ABSTRACT
This chapter explores artworks and literature which contributes to an understanding of Berlin as built on sand, endangered by water and battling against the wind. Berlin is built on sand that consists primarily of silicon dioxide. The city that used to contain masses of people plentiful like the grains of sand by the sea is now completely deserted. Sand, just as much as water, serves as the artist's metaphor for the sea'. Berlin rests on sand and water. All construction projects in Berlin must relate to the challenge of maintaining the water table. And there is water to be found all over Potsdam and in most parts of Berlin. According to literary descriptions of Berlin, the wind became particularly strong on the eve of World War I, heralding the imminent disaster. In his letters from Berlin, Rhinelander Heinrich Heine describes how the wind sweeps through Friedrichstrae, as the ultimate illustration of the concept of infinity.
