In sum­mer 2015, an unused hangar in the for­mer Tem­pel­hof Air­port was con­vert­ed into emer­gency accom­mo­da­tion for refugees. Tem­po­rary walls were installed in the vast emp­ty hangars, which saw over 32,000 peo­ple come and go over the course of a few years—a good third of them chil­dren. The lock­ers that stand here date from that time. The res­i­dents, who lived here for up to twen­ty-sev­en months, used them to keep valu­able things, sou­venirs, and mem­o­ries out of the not very pri­vate, over­crowd­ed, and noisy facil­i­ties. For the Liv­ing the City exhi­bi­tion, these lock­ers’ com­part­ments have been filled with the sto­ries of peo­ple and their paths to Berlin and beyond.

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