Christian Fenger photographed Mozambican contract workers in Eberswalde before the fall of the Berlin Wall. His pictures are rare historical documents. They make the lives of these workers visible and open up a little known chapter of GDR history: labour migration, everyday life and encounters with East German society. Questions that still shape today’s debates on migration.
A master plan for Alexanderplatz has existed since 1993. Star architect Hans Kollhoff won the urban planning competition against 13 renowned firms with ten residential and office towers, each 150 metres high. That was more than thirty years ago. Since then, only a few shopping centers have been built or renovated. Not one of Kollhoff’s towers has even been started. Until now.
In the summer of 1987, one hundred young men from Angola landed in Berlin Schönefeld. Their destination: Eberswalde, where they were to complete an apprenticeship. At home, civil war had been raging since 1975, and the GDR promised training and security. But the reality was different. One of the Angolans did not survive his stay in Eberswalde. His tragic death still haunts the town today.
It is September 5, 2006, shortly before 2 pm. Six cheerful gentlemen in suits meet in Schönefeld to break ground for the new Berlin airport, then still called BBI: Berlin Brandenburg International. Its pompous, somewhat overblown name perfectly matched the feeling of Berlin at the time.
Ten journeys cost one euro. In the glass cases of the model railways at German stations, the ICE always arrives on time, looping in an infinity eight past Faller houses, castle ruins and kiosks with mushroom roofs. Parents who once stood at the glass with their own parents now return with their children. But this small, tidy world is under threat. Over 40 layouts once stood in German stations. Today 21 are left, because a bakery pays more rent.
The International Congress Centrum (ICC) in Berlin, once one of the largest congress centers in the world, has been empty since 2014. It was closed because of suspected asbestos contamination and a major need for renovation. Refurbishment, conversion or even demolition: the Berlin Senate has been debating the building’s future ever since. High costs and its listed status make the decision difficult. The future of the ICC remains uncertain.