Photo: Eastside Galleries
Arriving at the airport in Berlin, we immediately spotted a kiosk where we could purchase multi-day tickets to Berlin’s transportation system – its trains, subways, and buses. If you know the board game, Ticket to Ride, it’s like that, but in real time. Immediately, it felt so different from Dublin. More organized, less personal.
I needed to check myself: was this a cultural bias I was bringing to my experience or was this a legitimate observation on my part?
We bought our transport tickets and walked to the first train stop. No money changed hands on the train, or over the course of the next five days. Without any fuss we soon found ourselves at the Kurfürstendamm stop, about 500 feet from the entrance to our hotel. Once inside we were greeted with a glass of champagne and given a thoroughly efficient orientation to the city.
There was so much we wanted to see and learn about Berlin , the Museum Island complex and the Pergamon museum (home to the Pergamon Altar, a 371 foot long sculptural frieze depicting the struggle of the Olympian gods and the giants)– Checkpoint Charlie, the Stasi Museum (where the former headquarters of East Germany’s political system remains as a snapshot of that time), the Eastside Galleries (created when the wall came down in 1989, and which now endure with protected memorial status. It is the longest open-air gallery in the world).
Pretty immediately we discovered that the Pergamon museum was closed for extensive renovation and not expected to reopen for 14 to 20 years(!). However, as a result of the huge demand to see the frieze, a temporary four-story building was built to house a 360° re-creation of the frieze and the city as it was in about 197-156 BCE when the frieze was created. Being immersed in Pergamon thousands of years ago was mind-bending.
That was just the beginning of our time in Berlin. There was so much to still see! Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the Stasi Museum, the Holocaust Museum and Memorial, and the Eastside Galleries. AND the Christmas markets were just opening, so we immersed ourselves in the foods, the music, and the revelry they offered!
Dublin, of course, has its own complicated religious and political history, but somehow the dominant feeling of that Irish city was optimistic and upbeat. In contrast, Berlin’s mood was more serious. We found people to be welcoming and engaging, but not jovial. There was beauty and amazing artifacts for sure, and the Christmas Markets were filled with lovely crafts, inspiring music, and food aplenty. But somehow the emotions seemed tied to objects and experiences, whereas in Dublin the experiences seemed to be created by people and from their emotions.
The stark architecture of East Berlin is a constant and dominant reminder of its history. At the nearby Brandenburg Gate, protesters expressed their dismay about current politics and autocracies. And only feet away was the harsh and moving Holocaust Memorial containing nearly 5 acres of eerie concrete slabs, and an underground Museum dedicated to remembrance of the murdered Jews of Europe. It was impossible to stand in that space and not see its congruity with our time, and with times not so recently passed.
As for cultural bias, having grown up with parents who had WWII firmly etched in their minds, I’m sure I brought bias and expectations with me to Germany. I also think I was able to see and hear the lessons learned and readily articulated by Berliners. Appreciating the differences were important components of what I saw, felt, and came to understand.
