Last week we were on vacation. We traveled through DDR, or
what used to be DDR during the cold war. Now, of course, it’s part of the
re-united Germany. We spent most of the time in Berlin. It’s an awesome city,
with a very special atmosphere.
Berlin has been at the heart of European history for almost
a century. Berlin was the capital of the
nazi regime before and during the 2nd World War. The Berlin wall was
an important border in the divided Europe during the cold war. The fall of the Berlin wall marked the
collapse of the communist block and the end of the cold war.
Today Berlin is the capital of the re-united Germany, which
is the economic engine of the European Union.
There are plenty of interesting sights. The Reichstag
building and the Brandenburger Tor, which was just inside the Soviet sector, and
a few meters from the wall, where John F Kennedy gave his famous speech (“Ich
bin ein Berliner”).
The DDR museum gives an impression of everyday life in East
Germany.
Checkpoint Charlie, manned by the US Army, was the site for many dramatic events, in
real life, and in spy thrillers, such as “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” by
LeCarre.
Today there is a big McDonald’s restaurant at Checkpoint
Charlie, and for 2 Euros, you can get your picture taken with men in military
uniforms at the checkpoint. Capitalism vs.
Communism 2-0.
I remember 1990 when the wall was taken down. Gorbachov was
still the leader of the Soviet Union, and I was still a physics student in the
university. Late August (or early September), I sat in a small apartment in
Leningrad (presently St Petersburg) together with some Russian students. They
had made borscht (the Russian soup) for us. We were drinking beer and smoking
White Sea Channel (Soviet cigarettes, terrible stuff)
while watching Roger Waters on TV, performing The Wall live in Berlin. It was
amazing.
Now I’m sitting in the airport waiting for the Aeroflot
flight SU2175 to Moscow. Here I go again.
Business trip this time.
(Picture taken last week at the Parisien Platz, by the Brandenburg Gate. During the Cold War, the Parisien Platz was was in The Soviet sector, and part of the so-called Death Zone. After the fall of the wall, the area has been re-built and taken over by the Americans; US Embassy to the left and Starbucks to the right.)
