intro: then/now/ in-between

The title picture isn't just random abstract figures hanging from some ceiling. It does relate to the topic: I took it in the fall of 2005 at the Berlin Philharmonic (a really cool building designed by Hans Scharoun and built between 1956 and 1963). The Philharmonic is right off Potsdamer Platz, which, at the time, marked one of the many areas of the city directly in sight of The Wall. West Berlin went forward with this truly unique design because of its favorably central and highly-visible location. The architectural landscape provided yet another arena for the East v. West conflict, and the West placed a terribly high importance on visibility, aesthetics, function, and generally outdoing the East in every imaginable way. To this day, Scharoun's keen acoustic engineering (along with a world-class orchesta) provides one of the most invigorating and layered live music experiences in the world.

A quintessential film every German Studies major has seen (along with Metroplis) at least three times, Berlin: Die Sinfonie einer Grossstadt (1927), provides a solid image of pre-WWII Berlin. Some really love the score, I find it rather irritating, but so it goes.

Although a new version of Sinfonie was made, I preferred to include Berlin Babylon (2001) because it so accurately depicts a reunified Berlin in a frenzy of construction (some of which continues to this day). The grit appealed to me, because Berlin IS gritty. If you want intact imperialism, try Vienna.

As alluded to in the first paragraph of this entry, the East and West viewed post-war reconstruction very differently, and although this architecture/time-period/cultural history is not the focus of my project, I think it's absolutely important to understanding why Berlin is what it is today. From the kitschy Eastern Ampelmaennchen (traffic light men - the East and West had two different styles and, after reunification, the Western versions were supposed to replace their stockier Eastern counterparts, but the plan was thwarted due to protests from both sides. The short, expressive, 2-D traffic men of the East were just too unique to be eradicated) to the different architectural styles that still litter the city, the relics of division remain as alive as ever.