Off the Map

Ich bin ein Berliner!

[Ed. This is long, but its my last for a while, as I'm flying to Rome in under 24 hours]

"Es gibt einen Grund, warum man Berlin anderen Stadten vorziehen kann: weil es sich standig verandert." - Bertold Brecht


Berlin is perhaps the most dynamic city the world has seen in the last 20 years. Up until 1989 it was part of 2 different countries, much less 2 different models of government. The Eastern half was locked behind the Iron Curtain of the USSR communist machine (and was a prominent symbol thereof, due to the Berlin Wall). East Berlin was the capital of the GDR, aka. Eastern Germany. West Berlin was a heavily subsidized bastion (and literally an island in the middle of East Germany) of the capitalistic Western world, used as the proverbial pimple on the communist face - but no more than that, as the old capital had relocated to Bonn, Western Germany. Many once believed that World War 3 would begin at Checkpoint Charlie - a prominent border crossing between the 2 halves and 2 nations.

Then something changed. Snapped. The East Germans threw it all down: No more Wall, no more Honecker, no more communism, no more separation. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was the kickoff not only for the reunification of Germany, but also for the Velvet Revolution in the CZ Republic and the Romanian overthrow of their puppet Communist regimes - and eventually the collapse of the Soviet Bloc.

16 yeas later Berlin is once again the capital of one Germany. Berlin has risen from a heavily militarized and physically divided city to a world-class center for the Arts, Business and Politics. The physical changes across the city, necessary to accommodate the new government, elevate East Berlin out of its communism poverty, and facilitate new business growth, have been sweeping. 10 years ago many would tell you that instead of the renowned Bear, the symbol of Berlin was the Yellow Construction Crane.

I would argue that the results were worth the work and the wait. Berlin is a modern architect's dream, a treasure trove for the history buff, a world leader in the arts (of all forms), home to some of the best night life in Europe, buzzing with international political activity, and capital of the world's 3rd largest economy. It doesn't get much better than that.

Upon visiting Berlin, all of what I've detailed above will be evident in everything you do. Both it's grim history and bright future are inescapable.

I saw all the highlights:

• The remodeled Reichstadt Building (with its famous glass/metal dome)
  

• Brandenburger Tor (breathtaking at night)
  
• Kaiser-Willhelm's Gedachtnis Kirche and the Frauen Kirche (a dramatically bombed out cathedral from WW2 left standing, and its ultra-modern counterpart built on the same plot of land)
  
• New Sony Center and Daimler-Chrysler buildings (these are 2 of the most impressive modern buildings I've ever seen - a vast artwork of glass and steel)
  
• Berlin Wall
• The embassies of the world (the US Embassy was significantly more fortified than any other, with 24 Hour German police patrols)
  
• Several universities all housed in buildings harking to the Prussian might of old
  
• The Spree River
  
• Berliner Dom (the best-kept Cathedral I've seen yet, with an amazing view of Berlin from the roof)
  
• Museum Insel (a group of several noteworthy collections)
  
• The Fernsehturm
  
• The Berliner Bear art exhibit
  
• Various memorials to WW2 and Nazi terror
  
• KaDeWe (at one time the largest store on the continent, now a truly unbelievable collection and labyrinth of luxury goods and fine foods)
  
• The Pergamon (purportedly one of the world's finest collections of ancient art)
• The Victory Tower
• Lots of other stuff that I can't remember just now
  

These are, however, just the standard fare. I have some personal highlights of my own:

• We saw a production of Bertold Brecht's "The Improbable Rise of Artou Ui" (or something to that effect in German). Written before the real extent of Nazi horror was publicly known, it parables and criticizes those who allowed Hitler's rise to power by using the Chicago Gang Wars. The acting was clearly excellent (the standing ovation lasted 15 min (that's not an exaggeration, either. Clapping that long is miserable!)), but the German was impossible to understand
• We saw the Berlin Philharmonic, one of the best 3-5 Philharmonic Orchestras in the world, in the Philharmonie, one of top 3 halls for acoustics in the world. Allow me to say they met expectations (aka. I was blown away!). We heard pieces from Alban Berg, Elliott Carter and Bela Bartok. Matthias Goerne sang Baritone and Cornelia Kallisch Soprano on Bartok's "Herzog Blaubarts Burg".
• We managed to get into a great collection of Jackson Pollock's pieces
• Pure coincidence was that the Berlinale (the Berlin Film Festival) was going on at the same time. One night 3 of us decided spontaneously to see if we could get tickets into whatever was playing. We got lucky and landed seats to see the premier of a Turkish/Greek film called "Melegin Dususu", which turned out to be a very different stylistically than anything I've seen (but very good - thought provoking). The film director came down to the front and answered questions thru a translator at the end.
• Due to the festival and the premier of "Hitch", we accidentally came across Will Smith walking up the Red Carpet. I post his pic when I get them from my friend.
• We went to Potsdam where we toured an old Stasi Prison where we also saw one of their training videos on how to investigate and abduct someone posing a threat to the communist gov't
• We also toured the beautiful and fully intact Palace Sans Sousci (meaning "No Worries"), one of the Prussian emperor's residences outside of Potsdam
• A several hour stroll thru Prenzlauer and Kreuzberg, 2 international, liberal and very hip Burroughs of Berlin host to some of the best cafes, new artists and graffiti
• I found and drank the world's strongest continually brewed beer (11%) and a beer from the world's oldest brewery still in production. We also made it to a Stock-Market bar, where the beer prices are posted on electronic boards and go up or down based on demand. At one point in the evening, the music from 2001 a Space Odyssey started to blair from the speakers, while a bartender rang a bell like that in New York. The screens flashed "Stock Market Crash!" and all the prices dropped by half for about 5 min as waiters ran around franticly meeting new demand!
  

And this only scratched the surface. I've added Berlin to the list of cities where I could happily live. For that matter, its one of those cites requiring residence to be fully taken advantage of. We complain in Boulder all the time about not having anything to do. That is never-never a problem in Berlin. As important as the sights and history of Berlin are, its real life is found every night in the theaters, bars, town halls and street corners.

posted by Jason @ 10:05 am