#1 Genesis

Come into the woods,
little statue
come don’t be afraid

Plattenbauten are so high
and you are so small,
like a duck or a snowball
but you know
that snow balls
can roll
and roll
and rolls up
pick it up!

An fleet of queens and farmers and cats and pigs,
a rustle of omas, devils, smart wives, giants and boys
an ocean of courage and thousands of spells
a lake of intelligence and 1000 years of sleep

Golden ball, Scented rose,
Three golden hair, Growing nose
Instead of stone and wood,
polyester sounds so good

“Mein liebster ist der Riese, der ist so schon blöd.”

Go, little statue come
into this brave new world
here we are all the same
don’t be afraid 'cause..

Progress is so straight
and you seem so weak,
like a broken spade
but you know, all too well
that spade
can dig
and dig
‘till the rural paradise
where our people came from

“Keine abstrakt kunst!”
ribbited the frog,
and sculptor Wenske used the right colors
green for the frog, gold for the gold,
blue for the water and yellow for the girl,
and pink, yes pink for those two little sins

Golden ball, scented rose,
three golden hair, growing nose
instead of stone and wood,
polyester sounds so good

Come, little statue come
into this brave new world
don’t be afraid 'cause..
the world is spinning and turning
but polyester stands firm
steady and strong – long lasting!

We make everything in polyester,
statues, trees,
flowers and dreams
Polyester we believe in you

“Keine platten Geschichten !”
said the naked emperor
“Sonst rollen hier gleich die Köpfe!”

Golden ball, scented rose,
three golden hair, growing nose
instead of stone and wood,
polyester sounds so good

“Wir sind schon ewig hier. 
Da waren die Bäume noch nicht so gross. 
Sandwege überall. Und der Brunnen war 
ursprünglich grösser: Den konnte man von draußen sehen.”

Sparkle and shine, sparkle and shine you
Flower in bloom, blooming flowers!
Bang bang bang bang bang!
Brooom brooom brooom broom!
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock
Anyone out there?

# 2  Cement with red powder mix

The flats went up, one by one,
in prefabricated cement, ton by ton
it takes no more than 11O days,
to build 11 stories without delays!

Up two three four, up two three four!

A miracle of car facilities and plattenbau,
green heating pipes and muddy paths,
Sojus’ red star shining into the night
over the hills filled with rubble

Up two three four, up two three four!

They paint the walls in red,
paint the house in red,
among all colors that you see
Originalrot their house will be

Nina Hagen will never shout again:

“Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen”

Prestigious people come here to shower
in bathrooms that have windows,
and water comes pouring out of the wall,
in fresh or even warmer modes

Up two three four, up two three four!

On the WBS70 housing model,
Goldene Hausnummern state
that here neighbours can shape
Rosa Luxembourg’s window drapes

Up two three four, up two three four!

They paint the walls in red,
paint the house in red,
among all colors that you see
Originalrot their house will be

"Rund herum, hier war alles noch Matsch und Baustelle."

From the flat the horizon you can zoom,
on the balcony instead of a pot bloom
the Kosmonauten rocket boom
you can set as an extra hobby room

Up two three four, up two three four!

And if inside some heating pipes,
a kid might loose his way back home,
then Bummy and Lischka will take care
to show him the way to their house

Song 3 – Everything that was good turned into bad

1986 The new Hellersdorf district is split from Marzahn while 
     the Märchienfiguren are casted
1987 In Marzahn the ‘Berliner Gartenschau Gelände’ opens to 
     celebrate 750 years of Berlin
1988 Last building activity in the south-east zone
1989 “Das ist Berlin”
1990 Everything that was good turned into bad
1991 Who stole my golden ball again…?
1992 Two out of three golden hair fell off the Devil’s head…
1993 “Die Farben der Märchenfiguren sind auch nicht mehr das, 
     was sie mal waren”
1994 I sneeze and all my castle of cards flew like in the wind…
1995 Was when they advised tourist to stay out of Marzahn’s 
     white trash...
1996 But what does it mean to be left at the periphery of something?
1997 “Es ist ausserhalb der Stadt, ist aber keine eigene 
     kleine Kleinstadt irgendwo in Brandenburg"
1998 19.5 % unemployed. The giant challenges the tailor 
     to squeeze water out of a stone 
1999 Sozialintegrationsprogramme are launched
2000 70% of kids under the poverty line
2001 -20.3 % loss of population in 5 years
2002 Rieselfelder: sewage water plants are closed. 
     Our stories are told and retold, by me as by you, 
     as a drop of water on a stone
2003 Ahrensfelder Terrassen, make 5 out of 11 floors!
2004 “Resist to Exist”, biggest punk festival in Germany
2005 Eastgate shopping centre opens
2006 ‘Cindy aus Marzahn’ starts her show
2007 A new inhabitant joins the fairy tale garden: Der Kleine Muck
2008 At the Imbiss! A new sausage! 
    “Wir sind seit dreißig Jahren hier, und wir bleiben noch 
    mindestens zehn Jahre!”
2009 ORWOhaus gets an official rental contract
2010 Oleg Peters, former director of Marzahn-Hellersdorf Circle, 
     expert in territorial marketing leads the campaign for 
     the “rebirth” of Marzahn. Italian garden joins 
    Garden of the World
2011 What will you do when you grow up? Cosmonaut, pop star, 
     or get Hartz IV
2012 Agenda 2016 : unemployment among young people will be history !
2013 Second fusion of Marzahn and Hellersdorf
2014 Vietnamese biggest market in Germany Don Xuang 
     center opens not too far from the Clean Tech Business Park
2015 Marzahn-Hellersdorf Skywalk. Taste berlin air 70 metres above 
     the ground. Don’t get dizzy on the neighbourhoods first skywalk.
2016 The first cabin way of Berlin is in ‘Gärten der Welt’. 
     The Figurinen travel through Marzahn.
2017 Hundreds of thousands of people will move here soon, 
     are they Kreutzberger?


# 4  Up and down

I lived in a 20-storey building, at the top,
I could touch the sky with my finger if I wanted
Then people started to leave, or die or disappear
Anyway, the city got empty, and..
And the floors went down, the floors went down
like the D-Mark, the sun, the mood, like the fun

» Wir müssen den Detroiteffekt verhindern:
ein leerer Stadtteil sorgt für Probleme! «

But the piped-piper with his flute
lead people away

And the floors went down, the floors went down
like the D-Mark, the sun, the mood, like the fun

You should have seen my Berlin bears collection
that by thousands shared the flat with my husband
It could have become a perfect museum,
now the bears are sealed in my second floor flat

And the floors went down, the floors went down
like the D-Mark, like the sun, the mood and the fun

Goodbye, goodbye sky, goodbye, goodbye!
even before seeing Marzahn.2
Our tears were behind our polyester eyes
 » Der Schnee in Marzahn schmilzt zuletzt! «

And the floors went down, the floors went down
like the D-Mark, like the sun, the mood and the fun

But the snow doesn’t last forever
Young families come, one by one
Pushed out from Berlin by gentrification
Marzahn is so green, seen from above

So the floors went up, and the floors went up
Like the D-Mark, the rent, the mood, the ketchup
We have left behind all what we understand
Now we must go on, yes we must demand:
What do you think about the rubbish and intolerance?
Are you afraid of east mafia arrogance?

And now here we go, we go up to the top,
Like the Mark, the rent, the mood, and the ketchup

Any minute now, something will happen
Now, for the other life, the one without mistakes
Call me when the world is ready!
Hello, we need you: everything is new !

And the floors go down, and the floors go up
Like a yo-yo, a roller coaster, a moon and the schnapps.

# 5 Sleeping city

The lull, the quite, the open skies
Good night city, good night stars
The city sleeps early and deep,
blue calm envelopes the streets

But then the school bus rockets you into the chair
knocked into a deep sleep, you let yourself float…
until the teacher wakes you up:
“Hier wird nicht geschlafen”, no matter how late
you stayed up to work at the Spätkauf of your dad
no matter if he needs you, you are still a lad

“Nachts sind die Bürgersteige in Marzahn hochgeklappt."

A sleeping prince
A sleepy street
A street sweeper
A deep sleeper
A winter sleep
A beauty sleep
A sleeping beauty
A black sheep

How many boys dream at school
Under the blanket of unspoken taboos
Because still they are asked to help,
to round off the month selling booze?

So, where does a dream end?
And what can sleep really mend?
Will the princess still be your girlfriend?

Steadily reported by headline news
demonstrations denounce a kind of
politics difficult to pronounce

A sleeping prince
A sleepy street
A street sweeper
A deep sleeper
A winter sleep
A beauty sleep
A sleeping beauty
A black sheep

This is Berlin! (said our airbnb host)
before charging us for the extra soft pillows
close your eyes and swallow

A sleeping prince
A sleepy street
A street sweeper 
A deep sleeper
A winter sleep
A beauty sleep
A sleeping beauty
A black sheep

# 6 –Pluriversum 

Beyond this bench
beyond this path
beyond this garden
beyond this new U-bahn station
beyond this garden art fair

There is a world:
The pluriversum of Marzahn-Hellersdorf
Do you know the farm where old buffalos take care of lost souls?
Do you know the rappers from ORWO house?
The rainbow sculpture?
The 11th heaven?
Do you know Dung?

In the backstage of his shop in Don Xuang
he prints dreamy landscapes for Vietnamese new year 
and he plays the dan-dai
Have you been to La Casa? 
It fiercely grows anti-fa cactus and independent ideas

Beyond this bench
beyond this path
beyond this garden
beyond this new U-bahn station
beyond this garden art fair
They told us so many things, 
some nice fairy tales and some horror tales
just choose yours
when you get out, lift up your nose:
a pluriverse is around you