Esra Aygin
BERLIN - I tearfully
stand before the weathered remains of what used to be the mighty Berlin Wall –
a wall that ripped a city apart for decades, tyrannized a nation and caused indescribable
suffering and pain. Three large red letters printed on the shabby wall strike
me, and in an instant, summarize all my thoughts in one word – WHY
Twenty-five
years into the reunification, Berlin has transformed from a divided city into a
united, vibrant, cosmopolitan capital. The area that used to be the hollow,
soulless no-mans land along the wall is now bustling with modern buildings,
cafes and shops in utter demonstration of the senselessness and artificiality
of all divisions. Two independent cities of Berlin - with the west a symbol of
the fight against communism, and the east, a capital of the communist system - have
come together to find a new common identity.
Earlier
this month, millions of Germans, from east, west, south and north, celebrated
the 25th anniversary of the reunification of their country - widely
defined as a ‘success story.’ A poll published by the newspaper Deutsche Welle,
conducted among more than 1,000 Germans aged 18 and older about their
attitude to unification, shows
that west or east no longer shape people's identity in Germany and a feeling of
unity prevails particular among the youth. Seventy-three per cent think the reunification
of Germany has been an overall success. At the same time, 67 per cent believe
it has not been completed yet.
Eberhard
Diepgen - the man, who achieved what
seemed to be impossible and literally reunited the city of Berlin as its
governing mayor from 1991 till 2001, agrees with the results of the poll.
“Reunification
is definitely a success story,” the veteran politician told a group of
international journalists, who were in Germany to cover the 25th
anniversary celebrations. “The division has largely been overcome and Germany
today is much more unified than Spain or Belgium. But is it ever possible to complete a process
of reunification? Reunification is a mentality; it is a way of socialisation,
of social organisation. And it continues.”
After Berlin’s first election as a whole in 1991, Diepgen, who hails from the
centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), took office as mayor and was
faced with the challenge of physically reuniting effectively two independent
cities. Talking about his vast
experience, he said that the biggest challenge in overcoming the division was
not the physical work that needed to be done, but the reconciliation of the
people.
“When I
came to my office, I had the thought that ‘we are all Berliners’ and therefore
everything would be smooth and easy. I had to learn that it was not so
difficult to bring together infrastructure, the administration, or to build a
new system, but it was much more difficult to bring together the mentalities, the
people,” he told us. “The mentalities of people become very different after a
division of 40 years.”
As a result
of the difference between the people, who had been exposed to different
experiences; values; education systems; political, social and administrative processes
for decades, the smallest of financial decisions could escalate into
contentious, emotional questions of division, Diepgen said, giving an advise: “Political
considerations should take precedence over economic concerns to provide for
social peace and calm. As long as you can dig into your pockets, do it and
leave aside economic considerations. Make the spending if it is going make
people feel more comfortable. Don’t stop projects. Because these are not
considered as questions of economic rationale that they are, but they become a
question of people’s feelings. You must keep a very fine a balance.”
One of the
first things Diepgen did after taking office, for example, was to move the
municipality building from former west to the centre of the city, to ‘symbolise
that Berlin is not governed by the west or from the west, but from the centre.’
Quarter of
a century into reunification, besides the economic, social and political
transformation, Berlin today is also going through a huge change
architecturally. The city resembles a huge construction site with cranes
operating on hundreds of new buildings, renovations and restorations.
Diepgen rightfully
takes pride in the incredible transformation of Berlin, which involved
difficult and, at times, controversial decisions.
“I was
criticised for keeping some of the members of the system in the former east
Germany in state positions,” the former mayor said. “Police for example. Police
was a part of the Communist Party. What do you do? Do you fire all? Or
teachers… Maybe not all were members of the Communist Party, but all were close
to the system. Do you fire all? If all leading positions were occupied by west
Germans, this would be a complete takeover, not unification. It isn’t possible
to push aside a system, which has been around for more than 40 years.”
The now
74-year-old Diepgen, who lived in west Berlin all his life and always “dreamt
of a city without borders, walls or checkpoints” before reunification, is
living his dream. The Berlin wall is no longer the overpowering scene of
the city, but has been reduced to small sections kept as a collective memorial,
a symbolic line on the side of an asphalt road, or pieces of concrete sold as
souvenirs. And Checkpoint Charlie - the famous Berlin Wall crossing point that
had come to symbolize the Cold War, now merely exists as an attraction for
millions of tourists each year, who form queues to take pictures with the young
man dressed as an American soldier guarding the border.
No comments:
Post a Comment