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A city on the cutting-edge, Berlin has often been in the spotlight on the world stage over the past 100 years. This a city constantly developing and changing. Sure, the Wall isn't there any more, but Berlin is still very much divided: in the centre of the city, there's a stark contrast from the wealthy glitz of the west to newly developed central east Berlin. This area was quickly colonised by the trendy café-bar set in the early 1990s and swift rebuilding has erased nearly all trace of the wall. It's the suburbs of East Berlin with their grey and decaying apartment blocks, cardboard cars and lack of that make it apparent that the Wall was up to protect a utilitarian East from a decadent West.
Before it came down, the Wall was the most enduring icon of a nation's disharmony. But it's not as if the city hadn't seen it all before. From the civic turmoil of the Thirty Years War, to the devastating impact of the fire-bombing during WWII, Berlin has constantly been under siege or in a post-siege regeneration phase. Even in times of immense turmoil the Berliners have continued to live it up. This is the city where cabaret and techno were born. There's an edgy out-there quality to the nightlife - think Sally Bowles and her divine decadence through to the contemporary cool of Blixa Bargeld and Nick Cave's tortured noise poetry - that is both intimidating and exciting. Whichever way you spell it, Berlin means groove.
ATTRACTIONS
Brandenburg Gate
One of Berlin's most photographed sites, the Brandenburg Gate was once the boundary between East and West Berlin. The Wall came down in 1989 and the gate became the very epitome of German reunification
Checkpoint Charlie Museum
Checkpoint Charlie, the pre-fabricated monitoring tower that the Allies hoisted into position after the erection of the Berlin Wall, was a potent symbol of the Cold War.
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche
This church is one of Berlin's most famous historic landmarks. It was bombed by the British in late 1943 in a fierce raid that left only the broken west tower standing.
Kulturforum
For a variety of art and culture head to Kulturforum. |
