Visit to “reload” the Neuer Markt with Stephan Schambach
Stephan Schambach (founder of Demandware) invited a few friends to Berlin to discuss how to “reload” the NeueMarkt and further stimulate the already thriving entrepreneurial community in East Germany. Thanks to he and Christophe Raethke for the good work.
And thanks also to Christophe and the Berlin Startup Academy for a chance to hold a Startup Secrets workshop. The entrepreneurs were inspiringly energetic.
Having not been to Berlin since the wall came down, it was amazing to see the changes, walk through no mands land and imagine life as it was. It was truly humbling to see the impact.
We briefly visited :-
- The controversial Jewish Holocaus Memorial. This was fascinating to experience, though hard to capture on camera. It’s ironic to think of it being so close to Hitler’s bunker.
- Potzdammer platz, site of the first traffic light in Europe and once the busiest intersection in all of Europe I’m the 20s
- The Brandenburg gate built in the late 1800s. The Gate’s design is based upon the Propylaea, the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens. See here for more info.
- The Berlin Academy of arts
- I. M. Pei’s amazing Deutsches Historisches Museum where i became fascinated with the staircases and the light.
Overall the city felt like a series of stark contrasts of old and new.