Type of door key This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Berlin key" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) | Berlin key The Berlin key (also known as, German, Schließzwangschlüssel, or, in English, forced-locking key) is a key for a type of door lock. It was designed to force people to close and lock their doors, usually a main entrance door or gate leading into a common yard or tenement block. The key was a solution to the problem of access via communal doors of such blocks (Mietskaserne) as early as the 19th century.[1] ## Mechanism[edit] A Berlin key has two key blades, at each end of the key, rather than the usual single blade. The key is used like this: 1. Unlock the door from the outside 2. Push the key through the lock, so that the key protrudes from the inside of the door 3. Open the now unlocked door and enter 4. Close the door and lock the door with the key, which now protrudes from the inside of the door 5. Take the key from the lock The mechanism makes it impossible to forget to lock the door without also forgetting the key in the lock. Also, locking an open door is usually not possible. Invented by the Berliner locksmith Johannes Schweiger,[2] the Berlin key was massively produced by the Albert Kerfin & Co company starting in 1912.[3] With the advent of more recent locking technologies, this kind of lock and key is becoming less common. It was estimated in 2005, that 8000–10000 are still in use today in Berlin, Germany.[3] ## Representations[edit] The key is subject of the book The Berlin Key by science and technology studies professor Bruno Latour. According to Latour, this technical object is a decisive agent that can mediate the relationship between the tenants, users, and visitors of a building.[4] He also proposed that the key performs a "program of action" or a "script", which is "Please bolt the door behind you during the night and never during the day".[5] This indicates two meanings for the term hardware in terms of the key as a mechanism — a door lock and information processor.[5] Another interpretation noted that the key reveals two social dichotomies as it draws the line between guarded and unguarded resources as well as between inhabitants and strangers.[6] The Berlin key was also used to reference the Berlin Wall when it opened in 1989.[4] ## References[edit] 1. ^ Lovell, Sophie (2017). Berlin in Fifty Design Icons. London: Hachette UK. p. 20\. ISBN 9781840917574. 2. ^ Ullmann, Petra (8 March 2000). "Vor fast 90 Jahren erfand ein Weddinger Handwerker den Durchsteckschlüssel" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 19 August 2013. 3. ^ a b Sethmann, Jens (November 2005). "Der Siegeszug des Doppelschlüssels" (in German). MieterMagazin. Retrieved 19 August 2013. 4. ^ a b Schmidgen, Henning (2014-10-15). Bruno Latour in Pieces: An Intellectual Biography. Fordham Univ Press. ISBN 9780823263714. 5. ^ a b Martin, Reinhold (2016). The Urban Apparatus: Mediapolitics and the City. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9781452953113. 6. ^ Papakostas, Apostolis (2012). Civilizing the Public Sphere: Distrust, Trust and Corruption. Hampshire, UK: Springer. p. 25\. ISBN 9781349669370. ## Further reading[edit] * The Berlin Key or How to Do things with Words * v * t * e Locks, locksmithing, lock picking, and security alarms Fundamental concepts| * Access control * Authentication * Key control * Key duplication * Key relevance * Master keying * Password * Physical security * Rekeying Components and hardware| * Bitting * Interchangeable core * Key blank * Key code * Key retainer * Lockrod * Lockset * Bored cylindrical lock * Mortise lock * Rim lock * Single-point locking * Three-point locking Keys| * Berlin key * Car key * Keychain * Skeleton key * Smart key Mechanical locks| * Warded lock * Pin tumbler lock * Disc tumbler lock * Lever tumbler lock * Magnetic keyed lock * Padlock * Combination lock * Rotary combination lock * Time-delay combination locks * Time lock * Tubular pin tumbler lock * Wafer tumbler lock Electronic locks| * Electromagnetic lock * Electronic lock * Electric strike * Keycard lock Other lock types| * Bicycle lock * Bramah lock * Chubb detector lock * Child safety lock * Crash bar * Dead bolt * Door chain * Kensington Security Slot * Knox Box * Latch * Luggage lock * Night latch * Power door locks * Protector lock * Steering-wheel lock * The Club Lock picking| * Lock bumping * Locksport * Slim Jim * Snap gun Security alarms| * Alarm device * Alarm monitoring center * Car alarm * Card reader * Closed-circuit television * Door security * Dual loop * Fingerprint scanner * Glass break detector * Heat detector * Key switch * Keypad * Miniature snap-action switch * Motion detector * Occupancy sensor * Passive infrared sensor (PIR) * Perimeter intrusion detection * Photoelectric sensor * Piezo switch * Proximity card * Reed switch * Tripwire * Ultrasonic transducer * Vandal-resistant switch * Water detector * Window security Miscellaneous| * Glossary of locksmithing terms * Electromagnetic door holder * Exit control lock * John M. Mossman Lock Museum * Key to the City * Lock Museum * Lock Museum of America * Musée de la Serrure * Puzzle lock * Category:Locksmithing * Keys * Locks * Book This technology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. | * v * t * e *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template