EYJA 2009 - Postcard of Berlin

Past and Future in the same place

Neither the time nor the fire and the chaos were able to destroy the border between two opposite ideologies; between two political, social and economic conceptions. Actually, these feelings are much more intense inside the building. What about the old metal boxes labelled with the names of the members of the German Bundestag democratically elected between 1919 and 1999? What do you think about the wall occupied by some Soviet soldiers to write their briefs messages in order to celebrate their victory, and the new glass chamber to define a "transparent" and "modern" Government?


By ISABEL BENITEZ
from Sevilla, SPAIN
(EYJA winner in Spain)


Changes. A city full of changes. Historical transformations which have made it special and different from other cities in the world. It doesn't probably exist a place like this; a point capable to talk at the same time about our past and our future, while we live our present inside it.

It should be easy to write about a city you have never visited before. All you find there tends to be surprising. But when you go to Berlin, words, suddenly, disappear. You can't describe it. And you may think I exaggerate, but I am not the first person to go to Berlin and fall absolutely in love with it.

Imagine a perfect group of people in a perfect city: great combination; precise equation. That's what I mean... Imagine, for instance, a two thousands meters view over this scene. Indescribable experience... Thanks to some stars and lights, to some buildings, a river and a car, you can come across a city full of life. And it may be the best term to define it: Life.

Professor Gert Weisskirchen told us, in a small piece of the Reichstag, that he grew up in ruins, learning that his neighbours were his enemies and he had to fight against them. But what can we find from this period in the present city? Nothing. Where there was "an empty space" before, now there are gardens, houses and, in fact, people". Can you ask for anything else? The big TV Tower has got the answer: "No, you can't. Take a look". From that height, in Alexanderplatz, Berlin doesn't seem to have any secrets.

Look, for instance, on the right side: Unter den Linden. The most important boulevard in Berlin; the neuralgic centre of culture and arts. Built and rebuilt before and after the Second World War, does it remember us what ungrateful we are with that treasures which makes us free. Art, music and literature let our minds fly away even when blood and violence surround us. However, we usually silence them as the power of the moment does with the "annoying" press. Nowadays, Unter den Linden offers you not only old columns or beautiful pediments, but also interesting museums and theatres; pieces of knowledge, portions of a particular society.

Just at the end of this popular avenue, the Brandenburg Gate rises majestically. Just in a no man's land. Just in the space where, one day, a wall separated two ways of thinking and understanding; remain of old differences now overcome. And, perhaps, it is the second best way to describe Berlin: a unity where diversity has learnt to live in with others. No walls can separate it now. Only a strait line on the floor calls to visitor's mind the sad and painful stories it harboured one day: divided families, broken couples, split friendships… lives chopped off by a huge mass of bricks and concrete. A weapon-resistant wall only people's dreams and desires were able to pull down.

Today, five open archways permit you to pass from one to another side without restrictions. An invitation to enjoy the rest of the city. No matter when (either in the morning or at night), Berlin offers plenty of activities and possibilities for everybody.

Nevertheless, there is an unavoidable date: the Bundestag and the Reichstag building. A visitor can't leave Berlin without enjoying this setting: the heart of a whole country; a space to decide what's going on, what's the right or wrong decision, what's the best or the worst step. The past is inscribed into it. Its location and even its structure are still a symbol of Germany's division. Neither the time nor the fire and the chaos were able to destroy the border between two opposite ideologies; between two political, social and economic conceptions. Actually, these feelings are much more intense inside the building. What about the old metal boxes labelled with the names of the members of the German Bundestag democratically elected between 1919 and 1999? What do you think about the wall occupied by some Soviet soldiers to write their briefs messages in order to celebrate their victory, and the new glass chamber to define a "transparent" and "modern" Government? Each stone of this fabric talks itself. Try to listen to it as well as the rest of the city. Its houses, its streets, its Soviet quarter; the war memorials, the commemorative sculptures, the highest viewpoints and, of course, the bridges; all of them show us how a once-divided city got to grow together.

Instead of devastation, poverty and the consequences of clashing aims, you can see East Side Galleries where reaching an agreement only needs a kiss (as Honecker and Breznev's one). Instead of crossing a dead river, now you can have a nice dinner on a boat over The Spree. Even though, today and above all, Berlin makes it possible to meet new friends from all over Europe. And it is the best thing. Because what gives value to a place is the people you find in it. And, if "youth is the future", Berlin is supposed to live in a hopeful present.


(Published: 12.09.2009.)