Wedding was once Berlin’s most left-wing district. In the German elections of November 6, 1932, 47.1% of Weddingers voted for the communists. Wedding had tenements and terrible poverty, but also reform schools, socialist art, and a proud proletarian culture. On May 1, 1929, Kösliner Straße — the reddest street in Berlin’s reddest district — saw the worst police violence in Berlin’s history.

Our tour will walk along a stream (the Panke) and look at the origins of Red Wedding: how it grew from a spa town outside Berlin into an urban industrial neighborhood. We will see massive factories — some of which have been converted into art spaces. We will follow the footsteps of the communist doctor Georg Benjamin (the little brother of Walter) who worked to improve the lives of Wedding’s working class.

Our tour will be meeting at Badstraße 38, right where Badstraße crosses the Panke, a few minutes from U-Bhf Pankstraße. We will meet at 14:00 and leave by 14:10. (the U8 is currently not running between Alexanderplatz and Osloerstraße and there is a replacemenr bus service. Please plan some extra travelling time if you’re using this service.)

We will walk along the river and the tour will end two hours later near S-Bhf Humboldthain. The tour will be entirely outside.

Suggested donation is 10 euros per person, but any contribution is appreciated and none is required. You can also pick up a signed copy of the new book “Revolutionary Berlin.”