Wall to Wall Berlin

Saturday, October 13, 2012

 

Once we (sort of) deciphered the varying lines and systems of public transport, we headed to the Berlin Wall Memorial, situated near the Nordbahnhof train station.  The station itself is part of the memorial, as it had been one of the “Ghost Stations” of the divided city.  Ghost stations were stops through which trains from West Berlin looped into the East.  They were not allowed to stop, street entrances were blocked and then “disappeared”; people eventually forgot that they existed.  As the tunnels and track systems were used as escape routes, they were eventually walled off.  Even the DDR guards were seen as likely escapees (after several of them made a run for it) so, as they monitored stations to prevent escapes, they, too were walled off in locked bunkers while on duty.  Emergency exits were sealed off, intensifying the danger for passengers, guards, and escapees, in case of fire or accident.  Above ground, we saw a couple of excellent films in the visitors’ center and walked among remnants of the Wall, guard towers, no-man’s land, and a memorial to each of those who died attempting to escape between 1961 and 1989.  It is so hard to imagine this city literally severed (along lines marked in the pavement), families separated, freedom denied – in our lifetimes…

Confident in our mastery of the subway, with only one course correction, we emerged at the famous Brandenburg Gate, symbol of the present vibrant city, and also of its divided past.  The Parisian Square, in front of the Gate, is a lively place now, with street performers, demonstrators, tour buses, and people walking freely back and forth through the barricade-free gate.

As we walked among the government buildings on the Platz der Republik, we heard a man yelling in the distance, right in front of the Reichstag.  It turned out that he was on fire, and soon fell to the ground, as passersby attempted to smother the flames.  After what seemed like an eternity, emergency vehicles arrived.  Judging by the fact that, when we returned to the area an hour later for our scheduled visit, the scene was still cordoned off and visually screened off, we feared the worst.   Another somber note…

 

After a walk along the Spree riverfront promenade and through of bit of the Tiergarten (Berlin’s Central Park), we passed through security for our visit to the Reichstag Dome.  This modern glass cupola sits atop the neoclassical Reichstag building, where Germany’s legislature meets. A GPS-driven audio guide provided interesting narration about both the panorama of the city below us, the government, and the building itself as we ascended and descended the spiral ramps to and from the Dome’s topmost viewing platform.

We ended the day at another site dedicated to another dark period of Germany’s recent history.  The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was the first German government-sponsored Holocaust memorial.  Above ground, there are 2,711 gray monotone rectangular pillars of varying heights.  The narrow, gray brick paths between them undulate and it would be easy to get lost, both physically and in thought – if there were not so many young people running around playing hide and seek or mounting the pillars to take pictures or jump between them.  Perhaps on a school day…  Nevertheless, the displays at the Visitors’ Center, beneath the outdoor monument, were thought-provoking and heartbreaking.  The focus on individual testimonies and on specific families’ stories brought the horror that gripped a continent and took millions of lives home with great impact.

We walked to the train Potsdamer Platz, past yet more outdoor exhibits about the Wall which, for almost forty years, cut this plaza in two and left it a deserted no-man’s land.  Now, it’s akin to Berlin’s Times Square, an enormous, high-energy commercial, transportation, and entertainment center.

 The twentieth century was not easy on this city, but, as the profusion of construction cranes on the skyline and the life in the streets attest, Berlin is on the move.  Even so, the past is present everywhere in this city, as is the determination to face it and learn from it.