'My daring grandfather took a bit of East Berlin for himself'

"When I was 17, my high school art teacher showed us famous buildings, explaining their historical significance," remembers Osman Kalin's granddaughter, Funda.

"They showed us the Eiffel Tower one week, and the next week they showed my grandfather's tree house.

"The boys in the class made fun of it because it looks a bit funny and misshapen - and being a teenager, I was completely mortified. My friend was about to reveal that it was MY grandfather who built it, when I shot her a look to shut her up."

But that was 16 years ago. Now Funda says she is extremely proud of what her grandfather built.

The garden Osman Kalin created stands on the border of Mitte (formerly East Berlin) and Kreuzberg (formerly West Berlin). Modern office blocks and high-rise flats now surround the overgrown garden and topsy-turvy house which is decorated with graffiti, its mismatched furniture cemented to the floor.

But from 1961 to 1989 the Berlin wall divided the area, running along one of the garden's three sides. In fact, it was the creation of the wall that brought the garden into existence.


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In 1982, a Turkish immigrant started a garden near the Berlin wall on a patch of East German land. Osman Kalin fiercely defended his small domain from any authorities who tried to take it away. Though he died this year, his family are still looking after the plot and the tree house he built there.



Funda Kalin in front of the tree house her grandfather built.

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