S1E2 - I Walk the Ring

Hi and welcome to Speaking of Berlin. a podcast that introduces you to the city we call home while helping you learn German along the way. Berlin is a city full of stories, and today we're going to hear another one. In German, of course. My name's Ted and I'm an editor here at Babbel. In this podcast, I'll be your virtual tour guide leading you around Berlin. To make sure you don't get turned around, I'll jump in here and there to explain some words or to give you a bit of background.

Just a little tip before we get started. You can read along while you listen. Just follow the link in the show notes to find the full text to today's story. And finally, if you don't catch everything the first time around, go back and listen a second time. Or a third. Or a fourth. Today, we're going to hear from Anna, a young film director from Berlin. We'll follow her as she goes on a walk. following the ring-shaped train line that encircles the central districts of the city.

and I live for many years in Berlin. I often watch people. So I often find ideas for my films. Vor einigen Jahren habe ich den Film Sacro Gra von Gianfranco Rosi gesehen. Der Film zeigt das Leben von Menschen an der Ringautobahn rund um Rom. Er zeigt also das Leben am Stadtrand. Der Film hat mich begeistert. Und dann hatte ich eine Idee. I want to walk around Berlin around Berlin around the Berliner Ringbahn. 37 km in 3 days.

Anna was really impressed, begeistert, by a documentary about the people who live along the freeway that girdles the Italian capital, Rome. The depiction of life on the outskirts, Das Leben am Stadtrand, gave her an idea. she decided that she would walk around Berlin following the tracks of the Ringbahn, 37 kilometers, or about 23 miles, in three days.

I've never walked around the Ring, but judging from the views I've seen during my countless trips around it by train, the iconic Molecule Man statue in the middle of the river, giant street art murals, and even a former airport turned public park, I can definitely say it wouldn't be boring. Anyway, let's hear a bit more about this circular railway that has become a true landmark of Berlin. Eingefahrener Zug auf Gleis 1 S41 nach Hermannstraße. Zurück bleiben bitte.

Die Ringbahn wurde 1877 gebaut. Das heißt, sie ist bald 150 Jahre alt. Sie hat 27 Stationen. And fährt einmal rund um die Innenstadt. Fast alle fünf Minuten. Innerhalb des Rings liegen die bekanntesten Stadtteile Berlins. Im Süden Kreuzberg und Neukölln die Partyviertel, im Osten Prenzlauer Berg und Friedrichshain, im Westen Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf und Schöneberg. Jeden Tag fahren über eine halbe Million Menschen mit der Ringbahn. Eine Fahrt im Kreis

dauert ungefähr eine Stunde. An Silvester, also am 31. Dezember, fahren viele Menschen um 12 Uhr nachts mit der Ringbahn and reward the fireworks in the whole city. The Ringbahn is also called Hundekopf. ist kein runder Kreis, sondern sieht ein bisschen aus wie der Kopf von einem Hund.

After pulling up a map, it totally makes sense. It looks just like a dog with its snout pointing to the left and its droopy ears hanging down on the bottom right. I also had no idea that it was almost 150 years old. But... I did know about the Berlin tradition of watching fireworks from the train on New Year's Eve, or Sylvester, as it's called in German. I tried it for myself one year, and I can tell you, it was really spectacular. You see...

On New Year's Eve, people in Berlin are allowed to light off fireworks basically wherever they want, minus a few restricted areas. This leads to an incredible light show spanning the entire city. A spot on the Ringbahn gives you a front row seat as every district is illuminated by thousands of multicolored explosions. But let's get back to the story. It's not New Year's Eve. It's the middle of summer. And it...

is hot as Anna sets off on the first leg of her walk around the outskirts of Berlin. But today I want to go outside, on the streets, once in Berlin. It's summer. It's hot. I have a Sunset, water, a city plan, a camera, a pen and paper. I walk in Friedrichshain am Ostkreuz los, Richtung Nordwesten. I walk by an an Autowerkstatt, a flamenco dance studio, and a restaurant with the funny name Zum Igel. On the Storkoer Straße Also nach zwei Stationen bin ich total verschwitzt. 36 Grad im Schatten.

Ein Fuchs rennt über die Gleise. Und ich frage mich, wonach suche ich? Im Prenzlauer Berg In the near of the Station Schönhauser Allee, I make a pause. I set myself and pack my bread out. Mmm, yummy. A sandwich with sun-melted cheese and soft cucumber slices. Blech. After setting out from the eastern part of the Ringbahn in the district of Friedrichshain and walking about four kilometers to the neighboring district of Prenzlauer Berg, Anna is all sweaty. Or verschwitzt.

So she stops to take her first break. On her way, she passes an auto repair shop, Autowerkstatt in German, and a Kneipe called Zum Igel. Careful, the word eagle is a false friend. And actually... means hedgehog. And what the heck is a knaipa? It roughly translates as pub, but is used to describe any old, rustic bar where the locals hang out. If such a bar happens to be at a corner, then it's known as an ek knaipa.

And Berlin is absolutely full of them. Be sure to check one out if you ever make it to the city. Let's get back to Anna, though. What's going to happen next on her walk?

Ich sitze und esse mein Brot. Auf einmal bemerke ich einen Mann. Er steht an einem Hauseingang. and painted a picture on the wall. It's an octopus. I'm standing up and going to him. He painted the octopus gerade ein Lächeln ins Gesicht Ich spreche ihn an. Er freut sich und erzählt, dass er aus Island kommt. and worked as a historian. He explains that he sometimes graffiti overmalt with pictures of animals from the sea.

Die Tierbilder sind schöner als Graffitis, sagt er. Und sie gefallen Kindern sehr gut. Ich bin erstaunt. Wohnen Sie hier am Ring? frage ich ihn. Er nickt. Ich erkläre ihm, dass ich etwas über das Leben an der Ringbahn lernen möchte. Er erzählt und erzählt und hört nicht mehr auf. So wird aus einer kurzen Pause meine erste Begegnung an der Ringbahn. Bevor ich weitergehe, tauschen wir unsere Telefonnummern aus.

A historian from Iceland who spends his days painting over graffiti with colorful pictures of marine life to make children happy? What a fascinating encounter. Or begegnung. He's more than happy to tell Anna. all about his life on the ring, which he starts to do in great detail. But Anna has to get going. So she asks for his phone number and continues on her way.

I go a few steps further and think about the conversation. There is a old woman with her dog at me. Doch Moment! Ich schaue ein zweites Mal hin und kann es nicht glauben. An der Leine ist kein Hund. Das ist ein Papagei. Sie führt einen Papagei an einer Leine spazieren. Wie einen Hund. Sie fragt mich, können Sie kurz... Auf meinen Papagei aufpassen? Ich möchte Wasser kaufen. Ich sage, ja. Schon wieder eine neue Begegnung.

Der Tag ist noch nicht zu Ende und ich habe schon so viele Eindrücke gesammelt. Meine Beine sind schwer, aber ich bin glücklich. So I stand there, with a tiger on the line and wait. Behind me... I hear the typical Quietschen of the Ringbahn. It is never still. I am sure that I will see in the next few days many exciting events. What? A parrot?

On a leash? I thought I'd seen everything in Berlin, but that's a new one. So there's Anna, standing outside the shop, keeping an eye on a parrot while its owner buys a bottle of water. Her legs are heavy. Ihre beine sind schwer. But she's happy. She's only made it partway around the ring, but she's already formed a lot of impressions, or eintrücke. And, of course, she has some ideas for future films, too.

So that's where we'll leave it for today, with the telltale squeaking of the Ringbahn in the background, a symbol of Berlin that never rests.

Before I let you go, just a small language note. Did you notice that Anna's story was told in the present tense? The first form you learn when starting off with German? Do you remember the endings for the present tense? If not, you can always go back and listen to Anna again, paying close attention to the verb endings. If you want to skip all of my blabbering, you can check out the monolingual version, which is all in German. And don't forget...

That dynamic transcript is always there for you to read while you listen. If you want to practice some present tense verb endings in German, then be sure to check out our courses in the Babbel app. And finally, if you want to tell us what you think of our podcast, you can write us an email at podcastingatbabble.com or write a review directly in your podcast app. I hope you enjoyed today's story and see you next time for another episode of Speaking of Berlin.