Admiralbrücke and the Zeitgeist – Recap 18

I’ve been crossing the Admiralbrücke for years -but it never felt that empty. The so-called Admiral’s Bridge is one of the most famous hangouts of Berlin. It’s one of those very local places where life unfolds slowly. Among its other qualities, Admiralbrücke is a prime spot because of its location: it receives sunshine almost all day long. As for the expansion joints of the cobblestoned bridge, well, they are filled in with bottle caps. It’s not hard to suspect the obvious: both locals and tourists consume vast amounts of beer and soft drinks (the most colorful of them belong to Club-Mate, of course). However, due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the human landscape has transformed.

It’s not that you don’t see people hanging out at the bridge. But the new societal norms introduced because of the Coronavirus, affect the atmosphere of the bridge. It’s all about social distancing these days, and Berlin’s population has adapted rather well to it. You see fewer people at the Admiralbrücke, and you’ll see them keeping distance. In comparison to other areas of Berlin, the place still feels crowded. However, nothing compares to former times. No street musicians, no large groups of people, just scattered souls affected by the Zeitgeist. The spirit of the era dictates that killing what you love is the way to go. And the #StayHome trend is here to stay: the hashtag symbol describes the jail accurately.

The area around the Admiralbrücke if far from lively as well. The Il Casolare, the famous Italian restaurant next to the bridge remains closed: the delicious pizza has to wait -and the failed dates as well. On the other side of the Admiral’s Bridge, the Koyote cafe has shut down for good. No more sandwiches in the sunshine, the cool and rather lazy waiters have to search elsewhere for a job. The only thing I can enjoy these days is “that Koyote cigarette,” as I wrote in the Coronavirus Chronicles.

Even the people living around the Admiralbrücke don’t complain that much. In former times, the police had to kick out the crowds from the bridge. The residents kept complaining about the noise, about the open-air parties, and after some point, about everything. Nowadays, they sit on their balconies, and they look at the Landwehrkanal. I’m sure that they, somehow, miss a bit the noise of the bridge. Not because of the noise per se, but because of the normality that was violently interrupted.

Where is the Admiralbrücke in Berlin?

The Admiralbrücke lies between Fraenkelufer and Planufer. Built back in 1882, the Admiralbrücke is a cultural heritage site and belongs to Kreuzberg. It’s Berlin’s oldest steel-made bridge, and it’s one of the most iconic spots of the city. Designed by Georg Pinkenburg in the late 19th century, the bridge received a refurbishment in 1984.

Its name derives from the attached street called Admiralstraße. Who was the Admiral? That’s actually the Prince Heinrich Wilhelm Adalbert von Preußen (1811-1873), who was an Admiral of the Prussian Marine during the German-Danish war of 1864. The Admiralstraße starts from Kottbusser Tor and ends at the Planufer, where on one side you can find the Admiralbrücke.

Supposedly, from 10 pm the bridge has to be quiet, but this isn’t that easy during summertime. Therefore, the police have to interfere most of the time. Among couples, beers and loud music, a part of the Großstadtromantik, or big-city-romance, quietly unfolds. The Coronavirus took everything away, but we can only hope that the summer of 2020 will bring back (at least a part of) the atmosphere.

Some photos from the Admiralbrücke

So, here you can see a couple more pictures from Admiralbrücke.

What’s new on the blog in March 2020

The optimism of February gave its place quickly to the collective depression of March. We have to practice social distancing, we have to stay at home, and we must forget everything we loved doing outside of the walls. As you can easily imagine, lots of things were canceled, the blog traffic went significantly down, and the posts are about what we are going through and less about travel. However, I plan to come back on track and share more travel-related things in April. No, I’m not going to travel in April, but I still have some articles that I’d like to share.

So, after canceling my journey to Norway at the beginning of March, I wrote a post on why I actually decided to stay in Berlin. You can read my thoughts about canceling my journeys here. Subsequently, I thought that I should keep some sort of a daily routine if I wanted to remain sane through this period. That’s how I actually started writing the Coronavirus Chronicles, a long post that I’m trying to update (almost) daily. I plan on writing shorter or longer entries in the Chronicles for a couple of weeks more, hoping that the last one will be about the end of this awful virus. You can read the Coronadiary here.

In the meantime, I started working in a post that I thought many people interested in running a blog would find useful. From the day I started this travel blog, I decided to travel light: no heavy equipment, no huge devices, just a half-empty backpack. Even though the blogging gear I chose is mainly for travel bloggers, I’m pretty sure that the setup applies to any kind of blogger. That’s what I wrote in the Travel Blogging Gear for minimalists. You can find my article about my blogging equipment here.

Last but not least, and shortly before the outbreak affected our lives, I have posted my first article from Bucharest. It’s about the Palace of the Parliament, one of the most iconic and historic buildings of Bucharest. There are more texts from Bucharest, but for the time being, you can read (and watch a video) about The People’s House here.

Plus: My new book is out in Greece!

It was one of the few moments of joy this month: my new book was published in Greece on March 5th. Due to the situation, I thought that the book might be postponed, but I’m glad that this was not the case. The book went to the bookstores in the first week of May, and the feedback is very positive so far. The “As far away from home” is a short story collection about imaginary hotels. If you can read Greek, there’s a new blog post on my personal website about the book. If not, you can check an English summary at my publisher’s website, the Stereoma Editions, here.

So, that’s it with my March 2020 recap. I’ll see you next month, and don’t forget to follow me on Youtube for more travel videos and on Instagram for more photos (and daily Stories). Stay safe, everyone, and let’s hope that we can travel again soon.

You can access all my travel & street photography monthly recaps here.

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Last Updated on September 12, 2020 by George Pavlopoulos