The division of
BERLIN into
zones of occupation in 1945,
although seemingly arbitrary,
followed exisiting local government
boundaries, and the dual profile
which emerged was by no means solely
a product of the Cold War. In his
famous interwar collection of short
stories,
Goodbye to Berlin ,
Christopher Isherwood wrote:
Berlin is a city with two
centres - the cluster of expensive
hotels, bars, cinemas, shops around
the Memorial Church, a sparkling
nucleus of light, like a sham
diamond, in the shabby twilight of
the town; and the self-conscious
civic centre of buildings around the
Unter den Linden, carefully arranged
.
The latter, the political and
cultural core of the Imperial German
capital, duly became the heart of
East Berlin and of the GDR, while
the former quickly adapted itself to
the makeshift role of city centre.
Because of the decades of division,
the reunited city found itself with
two of almost everything, but the
rationalization process has already
reduced the duplication quite
markedly, and will eliminate it
almost entirely over the course of
the next decade.
Although never a conventionally
beautiful city, Berlin has much fine
architecture, as well as an
extraordinary spread of museums
which collectively rank among the
very richest on the planet. It also
has a wide range of bars and restaurants
, a vibrant nightlife and
strong traditions in the performing
arts . Because it occupies a
vast geographical area, one
interrupted by a plethora of parks,
forests and lakes, Berlin is not a
place that is appreciated easily or
quickly.
