Chronicles – The Year 2012 Our activities since 1997

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The world's largest portal for travel reviews in the internet, certified the Berlin Underworlds Association for the second time, with a cumulative visitor rating of 4.5.

Memorial for the 50th anniversary of the death of Siegfried Noffke

Dieter Hoetger and members of the association remember the death of Siegfried Noffke on Sebastianstrasse 82 in Kreuzberg 50 years ago with a wreath of flowers and a minute silence.

On the 28th of June 1962 at about 12:15pm, Siegfried Noffke and Dieter Hoetger – both unarmed, upon completing a tunnel to Heinrich-Heine-Strasse 49 in East Berlin – were, as the result of a betrayal, ambushed by the Stasi. Both were shot multiple times and Siegfried Noffke died on the spot.

New shop stewards comittee established

The new shop stewards committee, elected on the 22nd of May, begins its work.

Second edition of “Vom Forschungsstandort zum Gelegenheitsziel”

As of today the second, reworked edition of “Vom Forschungsstandort zum Gelegenheitsziel” by a member of the association Ralf Blauermel is available. It is the third book published by “Edition Berliner Unterwelten” that has gone into a second printing.

Exhibition about the Berlin Wall

The OST-WEST café (Brunnenstrasse 53, U-Bernauer Strasse), in cooperation with the Berlin Underworlds Association, presents a photo exhibition by local photographer Karl Heinz Koll. The subject of the exhibition is the intersection of Bernauer and Brunnenstrasse with the Berlin Wall, as well as its removal in 1990. The collection was purchased by the association in 2011.

Flower donation for the rose garden

As a result of cuts in the district budget, there was no money for flowers fot the rose garden in the Humboldthain park.
Yet thanks to a donation from Berliner Unterwelten, it will be possible to plant the roses this year.
The association has already been supporting green spaces in the district for years.

Buch presentation in the Haus des Meeres in Vienna

In the former flak tower in Esterházypark – now the “Haus des Meeres” (house of seas) in Vienna – association member Dr. Marcello La Speranza presented his new book: “Flakturm-Archäologie” (flak tower archaeology), published by Edition Berliner Unterwelten, to a total of 65 journalists and other guests.

Memorial plaque for Heinz Jercha unveiled

Escape helper Harry Seidel and Thomas Blesing from the district council of Neukoelln presented a memorial plaque on Heidelberger Strasse 35, donated by the Berlin Underworlds Association, that remembers the death of Heinz Jercha. On the 27th of March 1962 the 28-year-old was shot by the Stasi across the street on Heidelberger Strasse 75, the exit of an escape tunnel that he, Harry Seidel and others dug under the Berlin Wal.

Buch presentation in historical vaulted cellars

Author and association member Henry Gidom presented his book “Berlin und seine Brauereien” (Berlin and its Breweries) to a packed room in the former cellars of the“Oswald Berliner Weizenbier-Brauerei” on Brunnenstrasse 143. Additionally, guests were shown an exhibition about Berlin's breweries in one of the newly excavated rooms.

Bat population stable

The annual counting of the hibernating guests in the ruins of the Humboldthain flak towers, show that the population is the same as in the previous year. Greater mouse-eared bats, as well as Natterer's and Daubenton's bats were sighted.

New event rooms ready

The “northern rooms”, which after many months of construction work as well as a new hole in a 60cm-thick reinforced concrete wall, are finally ready for members to use for film screenings and lectures.

30th Long Night of Museums

As part of the Long Night of Museums, 703 people visited the “mother and child bunker” on Fichtestrasse. Among other things, guests took part in a reading by Regina Schwenke, a demonstration of the emergency generator and visited the photo exhibition LICHT SCHICHTEN (layers of light).

Zur Langen Nacht der Museen im “Mutter-Kind-Bunker” Fichtestraße kommen 703 Gäste. Angeboten werden u. a. Lesungen der Zeitzeugin Regina Schwenke, Vorführungen des Notstromaggregates und die Fotokunstausstellung LICHT SCHICHTEN.

Annual balance for 2011

In the year 2011, 247,000 people visited our tours (one of which was the millionth visitor since the establishment of out association in 1997) and 1,075 visited our photo exhibition: “the Berlin Wall 1989”. Our educational seminars had a total of 432 participants and our website registered 1,531,947 visitors. At the end of the year, our association had 407 members.

We would like to wish all of our employees, members, friends, supporters and visitors, who have all played their part in this achievement, a healthy and successful 2012.