For those of you who don't speak German (it's still worth a watch!), the video shows a brief glimpse (with some very snazzy old-time music) of what happened to the Tiergarten, Berlin's biggest park, that was bombed and destroyed in WWII, along with most everything else in the city. (Fascinating side note: the trees that weren't destroyed by the bombs were then cut down to use for heating by the remaining inhabitants).
In those post-war years, hunger was one of the biggest problems (if not the biggest) the people had to face, so the Berliners went to work converting the Tiergarten into a giant farm that would provide food for their families (keep in mind that most of them, particularly the women, were already hard at work on cleaning up the rubble of all the destroyed buildings, too!). Some of the farming areas belonged to the city and some areas were even given to individuals to grow their own vegetables and potatoes (instead of having to buy it from the city).
Isn't that a heartwarming little story from a truly tragic era? It's also so mind-blowing to see the Tiergarten looking that desolate, considering how beautifully green it is today:
I love living it a city that is just so endlessly fascinating...
Thanks for the link, Micha!
Video from Vergangenheitsverlag | Picture by Nicole
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