There is just no getting away from it. You skirt round it for hours, the elephant in the room that no-one mentions a la Fawlty, but it's there all right - looming and menacing.
But sooner or later for the visitor to Berlin ” whether first time or veteran ” the omnipresent topic of history rears up. And once the dam is broken, well, you just can”t stop talking about it.
This is perhaps mostly true for visiting Brits. One Berlin Tourism officer said the British ” one of the German capital”s largest visiting contingents - couldn”t get enough of it and with just about every old building pulsing with historical resonance, it”s easy to understand why.
Sure, they”ll tell you about Berlin”s legendary nightlife, its legacy of Bohemian decadence that set and sets it apart from other, mostly conservative German cities, but this place, almost like no other in Europe with perhaps the exception of Moscow, has layer upon layer of legacy that will not go away.
Maybe this has to do with thinking like an Englander and that according to some Germans, ”you British are still living in WWII,” with endless war films and references to Germany, sporting or otherwise.
But come on; a city that in the course of the last 70 years has managed to unleash global conflict and then retrench into the communist world”s hardest enforcer, can”t just be appreciated for its magnificent parks and lakes (true) and extraordinary modern architecture (also true).
I first went to Berlin just before New Year in 1989. In a mad moment ” drink had been taken ” a group of fellow students and I decided to celebrate the imminent dawn of the nineties by piling into a minibus and driving from the UK to the German capital.
At the time hundreds of thousands of East Germans were driving in wheezing trabants through Hungary and Austria to the west and liberation from the stasi yoke, as a mistaken comment from the Communist politburo gave the green light.
The wall hadn”t yet fallen and I remember ” after a rather fraught journey across one of the only three crossing points allowed in East Germany from the west and negotiating the surly Berlin border guards - eventually being hauled up on the Brandenburg Gate bit of the wall by delirious Germans, with a backdrop of a million fireworks lighting up the sky. And it led to the British newspaper headline just a few weeks later as the wall finally came down that I still remember: ”So ein tag, so ein wunderbar tag.”
The Brandenburg Tor is still there of course ” it has become iconic shorthand for the city and will form the name of the new airport when it eventually transfers to Schonefeld from Tegel.
Precious little remains of the wall now ” successive waves of Germans and tourists have all chipped away at their bit of history, but certain sections precariously remain. I remember laughing on my previous student visit at the guide on the East German side motioning towards the pristine white of the wall in his sector and boldly declaring that: ”This wall has kept the peace in Europe for 25 years.”
And yet he was right, although that truth was bought at a terrible price for the ”Ostis”. Now of course, the visitor criss-crosses the former frontier with barely a remark, although it is particularly sobering to remember that there were 272 watchtowers straddling the city borders and whose lethal occupants killed so many ” 239 - attempting to flee.
Unfortunately the famous Checkpoint Charlie has been turned into something of a tourist circus replete with garish souvenir shops, but a far more enlightening stop should be at the ”Topography of Terror” area ” a work-in-progress memorial to the horrors of WWII lived through the citizens of Berlin.
And that”s the thing about this city. One minute, you”re reliving the crushing totalitarianism of East Germany, the next trying to imagine the mind-numbing brutality of what went on in the streets between Prinz-Albrecht and Anhalter Strasse.
This was the government district, but a government composed of the Secret State Police and the Gestapo prison, the SS offices and the Reich Security main office, among other instruments of terror. It”s a sobering tour.
Architecturally, the capital is an amazing kaleidoscope of new and old, but thankfully, unlike so many ”modern” structures, Berlin has managed to combine some truly breathtaking buildings in harmony with the old. Er, apart from Potsdamer Platz.
Berliners will proudly talk about Potsdamer, but frankly I found it to be a vast collection of accountancy firms” headquarters, interspersed with shops and restaurants. Maybe that”s harsh, but there are plenty of other terrific buildings that you will simply see from a coach tour (recommended ” Berlin does not suffer from traffic blight) or on foot.
Berlin”s not short of places to stay, but its popularity as a meetings and conference destination means that it might be worth checking with the Tourist Office before you go. One extremely central venue however, is the Rocco Forte-owned Hotel de Rome, right opposite the Opera House and within walking distance of some magnificent old architecture.
The Hotel itself is a former Dresdner bank, whose spa features some gigantic safe doors from former times and whose magnificent ballroom (see picture) seats a generous 120 in some opulence.
You can tell there”s a Rocco touch to the enormous rooms too ” plush but not overstated ” they provide a touch of luxury if the visitor is in need of some pampering. The food is of an extremely high standard, while the back bar in the more informal lounge has a genuinely impressive array of top brands.
And for those of an artistic bent, the city offers a plethora of museums ” 170 ” including the Pergamon (Pergamon Altar), Berlin Wall Museum, Jewish Museum Berlin and Hamburger Bahnhof among many, many others. There”s even a DDR museum featuring the famous ”Trabbis.”
It”s fair to say that I thought Berlin was one of the most terrific places I have been. It has just got everything ” but without the vast crowds that throng London or Paris. And now that Lufthansa has started its twice-daily London City Airport flights, even more Brits can make Berlin in just 1h30min.
The city reverberates to the pulse of history and is simply one of the most vibrant places in Europe. Last year”s World Cup placed Berlin and Germany back on the map ” most definitely worth a long weekend.
www.visitBerlin.de
www.roccofortecollection.com
Hotel de Rome. Tel: +49 30 460 60 90
Hotels/tickets/information. Tel: +49 30 25 00 25
Lufthansa's new flights can be booked online at www.lufthansa.com. One way fares in Economy Class start from £45, while return fares will be available from £79 (all including taxes and charges). Business Class return fares start at £729 (including taxes and charges).
BTM ” the Berlin Tourist Information
Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH
reservation and information +49-30 / 25 00 25
internet: www.visitBerlin.de