the road abroad.: Berlin's got a wall. Not sure if you've heard about it.

BERLIN, GERMANY

It took me just one day to realize that Berlin could very well be the capital of Europe. The sprawling city is centrally located throughout the continent and is the most influential of the 20^th century. Oh wait, that was Hitler’s idea. Nevermind.

The city felt so revolutionary. The horrid history left by Hitler was still imbedded in the soul of the city. I visited his bunker (now a parking lot) and spent a good amount of time at the Topography of Terror, which brought you through Berlin from 1920-1989. The chronological story line was fantastic. There stories and photographs from the Holocaust and WW2 were overwhelming. Did you know that Hitler was chosen as Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1938? I couldn’t believe that Hitler hosted the Olympics in Berlin in 1936! The Nuremberg laws were already in place and he had stripped Jews of their German citizenship. In preparation of the games, the city removed signs from the city parks that read, ‘No Jews allowed on the grass” and only those of the Aryan race were allowed to compete for Germany. Hitler was implementing the foundation for his final solution right under everyone’s noses! That really stuck with me.

The Holocaust museum whose real name is The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was also influential. The city held a contest in 1996 to decide how to appropriately pay tribute to the 6 million Jews that were murdered in WW2. Can you imagine how difficult that task would be? It took them three contests to finally find an adequate representation. The American artist, Peter Eisenmann proposed that the museum be underground and the area above be covered with 2,711 black slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. It was very smart and very solemn. In the sunlight, shadows casted a black and white contrast. The slabs resembled the barracks of a concentration camp and served as a labyrinth- it was chilling the way people appeared and disappeared through the rows. In drizzling rain, they had a gray appearance that made them look more like tombstones and it was pretty depressing. I was surprised with how many stupid tourists were climbing all over the slabs and even playing hide-and-seek amongst the labyrinth.

Let’s move onto happier subjects like the Cold War. Geez! What a relative term. I visited the three areas of the city where the wall still exists. There was one mural on the side of a building that showed an idealistic socialism and then a large photograph from the 1960s that represented the realistic socialism. The Soviets constructed the wall and barricades practically overnight on August 13, 1961.

The Brandenburg Gate that had once served as a glorious gateway between east and west, was a barricade covered in barbed wire during the 60s. Families were torn apart by the wall between East and West Berlin and over 200 people lost their lives trying to escape their life in captivity under the Soviets. There were so many walls, barricades, barbed wire, and booby traps (not to mention the infamous death strip where Soviet soldiers could shoot anyone who tried to flee westward). It’s amazing that there was even one person who was brave (and desperate) enough to even try.

Brandenberg Gate in 1960s

Original Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie

You Are Now Leaving The American Sector

Standing in between former wall dividing East and West Berlin

I enjoyed my walk along the East Side Gallery where artists around the world created murals surrounding the significance of the wall. It was impossible to choose a favorite. It definitely felt like a city of artists! There was graffiti everywhere- the kind that beautifies a city, not destroys it. It still felt so revolutionary. I spent a lot of time at Checkpoint Charlie, which is famous for the Soviet/American tank standoff in 1961. Even though it felt a little bit like Disneyworld with its recreation, I liked how they had the ominous picture of the Soviet soldier always keeping a watch on the West and the American soldier always keeping an eye on the East. I’m not sure if that was the original sign that read ‘You are now leaving the American sector’. I had conversations with local and shop owners that were very moving. Just imagine if you woke up tomorrow and there was a wall between your parents and you. So sad.

East Side Gallery

Another great thing about Berlin is that I could go back in 2 years and it would look very different. This place is an urban planner’s dream! After heavy bombing throughout WW2, the city was in constant need of repair. They didn’t have much money so the repairs were done cheaply and are under a constant state of construction. They aren’t afraid to spend money on their architecture. They had many squares and plazas since everything was so spread out. And since they were divided into two cities for over 40 years, they have two sets of everything- parks, museums, arenas, opera houses, court houses, etc. What an impressive city!!