Berlin is an inspiring city. I was struck by so many things, big and small, that made me not only enjoy my time there, but also respect the people and the place greatly. It is a city with as tumultuous a history as any in the past century. It was ravaged by two world wars, destroyed utterly in the second one, split in half for 40 years, and has only been reunited for a quarter century. It was used as a center for Nazi propaganda and as the focal point for the Cold War. Its citizens and families experienced pride, shame, horror, forced separation, fear, desperation, and jubilation. It has been, to put it mildly, an unstable place to live. And it survived it all. More than that, it's thriving. That takes strength and a lot of hard work.
I am in a process of figuring out who I am and who I want to be. I've been struck by the feeling since moving abroad that it is in my power to make any changes I like, no matter how big. It's made me analyze so many aspects of my life, much like a building inspector planning out a refurbishment. Like that inspector, I focus most of my attention on the things I think could be improved. I also listen to other people's assessments, whether they're given intentionally in words or not, and the whole process can make one a tad self-conscious. Berlin had to do the same thing. When its wall came down, and it became one city again, it had to figure out just what it was now and what it wanted to be in the future. Who could blame the citizens of Berlin if they'd wanted to start all over again, wiping the slate clean? That wasn't possible, though. We Americans love our stereotypes in movies, and the only images we'd ever show of Berlin were of The Wall and the Swastika. Nazis became our stereotype villains. Berliners can't escape these images, these reminders of the worst parts of their past. There's no use hiding their past, so they don't try to. The holocaust memorial, the Soviet war memorial, the German History museum, the DDR museum, the East Side Gallery, Checkpoint Charlie, etc. It's all there. They keep it out there so they can grow past it and learn from it. Even the Reichstag showcases the spirit of the German people. It's a strong, solid Victorian era building. When the German bundestag moved back in, they updated the building with a glass and steel dome on top. Something so modern looking should clash with Victorian stone, and yet it looks like it was meant to be there. Once inside, you see that the parliament chamber is surrounded by glass on all sides and the top. You can look down from the dome and in from the main entrance. "Government should be transparent."
Berlin is open about its past. It embraces the best parts of its past, but it doesn't dwell on its past. It has grown, and it continues to grow, into a vibrant new city. When I stood in Berlin, I felt I was standing in the middle of a very exciting and modern place. I contrast this to places like Rome and Athens, where I am fascinated by the history, but I feel like the cities have no idea who they are now apart from who they were centuries ago. Those cities focus so much on who they were that they seem to spend little time thinking about who they want to be. Perhaps it's because Berlin's history doesn't go as far back or because it doesn't have a gloriously romanticized past, but personally I would rather be Berlin than Rome. I'd rather think that my best days are ahead of me rather than behind.
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