The Plattenbau settlements of East Berlin

Beginning in the early 1960s, the German Democratic Republic, like many of its socialist counterparts, began large scale industrial construction. In the GDR, this was especially critical, as the country still suffered a notable housing shortage after the Second World War. Guilded by ideas of "socialist city building," East German planners created broad boulevards lined with the mass-produced buildings, which were supposed to be surrounded by parks, schools and shopping. This usually involved tearing down large swaths of real estate, or the creation of entirely new suburbs (as is depicted here), destroying the proportions of cities, while eventually making it hard to tell if one were in Rostock, Magdeburg or Erfurt, as all the buildings looked the same.

Building took off after Erich Honnecker came to power in the early 1970s, with promises to "solve the housing problem." While the GDR did create 2 million new housing units, maintenance was scant, and little money was given to rehabilitating and renovating the older apartment building stock in the country.

The Plattenbau, which achieved its culimination in the "Wohnbauserie 80" construction is easy to spot, as it is characterized by a kind of monolithic monotony, with the same pattern repeating itself almost endlessly. It would be like building houses out of Legos, only you had four different kinds of Legos to work with. In fact, planners used wooden blocks painted with WS-80 facades to figure out how to arrange them into apartment blocks, shopping centers, or office space.

To be honest, the buildings aren't particularly bad, and ones that have been renovated since 1990 can be rather attractive - certainly no less attractive than West German apartment complexes built at the same time. In comparison with similar housing in the former Soviet Union, the GDR complexes seem like luxury penthouses. (While I was in St. Petersburg, there was a crisis because balconies kept coming loose and falling off buildings. Three people were killed at a party when one fell ten stories.) On the inside, they are like any other apartment, except that the interior walls are rather thin. The buildings also suffered from having interior bathrooms with poor ventilation, although this problem was solved in later models.

I took these photos just two days before I had my appendix out. I couldn't believe I would have appendicitis at 30, so I went on one of my long walks around the city. I also met a couple Mormons in Marzahn. Everywhere I go in Germany, I see them - they are pretty easy to spot: long coat, name tag, tie and an LL Bean backpack. They were nice and I wished them good luck with their work.

		First, looking West, then looking East along Landesberger Allee near the S-Bahn station. The first picture has a typical, new "Caree" or mall that seems to be appearing near every S-Bahn station in the city.
		Moving East along the Landesberger Allee, a plattenbau highrise and the more typical, long apartment block. When properly painted and cleaned, they don't look too bad from the outside.
		Looking off to the south of Landesberger Allee and then further east again.
		First, a GDR shopping center near Franz-Jakob Str., just south of Landesberger Allee. Note the stylized brick tiling - foreshadowing some improvements which were made in platten construction to improve its appearance. Also note the GDR advertising still on the building. Second, looking NE at the corner of Landesberger Allee and Weissenseer Weg.
		Both pictures are in the yard of a complex at the SE corner of the intersection named above. The school appears to have been neglected over time, while the apartments have gotten a facelift, breaking up the monotony. Still, the vast yard of straight lines is a bit overwhelming.
		Both pictures looking east along Landesberger Allee, near the Zechliner Str tram stop. A bit of paint can make a world of difference, as the second photo shows.
		First, looking east near Arendsweg along Landesberger Allee (I think) with the typical, long row of apartments. Next, looking west near the Marzahner Brücke at some old, industrial buildings that have been neglected.
		Marzahn, looking south from the Marzahner Brücke and then looking east just after the bridge.
		Landesberger Allee, looking east near the Marzahner Promenade. The church is interesting, as the Protestants had to fight hard to get new churches built in the new suburbs. The state preferred for them to renovate their older ones for museal purposes. Second photo looking north towards the Freiheitszentrum (recreation center) Marzahn.
		The Marzahn "Altstadt," if you will. The GDR kept the remains of the small settlement there and built the apartment blocks around it. Second photo shows the windmill, with a typical high rise in the background.
		At this point it was getting dark, and my impending appendicitis was hurting, so I took this last photo looking east along the Allee der Cosmonauten near the Springpful S-Bahn station.