Georgina Oswald | Wir sind viele. Leben in Berlin
Georgina Oswald was born in Karlshorst three years after the end of the war. Her playgrounds were the ruins of bombed out buildings. She recalls a frightening moment on 17th June 1953, when Soviet tanks moved out of the restricted area. Since 1989, she has lived in Bavaria and occasionally in Berlin.
Wir sind viele. Leben in Berlin
The history of Karlshorst has been significantly shaped by the events of the 20th century. In 1920, the mansion colony, which previously belonged to the municipality of Friedrichsfelde, became a locality in the newly formed borough of Lichtenberg. After the end of the Second World War, a section of Karlshorst became the headquarters of the Soviet armed forces. The area was partially closed off and no longer accessible to the public. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the withdrawal of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in 1994, a new development trend began. Karlshorst’s green and rural character have made it a popular place to live within the city, increasingly attracting new residents and with them increasingly dense development.
In cooperation with the Karlshorst Cultural Centre KAHO, Berlin-based artist Sonya Schönberger has set out to find the traces of old Karlshorst. By interviewing long-term residents, as well as those who have moved in or out, she wanted to find out how these changes are reflected in the everyday lives of her subjects and how they themselves perceive these developments.