Danke, schön Berlin

I

Unequivocally there is no city on earth quite like it. Soaked in history, ravaged by men, regenerated by locals and intelligentsia alike, there are layers upon layers yet voids are present. Berlin is city that is paradigmatic of our time and yet it is timeless.

It has been continuously destroyed then reborn i.e the Thirty Years War in the 17^th Century, WWI, WW2 and of course, it was literally split in half during the Cold War.  Yet at every stage of its development, Berlin has reflected the zeitgeist of the age.  For instance Karl-Marx Allee (formerly Stalinallee) in East Berlin exemplified Stalinist socialism whilst the alternative contemporary development, the Hansaviertel in West Germany, reflected western ideals of a capitalist democracy.

Pilotis on an apartment building by Oscar Niemeyer, Hansaviertel for the Interbau 1957

David Chipperfield’s Neus Museum, a ‘complimentary restoration’, signifies the delicate state Berlin found itself in after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. Chipperfield achieves a bare, stripped down elegance that pays heed to the original Museum before it was part destroyed and yet heralds the best of contemporary modernism. It is truthful. Vitally, it does not shy away from Berlin’s history.

Bullet holes and damaged walls are pointedly left by David Chipperfield in the Neus Museum 

My memory of my last trip to Berlin is a tad cliché. I cycled underneath the new Bundestag with a friend; the aquamarine blue of the glass reflected just so it hit the incoming rays of the glorious sun and I had an overwhelming feeling of being in Utopia. Funnily enough, my friend then echoed my thoughts aloud. Of course it is intrinsically a mistake to try and pin point Utopia. Nevertheless, Berlin is an example of how Utopia as a guideline, rather than an aim, can signal the best in architecture and design – as it does with it’s new government buildings, Foster’s Reichstag dome and some fragments of the International Building Exhibition (IBA: 1979-1987) that are dotted over the city.

Part of an internal courtyard of an IBA Apartment Building (1982-84) on Fraenkelufer, Kreuzberg by Hinrich and Inken Baller - I managed to loose most of my photos but click here for a superb blog, with photos, on the spectacular array of architecture in Berlin.

II

This time I reflected on what people often say about Berlin, particularly those who profess not to like the city.

“It’s not a pretty city.”

In many ways its not and I used to agree with them. I have whole-heartedly changed my mind. Walk away from the capitalism that has plonked itself down in Potsdammer platz and walk towards Alexanderplatz for a authentic east commie feel, or towards the Neus Museum on the canal for a taste of glory, head up to the Hansaviertel where modernist gems are planted across green estates, or storm down the Karl-Marx-Allee which will impose itself on you like only Stalinist architecture could. Take a cycle ride across the Tiergarten or journey out to one of Berlin’s surrounding lakes; don’t miss one of the most beautifully poignant and witty memorials in the world by Micha Ullman in Bebelplatz. Visit the trendy areas of Kreuzberg or Neukölln and get yourself a kebab from the Turkish community or hang out with the hipsters Heinrich’s.  All these are beautiful sites/sights.  I defy anyone to walk past Hans Scharoun’s masterpiece, the Phillarmonie, in the Kulturforum – especially at night – and say Berlin is not a pretty city.

View towards Alexanderplatz

The Philharmonie at Night

Berlin is beautiful. Granted it is not always aesthetically beautiful in the same way as Paris or Barcelona…but if what wise men say is true, that beauty is only skin deep, then Berlin is surely one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Berlin has a soul unlike any other city. It has been through more than most and for that reason alone can offer more than most. All this and it contains some of the world’s best museums, art and music. If you don’t like Berlin or think it beautiful, perhaps you just don’t understand it.