West Berlin, May 23, 1970
The Schizophrenia of the Divided City
What remains hidden to the outside world, cannot delude the visitor to Berlin as to the absurd living situation of the city. Since there have been no changes in the status of Berlin, the absurdities have only increased and outdone each other. Next to the steel and glass constructions of modem architecture, the ruins of burned-out houses still loom ghostlike from bomb craters that are rampantly overgrown with weeds. Until the entire rubble left over from World War II will be removed, decades still may pass. West Berlin, which in fact can only be reached by air, lies as an enclave deep in East German territory.
West Berlin is being used for window dressing of the West. It is also being rebuilt as capital of a united Germany, although no signs of a possible unification are in sight. As show case for the West, it is not convincing. The imposed modernism, wherever it may come from, gives a wrong impression of the West. Next to the display of affluence, one can see at every turn poverty, human misery, and apathetic hopelessness. Although West Berlin should be a model of the free West, it has become the worst breeding ground for left-wing radical anarchy. No wonder that the absurd theater is thriving here.
The national schizophrenia also expresses itself in the idea of rebuilding West Berlin as capital. Either side of the divided city has set acts of defiance, what only deepens the division instead of overcoming it. Connections over the Wall are virtually non-existent. It would be easier from here to call San Francisco on the phone than East Berlin. Cultural institutions are doubled step by step. Humboldt University in the East is the opposite of the Free University Berlin in the West. Next to the Deutsche Staatsoper unter den Linden in the East, the Deutsche Oper was built in the West. The Reichstagsgebäude in West Berlin is being renovated as future German Parliament. The high-rise office building of the Springer Publishing House stands provocatively close to the Wall. The observation platform on the top floor offers the best panoramic view of East Berlin. The Communist regime on its part erected the high Television and Observation Tower on Alexanderplatz, which allows catching a glimpse of West Berlin.
Despite all the hardships and political conflict, Berlin remains a fascinating city. Who would like to miss a stroll along the Kurfürstendamm and to enjoy a cup of coffee with Streuselkuchen at the Kranzler’s, the famous coffee shop? In the Deutsche Oper, my wife and I saw a brilliant performance of Salome by Richard Strauss.
If the political situation would not be so deadly serious, one could regard the Wall, which is already growing rusty, as a relict of the past. But one will only get rid of a certain tension and fearful shudder when one will land again on the other part of the world. One must have seen Berlin to understand the abysmal partition that divides one Germany from the other. One has to admire the patience and courage by which the people of this encircled city are holding out despite all the adversities.
[In July 1970 my family and I drove by car through Switzerland to the Lake of Geneva or Lac Léman, and from there over the Great St. Bernard Pass to Aosta, and on via Torino and Bologna to the Adriatic sea-shore near Cervia where we spent our summer vacation.]