"A Once Divided City" Berlin by antistar


Berlin Travel Guide: 7,873 reviews and 14,069 photos

In front of Reichstag, Berlin - Berlin
In front of Reichstag, Berlin
A Concrete Jungle

"I have to admit my first impressions of Berlin were not good. After arriving we immediately took the underground to Warschauerstrasse, and on exiting I was presented with what looked like a super-sized Coventry. Now anyone who has been to Coventry, in the deepest West Midlands of England, will tell you it is not a pretty sight, suffering as it did from some of the worst post-war blight that any council planners inflicted on a people anywhere. Coventry is an ugly, grey, concrete corpse of a once proud city, bombed flat during the Second World War, and then rebuilt in such a way as to make the inhabitants unsure if they'd actually prefer the burnt out ruins instead. In Berlin, the streets of towering two-tone foggy grey concrete slabs stretched out along wide traffic filled boulevards of rainy grey tarmac, and were lined with dingy grey pavements that were covered in dirty brown dog ***.

That was East Berlin, though, and the suburbs of inner city East Berlin at that. This was the Stalinist paradise of post-war East Germany, with just a hint of Soviet bitterness thrown in, and towering two-tone concrete slabs were de rigueur in Communist architecture circles of the time. It was also Berlin, and Berlin is ten times cooler than most other cities, just by mere fact of being Berlin; Coventry just doesn't even rate. The similarities between Berlin's Friedrichshain and Coventry's Hillfields are just skin deep, and begin and end with the grey facades of the housing projects themselves. The people of East Berlin are a world apart from Coventry. Rather than being feral, knife wielding, inbred dogs, donning cheap Kappa sportswear, the population of Friedrichshain were young, relaxed, friendly, and altogether better dressed." - from my travelogue

A Very Liveable City
Hanno, under the Fernsehturm - Berlin

Hanno, under the Fernsehturm

I was quite taken with Berlin, and have decided that one day I'd like to live there. The city has a great vibrancy, a feeling of being very alive, and driving towards a newer, better, place. It is also surprisingly laid back for such a large capital city. Having at least two centers probably helps towards the feeling that it is more of a big town, with a big city life, than a giant metropolis. The pace of life was much slower than the impossibly hectic cities of Paris and London, and I really liked that.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
Alexanderplatz, Berlin - Berlin

Alexanderplatz, Berlin

A great article on the history of Ronald Reagan's famous statement of freedom.

For me, brought up as a child during the Cold War, Berlin was always the divided city, a symbol of the insanities brought about by the 20th century's great clash of ideologies. The city has a great history aside from these few decades, and many of the people of Berlin would like to forget this period of the city's history, at least the DDR portion of it, but that is what I wanted to see most when visiting the city. Top of my list was the Wall itself, along with the Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz. Der Alex was something I particularly wanted to see, after it appeared in the fantastic film, "Goodbye, Lenin!". This film brought back that whole era vividly, especially the moments before and after the fall of the wall, and is definitely worth watching before you arrive in Berlin.

The city has masses of things to see and do, and once you've seen everything you thought you wanted to see, you'll find you have an even longer list for the next time you visit.

  • Last visit to Berlin: Dec 2011
  • Intro Updated Jan 16, 2012
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Comments (9)

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  • diocletianvs's Profile Photo
    diocletianvs Jul 29, 2007 at 9:43 AM Report Abuse

    Oh, I loved those areas of the former Eastern Berlin - have you seen the Karl Marx Allee? Interesting read in the T'logue.

  • Luchonda's Profile Photo
    Luchonda Dec 31, 2006 at 10:00 AM Report Abuse

    Berlin ist eine Reise wert. greetz from Belgium

  • bugulma's Profile Photo
    bugulma Apr 12, 2005 at 9:48 PM Report Abuse

    You should publish your travelougue as a book :-) I had steady hands for making photo in the city :-))

  • Paul2001's Profile Photo
    Paul2001 Jan 18, 2005 at 5:21 PM Report Abuse

    I have been to Germany twice but have yet to visit Berlin. Great page reminds that I should check it out on my next trip to your country.

  • Mariajoy Jan 6, 2005 at 3:08 PM Report Abuse

    Yes.. I lived here for 4 years :)

  • jamiesno's Profile Photo
    jamiesno Jan 5, 2005 at 10:52 AM Report Abuse

    More very nice pictures, I am debatting on going to Berlin and accessing Prague via train, hmmm I still have some figuring out to do :-)

  • jenniferchin's Profile Photo
    jenniferchin Nov 5, 2004 at 6:33 PM Report Abuse

    Amazing read here - esp your t-log .. Thanks for the virtual vacation :-) Makes me want to go back & explore Berlin again !!

  • yooperprof's Profile Photo
    yooperprof Oct 18, 2004 at 6:17 PM Report Abuse

    Really great writing in the travelogue - I got a hangover just by reading it!

  • bijo69's Profile Photo
    bijo69 Oct 16, 2004 at 1:03 PM Report Abuse

    Really funny travelogue! Enjoyed reading it ;).

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