Abandoned Gardens – Verlassener Schrebergarten – In A Berlin Minute (Week 117) [HD] from Luci Westphal on Vimeo.
This is one of the most atmospheric places I’ve been to in Berlin. Schrebergärten aka allotment gardens have been quite popular in German cities. People who live in apartments rent a little garden with a house and spend their summers there.
In Berlin a few of these garden colonies have been abandoned due to development plans.
During my time in Berlin I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few of these gardens for true random raves and to take pictures. Yet, I can’t tell you where any of them are because, you know, Berliners wouldn’t want the tourists to show up…
During my explorations it became clear that plenty of people come through to party and to crash for a little while.
This was also one of my favorite shoots. If only it hadn’t been so hot I could have stayed there all day. I have too much footage as it is and will make an extended version soon. It certainly was a special thrill to climb through a fence, remain undetected by the people in the neighboring still functioning allotment and explore this place full of forgotten memories. It certainly had a feel of “after the rave is before the rave” and the continuous cycle of nature and man replacing each other.
For the soundtrack I slowed down Jason Matherne’s song “Indus III” and left in the original audio of the shoot, with the birds and the bees and the whispers and stepping on broken pieces that go crack.
