Berlin Supporters Rally to Save 43-Year-Old Treehouse at the Wall as Demolition Threat Looms
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 1
Berlin Supporters Rally to Save 43-Year-Old Treehouse at the Wall as Demolition Threat Looms
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 1
Summary
Berlin supporters are mobilizing to preserve the Treehouse at the Wall, a Kreuzberg landmark city authorities could remove over public-safety concerns and unresolved legal issues.
1983 marked the start of the site’s history, when Turkish guest worker Osman Kalin turned a triangular strip of Berlin Wall no man’s land into a garden and later a two-storey house.
Florian Schmidt, a Kreuzberg district councillor, said Mehmet Kalin has received a temporary exemption to carry out repairs while officials work on permits and clarify ownership rights.
Nearly 3 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany, and backers say the structure is one of the few visible legacies of guest workers in Berlin and should serve as a memorial.
A September Berlin election adds pressure to the dispute, with supporters planning an open-air exhibition as they argue the treehouse’s scruffy authenticity is part of its historic value.