Moscow Times. 21 January 2002. Wall Still Standing in Berlin.
A recent issue of a glossy women's magazine invites its readers to visit Berlin. The readership is informed that since the fall of the Berlin Wall, which divided the city, everything has been going swimmingly. "The two Berlins are gradually growing together, the invisible scar is mending and the architectural countenance of unified Germany's capital is becoming harmonious in its integrity." In short, things could not be better. It's a great pity that the population of Berlin has a very different point of view. Local elections resulted in defeat for both of the city's main ruling parties, with the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats losing considerable ground. Moreover, the vote was not just against certain parties, it was also a vote against 10 years of East Berlin being ruled by West Berlin. East Berlin essentially revolted against its Western half. The former capital of the German Democratic Republic voted for the Party of Democratic Socialism, successor to the former Communist Party. Once, the eastern part of the city was proudly named "Berlin -- capital of the GDR." Now the slogan is: "Berlin -- capital of the PDS." Germany's capital is bankrupt. That, in any case, is what Berliners seem to think. The city has debts amounting to 900 million euros, there is no money in the municipal coffers, the streets -- uncharacteristically for Germany -- are rather dirty and municipal transport expensive. But strangely none of this detracts from the city's charm. The atmosphere of 1920s Europe is ubiquitous. Since the fall of the Wall, it has become clear that East and West Berlin, although living side-by-side, lead separate existences. Each has developed its own culture, lifestyle and politics. What's unique about the German capital is that these two distinct cities share the same territory. Mental walls separate the two no less firmly than concrete walls did before. East Berlin is poorer, tougher, more disciplined and harbors more grievances. West Berlin is a strange melange of bourgeois, radical left-wingers and immigrants. In the Kreuzberg district you rarely hear anything but Turkish spoken. In Pankow you can feel the presence of old Prussia. [N.B.] Also young people can be seen proudly wear t-shirts with the inscription "Born in the GDR," although they look as though they had barely entered school when the GDR ceased to exist. Another city has arisen of late. It is a city of bureaucrats located in the middle between East and West -- where the Wall once ran. Federal bureaucrats moving from Bonn have been settled here. There seems to be very little interaction between these bureaucrats and the locals. Today, East and West are attempting a kind of second unification. PDS politicians have been offered positions in the city government and party founder Gregor Gysi is to become economy minister (although considering the state of the city's finances, one can only sympathize with his situation). In the coalition agreement, the PDS officially apologizes for the building of the Berlin Wall and for the forceable merging of the Social Democratic Party with the Communist Party in the 1940s. East Berliners snidely comment that their Western colleagues, in turn, should apologize for the mess that they have caused in the eastern part of the city over the past 10 years. Also, residents of the SchÚnefeld district discovered to their disgust that the PDS had forgotten about its promise to oppose the construction of a new airport there. It's not much fun living next to an airstrip. In a conversation with a PDS functionary, however, I got the impression that with the airport they would resort to bureaucratic sabotage, a tried and tested tactic from Communist times. Without actually saying no to the construction, they can start setting up commissions etc. to prevent the project from making any headway. At the symbolic level, the PDS' accession to power in Berlin marks the beginning of the long-awaited equality between the East and West of the country. In the press there is already talk of a possible national coalition between the PDS and Social Democrats. PDS politicians are happy to have achieved respectability. However, genuine integration depends not on political coalitions, but on investments into the economy and social sphere of the East. If PDS ministers do not ensure this, they will resolve only their personal problems and certainly not the problems of Germany's capital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Back_in_the_CCCP
