Protests in Berlin
Spring is fast becoming a favorite around Berlin. Hello sun! I can’t believe I almost forgot to share this Berlin scene with you last month:

Berlin has so many creative, inspiring artists. Some of them built snowmen in a field between the TV Tower (which you can see in the background pointing high into the air) and the Brandenburg Gate. There were snowmen everywhere – hundreds and hundreds of them. They all had different personalities and came in different shapes and sizes like you and me. Their accessories – like funky hats, goggly eyes, and bathing suits, laundry baskets – were all repurposed.
But the most interesting thing was seeing how the snowmen were melting. They were losing their features. They were slowly disappearing into the earth. And they were protesting global warming.
Amazing!
Don’t you love seeing how people communicate their messages? If you could add a snowman to this collection of protestors or in your own yard, what would yours be doing? Would it be holding up an umbrella? Carrying a boom box? Tucking its baby snowmen in bed?








March 10th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
that is so neat! i love peaceful protesting and it doesn’t get more peaceful than that!
March 10th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Incidentally, the field in which the snowman protest took place is the location of the former “Palast Der Republik” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Republic_(Berlin), a huge “Communist-kitsch” government building built in the 1970′s. Previously, the historic “Stadtschloss” from the 18th century adorned this field, but apparently the DDR leaders did not like it and tore it down rather than rebuild it after WW2.
Now, the German parliament has voted to rebuild a near exact replica (at least on the exterior facade) of the Stadtschloss and turn it into an art gallery.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
That’s pretty rad.
March 10th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
That is awesome. I wish I could have seen it in person. Is spring actually coming to Berlin? We thought it was coming here, but then we got hit with 4″ of snow and bitter cold temps this week.
March 10th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
That’s wonderful! Reminds me of all the snow people Calvin made in Calvin and Hobbes, only they were usually created for less benign purposes. ;) http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f188/essentialpepper/calvinsnowmen.jpg
March 11th, 2010 at 1:06 am
ha! thanks for sharing that it made my morning. great protest/statement idea.
March 11th, 2010 at 8:52 am
Martin, thanks for the field explanation… I was wondering, with the TV tower so close, where this field was.
And yes, Satsumabug, Calvin’s killer snowgoons definitely came to mind!
March 30th, 2010 at 5:35 am
Global Warming doesn’t imply the whole world gets warmer, but rather how it could permanently alter the weather patterns on planet earth, thereby displacing a lot of people, being a huge disaster for society. Climate models predict that Europe will most likely get on average 6°C colder per year, as it is the north atlantic gulf stream that keeps europe relatively warm.
So, although I’m with you on the whole “Germans sure do protest weird things for weird reasons”, they weren’t totally off base here.