Since moving to Berlin in the early 2000s, I have lived in many areas of town. This, in fact, may be an understatement. During my most nomadic year, I may have lived in four different places.
In his seminal novel Timequake, Kurt Vonnegut envisions a capricious universe temporarily displeased with its own continuous expansion. In an act of unprecedented quirkiness, the universe decides to shrink back to a slimmer version of itself, making everyone on earth and elsewhere relive the last decade of their lives.
Deboarding the U1 underground line at Kottbusser Tor, you step onto an above-ground platform towering at the top of a roundabout. To the north, through the residential complex hovering over Adalbertstraße, is the center of eastern Kreuzberg – dubbed SO36 after its former postal code.