Berlin has a fascinating recent history. After WW II, the city (previously the capital of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), and then the capital of the Third Reich (1933-1945), was divided by the Western Allies, and the Soviet Union, into East and West Berlin. East Berlin was the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), while West Berlin "became a political enclave" of the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany) completely surrounded by the GDR.
Of course Germany was more fun than the GDR, more successful economically, and a better place to live, so East Berliners left the GDR in droves through West Berlin to live the good life. By 1960, three and a half million East Germans had left, more the 90% through West Berlin. The GDR caught on and on August 13, 1961 erected what we now know as the Berlin Wall - overnight. The wall completely surrounded West Berlin in the hope of making defection from East Berlin impossible.
It was pretty effective. This is what Brandenburg Gate looked like in 1976 when it was right in the midddle of the "death zone" between the two walls that separated East and West Berlin:
Here is what it looked like this week:
Nancy is standing right where the wall was on the western side.
So what does this all have to do with Berlin's schizophrenic personalty?
For the 28 years that the wall stood (1961-1989), the demographic layout of Berlin changed. The section of wall that ran through the middle of Berlin (Berlin-Mitte) effectively cut the best part of Berlin in half. After the wall went up, those parts of the city closest to the wall became undesirable places to live. Specifically Kreuzberg, near Oberbaumbrücke, because it was walled on three sides, became the least desirable part of West Berlin to live in and was settled by workers from outside the country (typically Turks) brought in to rebuild West Berlin.
The wealthy and the important all lived farther from the wall (on both sides) in nicer areas like Charlottenburg. When the wall came down in 1989 all the places along the part of the wall running through Mitte and Kreuzberg once again became the center of the city, and they have now become very trendy fashionable places to be. And, because they are still full of eastern Europeans and because they don't have the glitz and charm of the wealthy places like Potsdam (East - not on the map) and Charlottenburg (West), they are still very cheap places to stay and eat and live.
The area around Mitte, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain (originally on the other side of the wall from Kreuzberg) are awful looking. There is graffiti everywhere, many of the buildings are run down, the sidewalks are uneven cobblestones, and it is generally a rough looking part of town. That look is completely misleading.
Don't let graffiti put you off. Graffiti is a huge part of the sub-culture of Berlin. The wall only had graffiti on one side (the west). The eastern side of the wall was the death zone. The buildings also only had graffiti on them in West Berlin near the wall (because it was the low rent area). The subject of the graffiti (other than the tags) was generally political commentary about a unified Germany. The punishment for graffiti on the east side was much more severe and much more likely than on the west side. Think Siberia. When the wall came down, gray, dull East Berlin became an empty canvas of opportunity for graffitists from both sides of the wall, in fact from around the world. Graffiti exploded. Because Berlin (and Germany) were economically stretched from the various challenges to complete the reunification process, small things like graffiti just didn't matter. There was no money to spend on cleanup, much less catching the perps of the basically victimless crime. (Many of the buildings were uninhabited or in ruins.)
Same two buildings from the other side - schizo!
Similarily, the bleakness of that part of the city will be there until the buildings are renovated. The dull gray crumbling block construction apartments on the east side and along the area of the wall will remain ugly until some enterprising Berliner buys them and fixes them up (they are incredibly cheap). The sidewalks will stay uneven cobbles (with the names of murdered Jews every few meters), not like the smooth groomed sidewalks of Potsdam, maybe forever as a reminder of the notorious past.
But that strange episode in Berlin's history is why the place is schizo. Once you get past the façades of the buildings the people and places are wonderful. Inside those dull gray buildings are terrific hotels, apartments, stores, restaurants and galleries. The change as you go through a doorway is often shocking.
The contrast of the old and new is very nice. If you get tired of exploring Mitte and Kreuzberg (it'll take a long time) there is always the rest of Berlin. Charlottenburg is a testament to globalization. You can wander from McDonalds to the North Face store and have a Starbucks on the way. (The Macdonalds they put in Kreuzberg has its windows smashed every time there is some kind of protest. The Subway they put in didn't sell a single sandwich, and it was shut down shortly after opening.)
Beyond Charlottenburg you can head out into what was the East German countryside, perhaps for a swim at Wannasee (where Hitler and his hencmen came up with "The Final Solution").
Perhaps a day trip to Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, a UN Heritage Site (and where the Allies divided up Germany. This palace was the summer home of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. Sanssouci means "without worries". I'm surprised it isn't the center of the Aussi "no worries, mate" philosophy.
The palace and garden.
A little shed for evening jam sessions.
He even had fake ruins built for him to hike up to and look at.
Berlin is one of my favourite cities ever. It seems to be changing very fast though. If you wanna catch it while it's still a bit raw and inexpensive, then you'd better go soon. The word is out. (Yes, I'm partly to blame.) "Ich bin ein Berliner!" (John F. Kennedy -1963 and Gary J. Davis - 2014)
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