All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the word "Ich bin ein Berliner".

  .au           .wav         J.F.Kennedy, Speech at City Hall, West Berlin, 26 June 1963


I'm guided by a signal in the heavens
I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin
I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

Leonard Cohen

Berlin

I was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. I grew up in West-Berlin, which at that time was completely surrounded by the Berlin Wall: an island in the "sea" of Eastern Germany. History let this wall come down in November 1989 as you all know. From then on the city has changed a lot. Not that I would like it any less now. It's just different.

Today Berlin is a city in transition, what is maybe best expressed by the phenomenon of Potsdamer Platz, Europe's Largest Building Site. The old no-man's land right in the center of Berlin is being transformed into a new metropolitan area. Potsdamer Platz and NYC also play a role in this mpeg movie (270k) that I made in order to test an image morphing algorithm.

New York City

I love the City. To start making sense of the city jungle, check out New York Citysearch, TimeOut New York, The NYC Reference, or Club NYC.

For two years I was staying at International House near Columbia University. I still live up here in Morningside Heights.

What else ...

Like soccer? Take a peek at the official homepage of the Columbia Sockets!

For finding out more you will have to fall back upon non-virtual reality and just meet me.

"I recognise...
Myself in every stranger's eyes"

Roger Waters

htobias@cs.columbia.edu