Five Senses in Berlin
Sight
No matter where you go in Berlin, street art will follow you! This is the first thing I noticed on my taxi ride from the Berlin airport when I arrived in the city. Berlin has hundreds of designated areas where artists are either commissioned or welcomed to grace the city with their art. Some of the major street art attractions include the East Side Gallery, which is a large strip of the former Berlin Wall, and Teufelsberg, which is a man-made rubble site and former listening station throughout the Cold War. Not only will you find street art on nearly every corner, but the rest of the city is filled with graffiti too. Most buildings, sidewalks, signs, and even public transport trains are signed. You truly never run out of things to look at in Berlin.
Sound
It should be no secret that Berlin is known as the techno capital of the world. The techno club scene in Berlin is massive and attracts a dedicated crowd. Some of the “hottest” techno clubs in Berlin include Berghain, Tresor, and Kater Blau, but there are dozens more. Stepping into a techno club is a must-do experience during your time in Berlin. The ambiance of thick fog, blasting bass, and the heat of all the club-goers’ bodies is a sensory experience all its own. You can keep dancing until 8 in the morning at most clubs, and some don’t close at all on the weekends. All identities are welcome, and the techno keeps going – keeping the city alive at all hours of the night.
Taste
Germany’s favorite fast food is arguably the kebab. There are around 40,000 kebab shops in Germany, and over 4,000 in Berlin alone. Perfect for a quick bite to eat on the go, these shops or stands are located in every district. There is a kebab stand directly across the street from my campus in Berlin that I have grown quite accustomed to. My favorite order is a chicken döner kebab with chili and garlic sauce, feta cheese, and all of the fresh veggies they have. The convenience and taste of the döner kebab will definitely be one of the things I’ll miss most when I return home to Wisconsin!
Smell
Berlin isn’t a coastal city, but there are still plenty of bodies of water around! Firstly, there is the river Spree which runs through a large portion of the city, and through other German towns as well. It can be reached by a nice 20-minute walk from my campus and living space in Kreuzberg. In warmer months, dozens of people visit and hang around the river on the weekends, particularly Sundays, which are considered Germany’s day of leisure, when all shops and many bars are closed. There are also plenty of lakes, some even with beaches to lounge upon and clean enough waters to swim in. These bodies of water are some of my favorite parts of nature in Berlin, and the smell of fresh water is always welcoming to me.
Touch
It took some thought to determine what it is I touch the most in Berlin, but I think it’s certainly the U-Bahn! The U-Bahn is just one of the many methods of public transportation throughout Berlin. It’s been open since 1902, has 175 stations, and spans over 155 kilometers (96 miles)! It runs all day and night and can get you to most places you need to go in the city. When I think of touch in Berlin, I think about holding onto the yellow railings in the U-Bahn trains for stability (they move fast and can stop suddenly!), and pressing the large buttons on the inside and out to open the doors.
Ali Luedke
Major: Life Sciences Communication (& Digital Studies Certificate)
Hometown: Plainfield, Illinois
Program: CIEE Open Campus Berlin, Germany