OUR FRIENDS IN BERLIN

Our Friends in Berlin

The idea was that, through having some insight into each other's cultures and with a bit of informal help for each other, these 'e-pals' could have mutually supportive communication that could help with language learning.

The scheme has proved so successful, that now it is being opened out more generally to residents of Hammersmith & Fulham with which Neukoelln has been twinned since 1955.

The scheme is simple. It works a bit like a good old-fashioned 'pen friend' scheme. Local residents of Hammersmith & Fulham and those working in the borough are invited to contact the Neukoelln group via the details below. They will then be matched up with an 'e-friend' form the local group of participants in Neukoelln.

Although this has proved a particularly useful scheme for those learning German in Hammersmith & Fulham, there isn't any requirement for a local person to either speak or be learning German. All of the Neukoellners involved already speak and write English. The main aim is to promote mutual understanding of each other's cultures and lives, and possibly even arrange trips or meetings.

On the German side, the town twinning and e-mail partnerships are organised by voluntary workers supported through the Friends of Neukoelln in the Borough of Berlin-Neukoelln. The association has the facilities to accommodate groups of up to 30 people (such as school classes) in Neukoelln and accommodation can also be arranged with Berlin families.

So, if you are a local voluntary group, the possibilities of potentially organising a trip are not necessarily that unrealistic.

If you would like to participate in the scheme or know more, please contact Mrs Claudia Atts via dieattsens@aol.com quoting "H&F e-mail partner" in the subject line of your email.

Mrs Atts will then send you a form to fill in and match you with an email partner.

So Where is 'Neukoelln'?

Like Hammersmith & Fulham, Neukoelln developed rapidly as an area of the city during the building booms of the 19th century when the need for housing for ever-growing inhabitants of the newly industrialised city saw new suburbs springing up around the traditional centre.

And, like Hammersmith & Fulham, here and there, there are traces of the areas history predating this rapid transition to an urban environment. In Hammersmith & Fulham, Fulham Palace testifies to the borough's history as an important manor on the outskirts of London, in Neukoelln, Schloss Britz testifies to the heritage of Prussian landed aristocracy.

Like Hammersmith & Fulham, Neukoelln is a borough of contrasts: leafy suburbs and wealth rub shoulders with thriving multi-cultural neighbourhoods and social deprivation; the old and the young and trendy faces of the city meet each other. Both boroughs saw themselves become places that immigrant communities settled during the twentieth century and, as such, the streets often show signs of this vibrant mix of cultures.

In more recent years, areas of Neukoelln have become something of a "trendy" hotspot with a thriving alternative music scene, underground clubs and artists' initiatives, often hard to find, hidden somewhere in the characteristic 19th century blocks of courtyards not easily visible form the street.

Of course, Berlin is a large, vibrant metropolis with many interesting places to visit all of which have their own fascinating story. A great place to start learning about some of these is the visitor's index of the official Berlin site.

Learning

If, however, you would prefer to learn German in west London, why not try these local providers of courses:

In Ealing
In Hammersmith & Fulham
In Harrow