If not for the cherry blossom festival, where the cherry trees - a present to Germany from the Asahi TV a tribute to the reunification of the country - are in full bloom and are offering perfect Instagram pinky background (you can admire this year's adventures into Berlin bloom here), Teltow is not too much known around Berlin and even too far away. I've been first here in 2014 for an extensive exploration, but at the beginning of April, when winter seemed hard to convince to leave, I am back just for a short winter-to-summer adventure.
Arrived here directly from the train, via Südkreuz S-Bahn, I am touring a bit the train station, where small size S-Bahn models are a reminder that once upon a time, during the GDR/DDR times, Teltow used to be a serious center of industrial development.
But more than the industrial past, I am especially interested into the colourful additions to the gray fassades of the former communists blocks of houses.
Some of them are so elaborated that the visual illusion is almost perfect. Does it look here like a fragment of a little hut in the forest? It's all a matter of urban imagination...
Some other buildings created an emotional connection with their inhabitants, by adding pictures on the outside walls. No more anonymous life! There are real people with unique lives living there on the other side of the walls.
Another building, a couple of meters away from the train station, features a family story through different historical ages.
The level of elaboration of those murals is very high and it reminded me a lot of my similar experiences in Schwedt, although less colourful and more focused on individuals and personal histories.
As at the time of my first visit four years ago, the rest of Teltow Stadt looks almost empty, although it supposedly has quite a big population compared to the neighbouring localities, of 26,000 people. The local (Heimat-) museum featuring 750-year of industrial history was also closed that cold day.
Some places may look so perfect soon, when the green will cover in a joyous way the walls and bring a young dash of life to the old buildings.
The central square around the city hall is empty as it was couple of years back. Maybe I just chose the wrong moment to visit this place after all, and serious locals will not adventure outdoors on such a cruel weather. Especially in Germany, weather has such a big influence in determining the mood and impressions of a place, as some areas are completely transfigurated under the warm rays of sun.
However, there are some gain of this visit, with some old traditional architecture spotted in-between buildings waiting for a new lift or maybe a new ownership too...
As my time to Teltow Stadt is already over, I still hope to visit the place during a special local event and get more impressions from the people living here too. Maybe the good weather will help me better the next time.
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