Berlin

Sarah Hayes
4th Blog Post: Berlin

Frederick the Great

This documentary sets up Berlin to seem like one of the most interesting cities in the world and throughout the film Matt Frei continues to prove his point about how rich the history of the city actually is. So many large and well known events and leaders played a part in the history of the city, molding it and shaping it into what it is today. Berlin seemed to be a hub for extreme ideas and beliefs to begin, where individuals were easily influenced, and a city that was continuously changing. The political power of Berlin was always changing and creating a divided city, setting it up for constant hostility and separation of the city.

I found it fitting that the documentary started out with Frederick the Great. His life story and ideas seemed to coincide with the structure of Berlin. His ideas were very divided, yet he was still one human being. Berlin's ideas are very divided, but it too is still one city. His upbringing and beliefs interested me because of how extremely different they were. His father was a man of war and really pushed his beliefs onto Frederick, but Frederick was not so much interested in war as he was with philosophy and his specific interest in Voltaire. Focusing more on social reform and equality and believing that education would further human betterment. Although Frederick had this philosophical outlook on life, war was still in his blood and he strived for control. This constant power struggle within himself seems to me to be quite similar to the power struggle the Berlin had within itself. This struggle is also portrayed through the Brandenburg gate, which is known as an icon of the story of Berlin. It shows the clash of ideas within Berlin, one side of war and depression, and the other of hopes and dreams.
 The clash of ideas within Berlin became for prevalent and extreme in the 1960's. I found the section of the video about the Berlin Schloss to be very interesting. This building was considered the most historic building in Berlin, but the communist leaders in East Berlin decided it represented the wrong kind of history so they demolished it. Although the building was just a somewhat dilapidated shell, I believe that such great history like that should never have been demolished and even though it was, the decision should have been made between East and West Berlin. As if Berlin was not already divided enough, they pushed it to the limit in 1961 when the Berlin wall was built. I cannot imagine how shocking it would be to one day have your city literally divided. I personally believe the wall created more competition and problems than before, because now both sides of Berlin were competing in an architectural sense. Which side could have better, taller, and more noticeable buildings. I do see a benefit in this competition though, it did push Berlin to rebuild itself after being destroyed after the war. So even though the city was still divided, it was starting to move forward. At the end of this section I found it very surprising that they decided to rebuild the Schloss after destroying it. Even though it is supposed to be replicated, I think it no longer will have historical significance because it is not the original palace.

New Schloss being built in the exact same spot as the old.
Expected to be finished in 2019.

Old Schloss which was destroyed
in the 1950's

There was so much more interesting topics in this video and I am looking forward to exploring these places and buildings when we visit. There is so much history and significance to the city and I think it is going to be an amazing opportunity to learn more about it and get to see it first hand.