 Berlin - A City of Survivors
Berlin, in the heart of the former German Democratic Republic, is an unusual and amazing city, steeped in history and giving testimony to the persistence and dedication of its people.
The first thing you see as you leave the train at the Zoologischer Garten train station is the Gedaechtniskirche, the remnants of an old cathedral whose few still standing and shored-up walls show the holes left from the British blitz onto Berlin at the end of WWII. A still beautiful bit of steeple gives mute testimony to the hard bombing the city endured during the war. Today, the Gedaechtniskirche is surrounded by brand new high-rises with thousands of glass windows sparkling in the sunshine. The contrast is surprising and startling, but it seems to fit this city of struggle and fame.
The house where Margot Edel lived as a young girl, and where Margot’s mother lived out the rest of her life, still stands, but it is the only building on Mommsenstrasse that wasn’t destroyed. The old facade is gone, but the Hinterhaus, where Margot lived, never got bombed. The signs of the strafing are pretty much gone now and new buildings have replaced the ones that couldn’t be repaired.
A brand new bank stands where the fashion store Busch used to be on Kurfuerstendamm. The synagogue on Fasanenstrasse that burned down during Kristallnacht is now rebuilt on the same spot. A few columns of the original building and the old arch of the entrance are built into the modern new building as a reminder of the atrocities of the Nazi regime.
Berlin is suffused with history and with the signs of an upbeat, hardy population that has struggled against one unjust government after the other for almost a century and is now unashamedly coping with its history.
When you walk up Schlossstrasse, you encounter a building housing decorated with a multi-paneled mural. A group of school kids painted the history of Berlin, starting in 1920, in sets of three pictures for each decade, up to 2000. You will see the speakeasies so prevalent in the 20’s, the rise of the Nazis through the 30’s and 40’s, the struggle to rebuild in the 50’s and the divided city in the 60’s and 70’s up to the hopeful present.
These are but some of the smaller surprises this unusual city holds for the visitor.
There is not enough time in a weekend to visit all the historical sites, but a stop at Checkpoint Charlie and the Wall memorial is a must. A line of the original bricks indicates the former presence of the Wall, and parts of it are still standing, now fenced in.
Another surprise comes when you encounter the partly unearthed prison cells of the former SS headquarters, beneath the still standing parts of the Wall which in itself is the monument of communist suppression.
You also see a picture of the now renovated Brandenburg Gate, with a photo of Brandenburg Gate right after the war, shot up and crumbling, but still standing, sturdy and determined, just as the population of this amazing city.
As you leave town, you know you will return, next time for a longer visit, to breathe the air of an irrepressible people and to see the site of their amazing history.
Contact Sonja Herbert here! | 
