RENEWABLE ENERGY

In the former East Berlin, historic spaces are becoming the cultural and creative hubs of the future.

- Cindy Brzostowski

WHEN I'VE TOLD non-Germans that I live in Berlin, the same question has come up more than once: "West or East?" Though the Wall fell in 1989, in some minds the division still stands. On walks in my neighborhood of Baumschulenweg, I confront a physical reminder of this whenever I cross a double row of cobblestones that marks where the Wall once stood.

Though some visitors may not realize it, many popular attractions were in East German territory, including the Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz, and Museum Island. But it's also worth going farther into the less touristed neighborhoods of East Berlin, where creative projects and adaptive-reuse initiatives are transforming unused buildings-many with their own fraught history-into community spaces and incubators for the Berlin art world.

In Plänterwald, a forest on the banks of the river Spree, I've watched as more and more of the new Spreepark (spreepark.berlin) has emerged over the months. Opened in 1969, its predecessor, VEB Kulturpark, was the only theme park of its kind in East Germany-and is said to have attracted around 1.5 million visitors annually. The site and its abandoned attractions, long hidden beneath the overgrowth, are being developed into a large public space with rides, arts venues, and a restaurant. Also under way nearby is the transformation of Zenner House (zenner.berlin), a 200-year-old estate in neighboring Treptower Park, which now houses a riverside beer garden and concert venue, with more arts spaces in the works.