Berlin

Fülszöveg

Berlin is a surprising city. Through l'orce of political circumstance, the greater part of it has no hinterland, so people who have never been there imagine a steel and concrete jungle, all soulless modern buildings and úrban congestion. In fact, Berlin's many-faceted personality is much more varied than that. It has the busy, confident air of a cosmopolitan metropolis, but the peace and quiet its beauty spots can oll'er are far more than mere oases in the úrban spravvl. Over a third of Berlin is parkland or waterway, the forests which fringe the city to the west are extraordinarily quiet and their air sparklingly fresh, and the rivers with their attendant lakes that water the city olTer sun, sand and delightful recreational facilities to all Berliners. Berlin can extend the same uncomplicated. jovial. beermugin-hand welcome to its visitors that many think of as typically Germán, but it can alsó produce a more sophisticated approach, based on the knowledge that its cultural... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Berlin is a surprising city. Through l'orce of political circumstance, the greater part of it has no hinterland, so people who have never been there imagine a steel and concrete jungle, all soulless modern buildings and úrban congestion. In fact, Berlin's many-faceted personality is much more varied than that. It has the busy, confident air of a cosmopolitan metropolis, but the peace and quiet its beauty spots can oll'er are far more than mere oases in the úrban spravvl. Over a third of Berlin is parkland or waterway, the forests which fringe the city to the west are extraordinarily quiet and their air sparklingly fresh, and the rivers with their attendant lakes that water the city olTer sun, sand and delightful recreational facilities to all Berliners. Berlin can extend the same uncomplicated. jovial. beermugin-hand welcome to its visitors that many think of as typically Germán, but it can alsó produce a more sophisticated approach, based on the knowledge that its cultural credentials are second to none. Even more important in Berlin's present-day make-up is the fact that it is the largest city in Germany, fine-looking, culturally vigorous and seemingly always in the middle ofenjoying somé festival or happening. At first glancé, this is the most surprising aspect of all about the place. In the years immediately after World War II, Berlin had all the appearance of a city which had been left out in the cold, with the greater part of it still nominally part of democratic West Germany but cut olT from it so that its roots must surely wither in the cooler climate ofcommunist East Germany. I'he Berlin Airlift of 1948-9 was triumphantly to prove the contrary. In fact, Berlin is a survivor. Both east and w est of the dividing line, they have cleared away the wartime rubble - in West Berlin they have landscaped it into hills the\ use as skiing grounds in w inter - refurbished the old buildings that could be saved from the wreckage and put up new ones in the gaps. The three millión Berliners - about two millión in West Berlin and one millión in East Berlin - have not just papered over the cracks; they have got on with the business ofliving, optimistically and w ith a beliel in the l'uture of their city. There is one aspect ol the city, however, which sets it apart from others which have had to start again after the devastations of war, and that is that Berlin has become a symbol of the reason for the Cold War. „Ich bin ein Berliner" said President Kennedy in 1963, meaning th.it he was for democracy and a free world and against the oppression of communism. C'ontinuation pa«i' 19 Vissza