Berlin’s streets hold countless stories - but many have been forgotten, buried beneath time and lost through neglect. With their app People’s Berlin, focusing on 800 Years of History from Below, Iris and Kirsten are bringing them back to life: stories of women’s history, Jewish Berlin, queer Berlin, postcolonial Berlin, migration, and revolutionary events – all of which bear witness to the impact of civic action on shaping the history of Berlin from the bottom up. In this episode, we walk with them through the city - from Treptow Park, where Kwelle Ndumbe, a member of the Duala royal family of Cameroon, turned the tables on the voyeurs who came to gawk at him at the Colonial Expo of 1896, to the Babylon Kino where the movement against the abortion law was ignited by the premiere of a feature film, and other hidden places that still echo with the voices of the past. This isn’t just about history. It’s about seeing the city differently — and the people who came before us not as shadows, but as guides and agents of change who can inspire us today.
People’s Berlin is hosted on the platform of the berlinHistory app.
Download the app here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dotcombinat.berlinhistory
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/berlinhistory/id1436230809?l=de&ls=1
What Berlin story do you wish more people knew?
Tell us in the comments.
We are meet THE GOOD ONES. "meet THE GOOD ONES" is a YouTube channel whose aim is to spread the good and make it visible. In regular episodes, we present inspiring people, projects, ideas and actions that make the world a little bit better and more beautiful in their very own way.
Imagine this: two women wandering through the streets of Berlin — not to discover
the new, but to uncover what’s been hidden.
Iris and Kirsten are the creators of People’s Berlin, an app that tells stories you won’t find in any traditional city guide.
Stories of forgotten places, vanished people, and moments that shaped the city —
but are in danger of disappearing from memory.
The Forgotten Stories of the City.
Berlin is full of stories. Some are easy to find, while others lie buried under layers of
time, concrete, and silence. Whether it’s about women fighting for their rights in the
1920s, Jewish life before the Shoah, or queer meeting places erased from city maps
- People’s Berlin brings these places back into view.
The idea grew out of a mix of curiosity, love for the city, and frustration at how many
important chapters of Berlin’s history are left out. Iris and Kirsten didn’t want to wait
for someone else to fill those gaps - they took action. Through careful research,
personal encounters, and an eye for detail, they created an app that turns the city
into a living history book.
What makes People’s Berlin unique is that you don’t just read these stories - you
can literally walk them. The app guides users to places where history happened,
often without any outward sign of what once took place there. Suddenly, a quiet
street, an old wall, or an unremarkable building becomes a portal to the past.
In a city that’s constantly changing, memories can vanish quickly. People’s Berlin
ensures that not only the big, official stories survive, but also the marginalized,
forgotten voices. This isn’t about nostalgia - it’s about understanding how the past
shapes the present, and why the future depends on what we choose to remember.
In this episode, we follow Iris and Kirsten on a walking tour through Berlin. We visit
places where history lies buried and watch as they bring it back to life through
storytelling, photographs, and sound. The episode shows how two determined
women, armed with curiosity and technology, are reshaping the way we remember
this city.
Iris and Kirsten prove that sometimes, all it takes is curiosity, persistence, and a
smartphone to change the world — or at least public awareness — for the better.
Their work inspires us to look closer, ask questions, and refuse to let important
stories fade away. Watch the latest episode of “meet THE GOOD ONES” and
discover what’s hidden under Berlin.
