WORLD
July 5, 2008 | From Times Wire Reports
Former President Bush inaugurated the new U.S. Embassy at its pre-World War II site, a return that he said symbolized the fulfillment of "a great and noble dream" of European freedom and unity. Bush, who was president when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and supported German reunification less than a year later, spoke alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel at the site in front of the Brandenburg Gate -- the symbol of Germany's postwar division and then of its unification. The embassy completes the post-reunification rebuilding of the Pariser Platz, in front of the gate, which once stood in the fortified no man's land behind the Berlin Wall.
WORLD
October 10, 2007 | Sam Enriquez, Times Staff Writer
Former Mexican presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo made headlines in Germany, eight days after winning the Berlin Marathon in his age group. "The Fastest Man of Mexico," said Monday's Berliner Zeitung newspaper, referring to the 55-year-old Madrazo's race time of 2 hours, 40 minutes and 57 seconds. Unfortunately for Madrazo, it was a sarcastic jab.
WORLD
October 5, 2007 | Sam Enriquez, Times Staff Writer
Former Mexican presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo disappeared midway through the Berlin Marathon on Sunday before reappearing nine miles later, winning first in his age group and shaving an hour off his personal record. Race organizers brag the course is fast; a world record was set Sunday.
ENTERTAINMENT
July 31, 2007 | From the Associated Press
Berlin has named a street in honor of the late American rocker Frank Zappa. Frank-Zappa-Strasse, or Frank Zappa Street -- formerly Street 13 -- lies on the eastern outskirts of Berlin amid empty industrial buildings in what was communist East Germany. The street is home to Orwo Haus, a former Communist-era film factory that now provides practice studios for more than 160 bands. Musicians at Orwo Haus campaigned for two years to have the street's name changed.
ENTERTAINMENT
July 6, 2007 | Jeffrey Fleishman, Times Staff Writer
There's a Starbucks near where the orgies used to be, and although the aura of Bohemia is distinct, things aren't as unhinged as they were 17 years ago when punkers, pornographers, anarchists, squatters and artists of all persuasions landed amid the rust and drizzle of this liberated city. It seems an era from a scrapbook, a time of cheap rents when everyone with a brush and a bit of brio claimed a garret. Some were talented; many were not.
WORLD
April 29, 2007 | Jeffrey Fleishman, Times Staff Writer
A glimpse of this city's real estate pages suggests that just about anything's for sale: A Brit is turning a former Hitler Youth headquarters into a luxury club, Americans have bought up swaths of former communist-era apartment buildings, a German firm has transformed a red-brick prison into condos, and owners of rooftop flats have never been more coy.