Today we went
to Kunsthaus Tacheles for a visit, while walking around Berlin. Although it doesn't say in this article, Tacheles was apparently a squat for a long time after the Berlin wall came down, before it became an art center. Some parts are nice-- the gift shop, and the cafe', but the rest smells like a squat, that is, like pee, and is covered with graffiti. Check out the
pictures if you have a chance.
A story from my bro-in-law: In East Berlin, many people fled to the West after the wall came down, as they were worried that the wall would go back up any moment. They didn't go back for a while, so western artists and squatters just moved into these furnished houses, thinking that they had been abandoned.
One of the coolest places I've been to.