Berlin…I am not sure how I forgot Berlin’s place in history. I think it was mainly because everyone I spoke to before I visited, talked about how young, vibrant and exciting Berlin was. The tech hub that attracted creative tech savvy people, home to many startups. I was fortunate enough to visit in Autumn (I still call it Autumn as opposed to Fall, not for any other reason except whenever I call it Fall it sounds strange and so unlike me).
Part of my trip included a stop at the infamous CheckPoint Charlie and the remnants of the Berlin Wall. Despite the hoards of tourists, it felt like I had been transported back to the 1960s, especially at CheckPoint Charlie with two men dressed as crossing guards and black and white images all around the area. That wasn’t what affected me the most, it was a little further up, the remnants of the fallen Berlin Wall (I hope you can see the plaque in the picture I posted). I sat down for a few minutes remembering all the history classes and trying to imagine living on either side of that Wall. What would life have been like living in the East with the Soviet influence? Would I have felt a desperate need to cross the Wall and live in the West with all the stories of a better future and better opportunities? What about living in the West, separated from family that lived in the East? Would we be able to communicate? Would the communications be monitored? How easy was it to see each other if at all?
I still can’t get over how this was part of Germany’s history: divided by a Wall. I know that to this day some people still speak about the differences between the West and the East despite the reunification in 1989. I always wonder what life was like then and how as human beings we erected a physical barrier that had long term economic and social effects on people depending on which side you ended up on. I know essentially that is the idea behind borders of countries but it still makes you wonder. We are all the same, but physical barriers sometimes change everything. That day in Berlin made me feel incredibly sad, knowing full well that no history textbook would ever be able to explain how life was, how it felt having forms of identification checked at CheckPoint Charlie, the anxieties and emotions. I don’t know if I will ever go back, but I am glad it was part of my Berlin trip and a chance to catch a glimpse of a different time in history.
