Berlin Buzz: From Battle Scars to Currywurst Cravings, City’s Allure Endures
BERLIN – A recent return visit to Berlin has sparked renewed discussion about the city’s uniquely compelling, if often contradictory, character. While acknowledging its gritty realities – the cold, the gray, the pervasive smell – one traveler recounts a powerful pull back to the german capital, fueled by a surprising combination of nicotine, street food, and a deep resonance with the city’s layered history.
The author’s observations paint a vivid picture of a city constantly negotiating its past and present. Landmarks like the library housing a plaque bearing Heinrich Heine’s prophetic 1820 warning – “That was only a prelude; where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people” – stand in stark contrast to modern developments. The report details the juxtaposition of a Just Eat driver smoking under a Yorckstraße bridge marked by bullet holes from the Battle of Berlin,a mime performing near the Reichstag (where Hitler delivered his speech on the annihilation of the Jewish race),and the visual divide between East and West Berlin’s street lighting.
The author highlights the transformation of brutalist structures like the Reichsbahnbunker Friedrichstraße – once a Nazi air-raid shelter and Red Army prisoner-of-war camp, now the Boros Collection of contemporary art – and the imposing presence of the ‘upper West’ skyscraper overlooking the skeletal remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Breitscheidplatz.
“It’s a Marmite city,” the traveler writes, echoing a common sentiment.”You either get it or you don’t. And I don’t judge you for not getting it.”
A recent couples holiday, seven years after a previous visit, prompted a meticulously planned itinerary including Sanssouci Park, a Cold War bunker tour (where guides reportedly quipped, “having a nuclear bomb dropped on your head would not be super chill, guys.Let me tell you, that’s a bad way to start your monday.”), and memorials to the murdered Jews and Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism. The trip also included explorations of Kreuzberg and Neukölln’s dive bars, complete with mystery vending machines selling unclaimed Amazon items for €10, and the DDR museum, offering a glimpse into life in 1970s East Berlin.
Despite acknowledging Berlin’s shortcomings - “It’s cold. It’s grey. It’s bleak. It smells. The food is mediocre” – the author confesses an “undeniable soft spot” for the city. While admitting it’s not the “greatest city on earth,” or even in Europe, the allure remains. The author playfully suggests the appeal might be anonymity or, perhaps, the ubiquitous currywurst, but ultimately admits the reason is “ineffable.”
Concluding with a nod to marlene Dietrich’s iconic line, “Ich hab’ noch einen Koffer in Berlin,” the author vows to return sooner than seven years, symbolically keeping “a suitcase in Berlin” for future visits. The experience underscores Berlin’s enduring power to captivate, even – and perhaps especially – those who recognize its imperfections.
