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I recently learned that my go-to park in Berlin, Gleisdreieck Park, was supposed to become an Autobahn in the second half of the last century. Protests have stopped it finally in the 90s [1]. Nowadays, Berlin is enlarging the Autobahn eventually leading to the removal of night clubs and nature. Why is the protest so small this time?

[1] German only: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_am_Gleisdreieck

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About 40 years ago (aged 10) I watched a hedgehog wander around a grassy area near the Brandenburg Gate. If you recall, that monument was part of the delineation between East and West. The hedgehog was walking on a minefield. Of course it was too small to set off anything but even now I remember it.

I was a British Army brat and we were stationed in Rheindahlen near MG at the time. The Berlin Corridor was pretty grim. It was a long straight concrete road with barbed wire fences on both sides. At the Berlin end we parked up in a large concrete plaza and presented passports through a metal hatch. Then we were allowed into the city. Berlin in 1980. I really wish I was older and could give a better impression of the place at the time but there are probably plenty of writers who can do the same and far better. It seemed to me at the time to be the same as any other (West) German city but a bit bigger! I think we were allowed a short trip to the East side via CP Charlie.

The Berlin I visited back then had bigger fish to fry than a contentious autobahn!

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