Berlin and it's Historical Clashes of Ideas

Berlin, Germany, with it’s rich history, is known mainly for it’s historical clashes of ideas.  From the beginning of Germany as a united country, to the current standing of the country, Berlin has always been a center of conflict.  As Matt Frei put it, in his documentary on Berlin, “On the streets of berlin have been born the great and terrible ideas of our time.”  He mentions the creation of the theory of relativity from Einstein, the creation of communism and fascism, the creation of theories of sexuality, and the conception of the atomic bomb.  Berlin has not only shaped the history of Germany, but has contributed ideas to many other nations around the World.  We have learned from Berlin’s many mistakes and triumphs, and taken away lessons that can greatly benefit our own nation.  From the ruling of Frederick the Great to the take-over of the Nazi ruler Hitler, the people of Berlin have faced war and great turmoil that has forever scarred their history.  As one person put it, Berlin is the place where all different people come to be.  People who are unique or somehow different are always drawn to the city because of the extreme clash of ideas.  One aspect of Berlin’s history that has always intrigued me, is the creation of the Berlin Wall.  Having two extremely conflicting government parties in control, they decided to build a wall to keep citizens from fleeing to an area with the government that they sided with.  In other words, communist East Berlin did not want to lose all of their citizens to West Berlin, so they built a wall that contained their citizens in their own side of Berlin.  The creation of the wall, comparable to a cage that did not allow citizens to enter or exit, de-humanized the citizens of Berlin and took away some of their basic human rights.  It blows my mind that any government would choose to build a wall around their territory, as the solution to their contrasting ideas.  This helps to explain why Matt Frei considers the destruction and construction of buildings in Berlin to be political.  I didn’t understand what he had meant by this, at first.  As I continued to watch the documentary, it became more clear.  To us Americans, the destruction and construction of buildings is usually a positive thing.  Destructing an old run-down building in order to construct a new an improved one.  In Berlin, however, this wasn’t the case.  The government of East Berlin destroyed famous monuments that stood for opposing ideas.  Rubble left over from the war were used to create new buildings that were to be new political monuments.  And, of corse, the building of the Berlin Wall and related watch towers and blockades was a solely political move.  In this sense, construction was highly emotional, controversial, and political.  It was said that construction ‘responded’ to the war.  East and West Berlin competed to create the most notorious buildings, living spaces, and icons, mostly a symbol of the government in power.  For example, the destruction of the Berliner Schloss was a very sad time for Berliners , but the reonstruction of the new Schloss brought many happy times.  Again, this was still very controversial as some Berliners still mourned the destruction of the original Schloss and did not appreciate the new Schloss that took it’s place.  Still again, the Schloss was destroyed for apparent reasons.  To this day, the controversies that surround destruction and construction in Berlin remain highly political and debatable.