Verena is a mythical creature in ∇. Illustrations and eyewitness accounts describe a hybrid of a woman and a bird that spits out human-like sounds. According to legend, it always appears when the horizon opens up over the Platz and opens its gate for those energies from which the ∪ can feed, i.e. the ∇ becomes the V.
Eyewitness Accounts
Moments in which Verena is said to have been seen include:
Date
Description
1908
Mojsche Zwirnbaum describes having freed a bird-like creature from the rubble and ash in a demolished house on the corner of Linienstraße and Kleine Alexanderstraße on a January morning together with Hermann Blecher, whereupon this wildly flapping its wings and fleeing through the already destroyed ceiling of the house, in the morning hours of April 7, 1908 (the time of Hermann's death) he encountered this bird again at the same place, where now there was only a pile of rubble, the bird would have made croaking noises that made it seem like he was crying.
29. December 1913
Stagehands of the Volksbühne describe independently of each other that a fairly large bird entered the backstage area during the rehearsal for Götz von Berlichingen and flew “as if out of its mind towards the Iron Curtain”, shortly afterwards this bird was in flew into the auditorium and, now appearing as a decadently dressed woman, would have opened up in front of Emil Lessing and shit on his head, the astonished theater staff would not have been able to catch and the bird would have fled again
10th-20th May 1983
several visitors of the 1. Volksbühnen-Spektakel describe a similar experience on different days, in which a bird-like figure had mingled with the crowds and was looking for a "friend".
30. July 1973
a bird-like creature flies over people's heads at the concert by the group Inti-Illimani in the square, reminiscences of Sabine Kula stating that Dharma Ewe must have been conceived on that day
25. September - October 7, 1974
Congruent experiences also at the second Volksbühne spectacle as in May 1973
4. Nov 1989
When leaving the Volksbühne, a bird appears on the horizon, which is supposed to accompany the demonstrators to Alexanderplatz
Mid 1990s
Dharma Ewe describes an experience in which she is said to have protected Verena from an attack by five neo-Nazis during the stage program of the Festival of the Left
September 2021
Several passers-by describe a colorfully dressed figure in a red dress and with wings, who, equipped with a fishing nest, goes on a manhunt
Derivation
Science and Operation ∇ disagree on whether Verena is a rationally explainable optical illusion phenomenon (such as a mirage) or an actually existing being that has populated the square for over 110 years.
