Fire up the Duty Car!

[Kartofelpreußer]

Back from Berlin, Haupstadt der DDR, where many, many crimes against the state were seen, far too many to report in detail. A few low points:

As always, the reactionary imposters continue to misappropriate state property and sully the uniforms of the (purely defensive) state organs for their greedy, capitalistic goals:


The stench permeated throughout Potsdamer Platz.

But much, much worse is the next photo:



Yes, that is our beloved, benevolent House of Ministries in the background, with a "Cahoona Coffee" drive-thru about to sprout up in its shadow, mere paces from the spot where the DDR was founded. Sic transit gloria mundi.

[Knuckles930]

I would suggest raising a new wall to fence off such reactionary foulness.

[ehrentitle]

Yes, that is our beloved, benevolent House of Ministries in the background, with a "Cahoona Coffee" drive-thru about to sprout up in its shadow, mere paces from the spot where the DDR was founded. Sic transit gloria mundi.

So much for DDR traditions? Note that the House of Ministries was the former Reich Air Ministry / Reichsluftfahrtministerium (3rd Reich's Luftwaffe Headquarters) during WWII. It was right up against the Wall and you could easily see the back of this massive building from West Berlin.

[Kartofelpreußer]

So much for DDR traditions? Note that the House of Ministries was the former Reich Air Ministry / Reichsluftfahrtministerium (3rd Reich's Luftwaffe Headquarters) during WWII. It was right up against the Wall and you could easily see the back of this massive building from West Berlin.

In all seriousness, I find it quite interesting-- and revealing-- that the DDR was more than happy to repurpose old TR buildings, such as this one as well as the Reichsbank/SED Headquarters, while the Federal Republic agencies that later inherited these and other DDR buildings had to be dragged kicking and screaming into their new digs. Granted, when the DDR took occupancy there were few enough office buildings of any siginificant size anywhere in Berlin that were in usable shape, so they could hardly be choosy, but the attitude of relocated Bonn ministries who didn't want to be somehow sullied by their own nation's history is a little pathetic. I'm glad the forces of preservation won.

As for the Cahoona Coffee, at least if the boys in the duty car see a long interrogation ahead, they won't have to park to get a cup of joe.

[RedBaran11]

Heres the same building from my trip back in June of 2006 form the west side