Berlin is in all senses of the word modern. It is a city going forward, a metropolis of the future despite its overpowering past. New construction work is everywhere and the city is replete with contemporary Steel and glass skyscrapers and renovated buildings and façades. Formerly dour areas in the old DDR sections of the city are now trendy cosmopolitan areas with fashionable bars and restaurants. The city is finally healing after 70 years of strife beginning in WW2, and throughout the Cold War.
The past, of course, lives on with the difference in 'Green Men' at traffic lights, streets with names like 'Karl Marx Allee' (formerly Stalinallee). The DDR's Fernsehturm is visible throughout the city, a stark reminder of the old regime's grand and flawed vision.
A symbol of the transcendence of this past in the dome of the Reichstag, a building familiar to any student of 20th century for its association with the 2nd & 3rd Reichs. A British architect was behind the transformation, moving the building beyond the 20th century not in architectural terms (though it is impressive) but in cultural and historic terms with the glass dome more striking and memorable than the buildings past, something that would have seemed impossible before 1990.
Berlin is the largest and capital city of Germany, so it is appropriate that it is a fast moving city. It's hustle and bustle is not rooted in big commerce & business, as in London, something that has stayed in the west in cities like Frankfurt, or through self importance like Paris. It is cultural, as something IS happening somewhere. Something very interesting. An exhibition, new sculptures, a gallery, new music, new squats.... It is something that has been in the city for some time, since at least the 1920s if not before. David Bowie's 3 best albums were a response to Berlin, "the Berlin trilogy" of Low, Heroes & Lodger. In the 1920s Berlin was the centre for European film and now the city hosts an eminent film festival.
This creativity is something that is not associated with Germany by the English as a whole. England is a country where Germany cannot escape association with the war, efficiency and the image of moustachioed men suffering from mullets drinking hearty glasses of bier. This attitude is unfair and outdated, but more to do with English insularity than anything else.
Berlin doesn't care and nor should it. It has something vital and passionate, something any English city should be jealous of, and many wish they had. Manchester thinks it is creative and interesting. Berlin is. Manchester reinvented itself once, in the late 1990s and lost whatever gave it soul, and gained a new shopping centre and over priced yuppie district. Berlin has reinvented itself 5 times in less than a 100 years, gaining each time a new dynamism and character.
The city has much to offer visitors. Berliners are friendly and many speak English, especially in "die Mitte". The museums are world class, cheap and extensive. The Jewish Museum is a wonder, almost worth a visit in and off itself such is its depth and breadth. Here in one building, Germany deals with its past in public, with sensitivity and grace, omitting nothing and creating a narrative stretching back to the 12th century. There is in fact a small island inthe River Spree, called "Museuminsel" (Museum Island) covered with museums. Onecould visit for a month and still have plenty to go round.
Berlin is blessed with numerous bars, serving fantastic beer at low prices. It really does make your average crappy English lager look like piss (there are many high quality English beers but they often aren't served in pubs/bars, at least not round our way). Germany seems to not have as much problems with booze, with revellers drinking happily on the street bothering no one. The one time on my visits to Germany that there has been trouble drinking was caused byan English squaddie in Paderbonn.
Traditional German food involves hearty chunks of meat, with lashings of potatoes and cabbage. This has not changed much, but this food does go well with large amounts of Pils. They have a natural affinity and this excellent combination can be had in Berlin all over town. As a major city there are many fine restaurants of many different cuisines, but to be fair Berlin is not a gastronomic destination unless you have a love affair with stodge. Culturally and historically it is a major destination. It is an amazingly interesting city.
