History of Berlin

Germany – Blog #4

The Berlin Wall, which stood from 1961 until 1989, was a means
of separating communist East Berlin, from the fascist Western
Berlin and negatively impacted many citizens.

I would say that it is safe to venture to say, that many Americans are not very well versed in the history of Germany, let alone Berlin.  For myself, I certainly fall into that group of people.  Prior to getting just a two hour snapshot into the history of Berlin, I knew only what most people know, and that is the basic knowledge of the once-existent Berlin Wall.  I had always associated the other major German history with Germany alone, and not made connections to Berlin. Of course most people know the general purpose of the wall – separating East Berlin from West Berlin – of preventing the spread of the ideas present in West Berlin to the now communist, East Berlin.  Many people are unaware, and may not even consider the consequences of constructing a wall in the middle of one of the largest cities in Europe.  In doing this, East Berlin successfully kept out fascist ideas that were present in Western Germany, but also effectively separated families from themselves and the strict enforcement of the wall made it nearly impossible to communicate around the barrier.

I also found the construction of and rebuilding of Berlin to be very interesting.  I am pretty well traveled across the United States with much thanks to my parents for taking us to historical places growing up, and have always been intrigued by the differences in architecture and their time periods because it tells a story.  Some of this also comes from being raised in a house that was built in the 1850’s as well and being a part of many renovations in the house I grew up in to return it to a more time-period correct state.  Nonetheless, it was also interesting hearing about Hitler’s plans for building up Berlin and his goals of holding an annual Olympic Games based on the success of the 1936 games.  Also, with all the history that Germany has, it was interesting to hear that there was a modernistic movement before the Nazi takeover.  This time period ended up being short-lived, and with the entrance of the Nazi regime meant the return of more classic architectural designs.  The Nazi party also built an airport in anticipation of increased flights in and out of Berlin.  I also appreciated during a race of new construction, both East Germany and West Germany were recycling the once torn down buildings to rebuild new buildings or by building a hill that eventually became the home of buildings built on top of it.  I thought it was also fascinating to hear how both construction and demolition of buildings in Berlin are both politically and emotionally charged due to the competition and tension between East and West Berlin as well as the cycle of building, and rebuilding that happened between the destruction that occurred between World War I and World War II. 

One thing that I noticed about the documentary, when especially focusing on the people of East Berlin, is that they are very nostalgic of the past and have a very opinionated view.  I found it especially interesting to see that two different people of East Berlin had two very different outlooks on the possibility of rebuilding the Berliner Schloss after the palace built in its place was demolished in the 2000’s after the wall had come down.  It just goes to show that people are going to interpret things differently given the situation, and just because you feel that something is right, there are surely going to be others that have a very different opinion of the situation.  I was also unaware that Berlin had opened its doors to others who had been persecuted throughout Europe in the 17^th Century.  Then, a few hundred years later, the Jews who were once welcomed, became the focal point of a racial purification in the city they were once welcomed to before.  During this time, they faced the brutal treatment that has been storied for many years, as well as vandalism of their businesses and a countless number of rapes among Jewish females.  It goes without saying, that this was one of the darkest times in the history of Berlin.  I feel like this documentary has really helped to make some more connections with Berlin and the history of Germany as a country, and I am looking forward to furthering that in just a few short months.

The original Berliner Schloss, which was damaged during
World War II by bombing by the Allied Forces, was replaced
with the Palace of the Republic in 1964 which has since been
demolished.  A new Berliner Schloss is currently being built on the
same original grounds and is expected to be completed in 2019.