Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996

Photography, Chris Keller,
from Berlin Wonderland,
© Gestalten 2014.

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No Limits

Chris Keller's photography recalls his heady days in Berlin's lawless no man's land...

The re-unification of Berlin was of course the headline event when the infamous Wall fell in Germany in 1989, but in the aftermath of that momentous night it was the sudden emergence of an underground scene in the deserted no man’s land that helped shape the city we know today. Berlin’s Mitte district had been deserted for decades, still in ruins after the fierce bombardment sustained during the war, but when the borders opened and there were no longer armed guards patrolling the divide, it was an open invitation to the members of the city’s artistic community – and members of other subversive movements – to move in.

Now largely developed, Berlin Mitte is unrecognisable from the place it was 25 years ago, but it still retains a certain spirit that perpetuates the city’s reputation as a creative hotspot. Musician and photographer Chris Keller has lived in Berlin since 1990, and was in the vanguard of the district’s new inhabitants. His book Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 serves as an extraordinary document of the time, showing Mitte in its most raw, vital state, populated by a crazy horde of creatives, anarchists, punks, squatters and oddballs, and site of groundbreaking and enduring venues such as Tacheles and Schokoladen. This enthralling photographic memoir is available from publishers Gestalten.

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Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996 Berlin Wonderland: Wild Years Revisited 1990-1996