Part one: The Karl-Marx-Allee tour
As the first part of my self-residency, I created an architectural walk down Berlin's most iconic boulevard: the Karl-Marx-Allee. Through archival research at the Bundesarchiv and stories of architectural ideology and social history, I try to shed more light on the urban spaces we inhabit and often take for granted.
The walk begins at Frankfurter Tor, where two monumental towers frame the boulevard, and where the first question already presents itself: why did a socialist state build in the style of German classicism? Over 2.3 kilometres, we pass a workers' palace built at nine times the normal cost, a rose garden where an uprising began, and a cinema that serves as both entertainment and a propaganda measure. We stop where the boulevard's architectural style abruptly changes, on orders from Moscow. We end at 'Allesanderplatz,' to answer the question: What should we do with contested heritage?
Along the way, five postcards serve as prompts for looking more closely. In these five postcards, inspired by vintage vacation postcards and modernist architecture magazines (which, funnily enough, look more alike than you'd think), we discuss how the Karl-Marx-Allee, in its past and present, is one of the most interesting examples of urban design in Europe.
The postcards come in a repurposed envelope made from leftover posters of cultural events that I hunt down around the city. Take them home or send them to tell the world about this corner of Berlin.
Available: Thursday through Sunday, starting at 11:00 or 14:00. Duration: between 1.5 and 2.5 hours, depending on your interests and the stops you choose to make. Included: five postcards, a recycled envelope, and curated tips for exhibitions and activities based on your interest in art, architecture, and the city. You'll also receive access to an online folder with recommendations for architecture, cafés, and museums across Berlin's neighbourhoods, which is why booking at the start of your stay is a good idea. The walk starts at Frankfurter Tor and ends just before Alexanderplatz, covering a minimum of 2.3 kilometres. From Alexanderplatz or Schillingstraße, you can easily take the metro back to the starting point or anywhere else in Berlin. What to bring: comfortable walking shoes, water, sunscreen or a hat, and a snack. In case of heavy rain, the tour will be cancelled or rescheduled. Pricing €25 per person — max. 6 persons per tour . Private tours start from €140 for up to 6 people For questions or bookings: yentlbakker@gmail.com
Part two: Archiving Tempelhofer Feld
ARCHIVING THE CITY
As an archival researcher, I often look at a city through its past. Images in the Bundesarchiv, for instance, have already helped me tremendously in understanding Berlin's history. Yet an image is only a two-dimensional registration of a moment in time, a static archive. And Berlin, to me, is anything but static.
That is why I have created a research proposal that, through a series of weekly meet-ups, builds a collective archive of multiple perspectives. In Archiving Tempelhofer Feld, we use five senses — hearing, smelling, seeing, touching, and imagining — to create a sensory portrait of the place. Everyone who partakes receives a booklet for notes, sketches, textures, collages, anything to do with how we experience Tempelhof. In this way you create your own archive to take home, to remember, while I will scan all booklets to combine them into a complete research on what we find important in our urban habitat.
You might ask: why Tempelhof? As an urban enthusiast, this place fascinates me. It is part of Berlin at its core, loved, used, photographed, archived. But it is also increasingly under threat. Public space at this scale is almost unheard of, and in 2026 there is a real sense that Tempelhof as we know it will not continue to exist. That is why this archive is not just research. It is also necessary.
Available: Saturday and Sunday Duration: between 2 and 3 hours. Included: A handbound booklet, stationery items, a "tasty" snack inspired by Tempelhofer Feld, and curated tips for exhibitions and activities based on your interest in art, architecture, and the city. You'll also receive access to an online folder with recommendations for architecture, cafés, and museums across Berlin's neighbourhoods, which is why booking at the start of your stay is a good idea. What to bring: comfortable walking shoes, water, sunscreen and a hat. In case of heavy rain, the tour will be cancelled or rescheduled. Pricing €38 per person — max. 10 persons per tour. Private tours start from €250 for up to 10 people For questions or bookings: yentlbakker@gmail.com
Part three: The Artchive
COMING SOON
I spend my months in Berlin gallery-hopping as an art guide (pretty cool job if I say so). These are the exhibitions that I toured, and why.