Skip to content

Where past and present blends immaculately – Berlin

By bmlee18

Berlin has always been a city that I've wanted to visit. As an elementary student, I first learned about World War II and the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. I remember taking great interest in this dark history of the 20th century and wanting to expand my knowledge on the subject, thus taking up lots of reading on the matter.

Last year at GW, I took a course on German history before and after reunification, which was one of the most fascinating courses I've ever taken. The class not only focused on the Nazi era, but also the period of divided East and West Germany and the subsequent reunification upon the "fall" of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It could be said that Berlin was at the forefront of the battle between the East and the West - a symbol of the split between the communist/autocratic and capitalist/democratic halves of the world during the Cold War (another era of history that I've taken a great interest in).

So to finally be in Berlin and to see for myself some of the sites that my professor had spoken about, from the infamous Berlin Wall to the various memorials reminding Berliners of the city and the country's past so as to never repeat them again, was truly powerful. Unfortunately, I had less than 24 hours to spend in this intriguing city, as it was a short layover during my journey from Prague to Milan. Despite this, I was able to see from the exterior some of Berlin's main sites and to hear a local's perspective on the city through a walking tour. With another friend who was visiting Berlin, we joined a group of around 15 people from various English speaking countries and traversed the city on foot.

Our tour guide had previously studied history in school, and we certainly benefited from his extensive knowledge on the city's past, from the powerful Prussian Empire to Hitler's rise to the division of the city into quarters - with the French, British, and American sectors eventually coalesced together as West Germany and the Soviet sector forming East Germany. Our guide was also able to share some personal family stories, as his parents had been East Berliners before the Wall came down.

As I walked through the city, I was once again reminded of the particular care and sensitivity that was needed when they erected memorials such as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. While often colloquially called the Holocaust Memorial, there was great care given to specify the name of the memorial to the 6 million Jews who had been stripped of their humanity and murdered by the Nazis, as the Holocaust also systematically targeted other people such as the Sinti and Roma and homosexuals, among many others (to which there are separate memorials).

As had been discussed when I was taking the contemporary German history class, there was the need to address not only what had happened during Nazi rule but also under communist East Germany, which had brought about the suppression of inalienable freedoms and the largest surveillance network ever created under the Stasi (East German secret police). But there was the concern that by remembering what had happened in East Germany during the Cold War, everything that had unfolded when Hitler was in power could be trivialised. A cautious balancing needed to be reached. Additionally, another sensitive element to address was to make sure that the focus of the memorials was on the victims, and not the perpetrators.

These were all various considerations that I contemplated on as I passed by significant sites such as the Brandenburg Gate, a section of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charline, the Reichstag, Topography of Terror, Hitler's Bunker (which you would have never known was formerly the site of his bunker had you not been told), and Bebelplatz (where the Nazis had burnt over 20,000 books). The whole city breathed history - while Berlin continues to change and blossom as the vibrant capital of an economically and politically strong Europe power, there are always reminders throughout the city that embraces rather than tries to shamefully tuck away its dark past (which was something that I came to admire about the city).

I can only say that I wish I had more than 24 hours to see and understand this fascinating city, and I hope to see myself spending an extensive amount of time here in the near future. As a 20th century history nerd, Berlin was a true highlight for me where I could reflect, admire, grieve, and hope. This was certainly a city unlike any other!