Berlin

Seeing the city of Berlin was absolutely amazing. There is a history to the country of Germany that is far deeper than many modern American’s understand and realize. If there is any place that is a testimony of the vast sociological and political change that has taken place in the past century, it is the city of Berlin. The city played a central role during World War II, and is evidence of all of the political influence and change that happened during and after the war. We had an opportunity to visit the Berlin Wall, which is one of the most telling things about the city.

The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 after the war. The city of Berlin was divided amongst the allies, with the Soviets making up East Berlin, and the U.S., British and French making up West Berlin.

Because the Soviets had lost considerably more soldiers in the war, it was in their vested interest to destroy the German state and rebuild it from the ground up. There was a growing rift between the Soviets and the allied forces because of their divided interests concerning what to do with Germany. It is at this time that the United States made a distinctive move to try and preserve the city of Berlin and the German state. From 1948 until 1949, President Truman instituted the Berlin Airlift, which supplied food and other supplies to those in East Berlin under the hostile guard of the soviets. The increase in tension led to the building of the wall, which served as a barrier between the two sectors of Berlin.

The Cold War was essentially a relatively unspoken uncertainty based off of the disagreements with the communist Soviet Union and the United States. After the Cold War ended in 1989, the wall was taken down. The city hired artists to paint the wall in 1991.

After the Cold War ended, the German reunification united Germany again into a single state. For the first time since 1945, the German people were restored from their cultural bankruptcy and given back their national pride. Nothing speaks more clearly of this than the Reichstag building in the heart of the city.

This is the parliament building of the government, which was mysteriously burned down in 1933. Hitler used this catastrophe to gain power, and the German society was moved towards a socialist state. After the Cold War ended, the Reichstag building was completely restored. The new architecture of the building speaks volumes of cultural change and redemption. One can notice that the building now is now lined with windows, which signify the transparency that the parliament seeks now to represent. What a contrast from the previous ideologies that ruled the country behind closed doors. A glass dome can be seen on the top of the building. This also signifies the government’s transparency, but also the power of the individual in influence over the government. One can see tourists walking inside the dome, and it is meant to signify that the individual now stands above the government. Germany has been freed from the wicked rule of a socialist dictatorship to a unified democracy. Notice the three flags that were flying just outside the Reichstag building.

What an amazing center of cultural change! This is a city that 25 years ago was racked with communist oppression and deprived of its cultural dignity. Now the city is completely changed. The German people have found their German identity here, and have reclaimed what was robbed them by 50 years of war and political carnage. This place is a testimony of redemption, and the power that within a society to find unification. It is the rediscovering of the rights of the individual, and the value of human life. Imagine what would have happened if Truman had conceded to the Soviet’s wishes. Imagine if this place was leveled to the ground and the society of the German people was utterly destroyed. Instead this city has been given the freedom to learn from its mistakes, and make its 

own strides towards change and redemption. It is magnificent empowerment.

Now at the heart of the city lies a holocaust memorial, dedicated to all those lost in the brutalities that occurred here during the war. This memorial is at the heart of the city, signifying it’s importance to the German people. 

This is an illustration that this country has resolved to acknowledge their history, and in that to progress towards the bright hope of the future.