Send us a textThose of us living in the city centre, close to industry sites or a very busy street junction know the smell only too well: fuel, burnt rubber, melting plastic and unspecified chemical stench that might or might not make your skin crawl (sometimes literally). Luckily for most, the days of potentially lethal air pollution in big cities like Berlin seem to be over.But in February 1987 West Berlin and West Germany were in the thick of it. Why this was not the case for the DDR is explained in this episode... You will also find out something about Thor and a very useful Berlin flower.Enjoy the episode! (Link to Berlin's page where you can control air quality in the city on per-hour basis: https://luftdaten.berlin.de/lqi)Support the showRead fascinating stories from Berlin's past and present, and listen to all the episodes from Season 1 and 2 of the podcast on Substack: theberlincompanion.com Enjoy Berlin audio-tours created by yours truly: download Berlin Companion Audio-Walks App (free access code for all annual Substack blog supporters).You can also find me at:Bluesky: @berlincompanion.bsky.social Twitter: @kreuzbergedInstagram: The Berlin CompanionThreads: theberlincompanionAnd if you would like to become a regular subscriber to this show and help me spend more time digging in my vast archives, chasing new stories and turning these into shiny new episodes - support the podcast by buying me a coffee or by subscribing to Berlin Companion at Substack (both links below):Buy Me a Coffee (or a Beer)Berlin Companion at SubstackMusic for the show by ...