“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”
- Mark Twain
Unquestionably,
the most interesting city of the 20th century was Berlin.
Two world wars were waged in its' front-yard , and the threat of an
earth shattering third created tension that manifested itself deep in
the cities psyche. Fascism, Communism, and Capitalism have all made
visits; some longer than others. The city has welcomed great
thinkers like Albert Einstein; and radical ones like Adolf Hitler.
Gustav Ludwig Hertz, Max Planck, the brothers Grimm, and Karl Marx
all studied at its university - certainly, it is a city of ideas. It
has been host to the Olympics, and the Holocaust - the Victory
Column, and the Berlin Wall. It has been divided, united, divided,
and united again. John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and
Barack Obama have all given speeches within it's limits. Perhaps it
is easy to imagine then that I arrived feeling a tad inconsequential.
Fortune
has favored me on my trip thus far, and it was no different in
Berlin. I met up with an old family friend who was kind enough to
let me stay with him for the week; as I felt I needed a week to
experience this fascinating city. The first thing I thought of, when
walking down the streets with no destination in mind, rather hoping
to get lost, was how much the city must have went through in
repairing it's appearance after the second world war. It was
relentlessly crushed with airstrikes, and most of the city was in
rubble. How then do you proceed? Where do you start? Where do you
end? These are questions I can't imagine trying to answer while
looking at what must have seemed like Armageddon. It was repaired
though, and then divided into four sections amongst the allied powers
- for those of you whose history has gone absent since high school.
Then shit got crazy. The Soviet Union pushed Communism while the
West pushed Capitalism and this led to something called the Cold War.
Joseph Stalin needed privacy, so he closed the borders with the
West, and then Nikita Khrushchev
was
feeling
constructive, so he decided to build a wall around it. This wall not
only separated a city, but also a world, and became a symbol of the
Cold War. It was where the East ended and the West began, or if you
were a Soviet, where the West ended and the East began. I don't mean
to bore with history, but this was the very wall I was standing next
to, where only twenty three years ago, I could not go across. My
impression of this monumental structure which separated the civilized
world? - “ it is kind of small, I could easily get over this”.
In fact, I probably could have gotten over it, but what is sometimes
left out of the description, is the “death strip” between the
wall I was at and a second wall of similar proportions. This was the
challenge for those wishing to get to the other side, for Soviets
with guns would be stationed at towers every so often, willing and
ready to gun people down - lovely folks.
Checkpoint
Charlie was the famous border crossing in this wall that was controlled
by the United States during the Cold War. It is the epicenter of the
confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during
that time period. Now a days, it is a major tourist attraction,
where people from around the world come to be in the very place where
two worlds met in stand off; the planets future depending on the
outcome. Right next to this is a museum full to capacity with
documents, video footage, treaties, letters, speeches, maps, etc., of
Cold War related material. When one walks through the front door, he
looks above at a display of all the famous individuals who had been
there throughout history. He sees the names of presidents and diplomats
from all over the world, famous celebrities who took political
stands, poets, writers, musicians, directors, and Olympic athletes.
Then, as he is turning away, one sign catches his eye at the last
moment, and he looks closer, then he squints: “Does that say David
Fucking Hasselhoff!?...........It does!”. In fact, it really does,
and the absurdity doesn't end there – he is labeled “American
Musician”; bear with me:
Who is
David Hasselhoff?:
I know the answer to this question; it is plain, and my
intentions are not to defy hopes and shatter dreams; rather to
enlighten and shed wisdom. David Hasselhoff is a mediocre American
ACTOR who starred in Baywatch and Knight Rider. Entertaining –
yes. Funny – yes. Charismatic – why not? Absolutely, in no way,
is he anything more. I apologize Germany for this blunt testimony;
it is never pleasing to discover that Santa Claus is a broke man, who
has been out of work since September, and is trying to keep the
lights on in his third story apartment, or that professional
wrestling may not be telling you the full truth, but you must know -
so goes life. This farce ends now.
Indeed, Berlin has many great places to visit, and one
could stay for years and never learn all the details, or experience
all the history, but then you would miss out on the nightlife, which
has become famous on it's own. The city parties and does not stop.
In Spain, I said this figuratively, here, it is a literal sentence.
Seemingly, nothing ever closes. The first wave of delinquents come early and end up leaving to “fall asleep”, passing by the second
wave, who come a little later. Then, the second wave drinks until mid
morning, and leaves to “fall asleep”, passing by the first wave
who have taken what must have been a nap and are back at it again. I
haven't even mentioned the wave that comes and doesn't leave;
primarily because they are not a wave; more of a tide. Crazy - this
city; I can only imagine what happens on the weekends!
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