Berlin Comes of Age 20 Years After the Fall of the Wall

By Jon Rose


Twenty years ago, before the fall of the wall, Berlin was a divided and forgotten city. The former government of East Germany had tried to make its half of the city a showcase, but it was a drab and sad place. As for West Berlin, it was a tiny island of democracy and capitalism in a sea of communism. The main visitors were those who were curious to see the wall and those who were rebellious. It also attracted more than its share of young dissidents, socialists and anarchists from the rest of West Germany, at least partly because people living there were exempted from military service. Even so, it was a city on life support, kept going only by huge infusions of cash and subsidies from the rest of Germany.
In 20 years Berlin is still broke. Its mayor describes it as "poor but sexy". Yet there is little that is drab about this city, which has become one of the liveliest and most creative in Europe.
The first thing to note about Berlin is that it is still partly empty. Most of the big derelict blocks of apartments and offices that once marked the city centre have been demolished and redeveloped. But just a little way out it is still possible to see row after row of empty buildings and crumbling factories. Yet it is this which partly explains Berlin's new-found energy. With some much empty space rents are cheap. Large parts of Berlin abound with small boutiques and specialist shops that would never survive in any other city because they' would never be able to pay the rent. Cheap accommodation has also attracted many of Europe's aspirant artists, singers and novelists who can survive on very little while pursuing their creative dreams.
With such bustling creativity it is easy to understand why Berlin has rapidly left behind its old self and become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. In 2008 it was ranked fifth among European destinations after Paris, London, Vienna and Rome. In that year 4.7 million people came to the city on holiday or for work. The number of tourists visiting Berlin is still less than half the number visiting top-ranked European cities such as Paris and London (which each attracted more than 12 million tourists) but it is growing fast. According to the most recent statistics available the city attracted nearly 7 million visitors between January and October with many coming to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the event that started Berlin's transformation.
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