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Wednesday 17 March 2010

corner view: front door





quite a contrast to my last post, right?

my front door belongs to one of the few houses in our street that haven't been renovated. slowly, the neighbourhood is being gentrified and the university students, artists and bohemians are moving on to other districts in berlin, like neukölln or wedding. but still, rents are reasonable here and many of my friends live within easy bike riding or walking distance.

when i moved here, i had to completely renovate my apartment. without the help of friends i couldn't have done it. we freed the walls from layer after layer of hideous late eighties/early nineties wallpaper. and painted walls white and some of them in deep colours. for a while though, i have been very much into white, and the dark, tomato red wall in my kitchen is getting a bit much. the next time i have time and funds for decorating projects, walls will be painted white.

eventually, the front door will be renovated too, along with the facade. perhaps i will have moved on by then.

p.s.: those old signs in the hall date back to east german times and ask you to separate your household waste, as well as glass, bones, wood, medical products, wood and plastic. i've always wondered about the bones and medical products. peculiar.

UPDATE: well, i thought i'd better check up on the bones recycling as otherwise it sounds way too sinister. recycling has a long history in germany, east germany (the GDR) had a state owned company called SERO that was very effective in recycling waste. households separated their waste and had collection points nearby for plastic, wood, metal, paper etc. bones clearly refer to the old bone in your steak or chicken etc. i haven't found out yet what they were recycled for, but one thing seems to be bone meal (an organic fertilizer) formerly used heavily in agriculture. today, mostly synthetic fertilizers are used (organic farming being an exception, of course.)

19 comments:

Victoria | Hibiscus Bloem said...

A well worn door - lots of visitors I hope. Nice to hear how you decorated inside - a complete contrast. Strange about the bones eh?!

Ida/FarEastLogbook said...

A door with a story -I hope they'll keep it once they renovate!

Marion said...

Ah prenzlauerberg !
I miss those streets I must say !!!

Joyce said...

I think this door is cool. It just needs a tiny tweaking and it will be perfect. I do hope you keep it. xo

Mandy said...

Oh, I love it just the way it is!!!

alexandria said...

This is awesome. I loved hearing about your apt.

starcakeastrology.blogspot.com said...

lovely story & photo.. i love pictures like this that aren't of stereotypically pretty things but come out pretty anyway because of their authenticity

likeschocolate said...

I hope it is in referance to chicken bones.

Theresa said...

So interesting.

Karin said...

Haha, who knows. Maybe lots of people performed medical experiments on chickens those days ;-)

Love your front door, by the way. It's gorgeous!

la ninja said...

I also hope they keep that door, it IS gorgeous.
I can imagine berlin still evolving. always changing. all the time. so huge, so much history. must visit soon again.

love the piggy imagery, ties up with your "las vegas" post (only in my free-associating mind, I know)
and yeah, bone recycling. hmm...

Jodi said...

Fascinating! The bone med thing IS weird and cool. Such history. I've been away and missing your posts. Glad the huge project is ended. And that spring is here this weekend. Be well. Jodi

et lille oejeblik - a little moment said...

great post! the door is super cool. it could probably look wonderful renovated, but it would sure lose some of that special something it's got now. loved the bone and meds details - and how wonderful to have these posters from another time still hanging. such history in a little piece of paper.

spudballoo said...

Oh this is so intersting, so much history in one little corner. LOVE those posters, and the recycled bones story. Thanks for sharing! x

; said...

wow, that's an old door! but I like it:) hope they just fix the door and not replace it with a modern one.
interesting post about the old recycling ways!

Fine Little Day said...

That door looks old, and beautiful.

;) said...

Old but a kind of historic witness... Respectable as a lady. And beautiful photos !

l i s e said...

i like it very much, and i love the pigs
have a great day

Palmer and Co said...

Fascinating! I think your front door has loads of character and history! Love it!

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