East Berlin, West Berlin

I was also asked to say something about cultural differences between East and West Berlin.
I am from the West, my girlfriend is from the East. I live in Reinickendorf, she lives in Hellersdorf. There are like 30 km between us.

Are there still differences?
Yes, while Berlin is definitely growing together, this is not happening with the speed most people hoped.
Many people in former West Berlin feel like they gave a lot of money to people who wouldn't work with enough effort, therefore the East appears to them as a money swallowing bottomless pit. This is - of course - doing East Berliners injustice. What is true, however is that many people in former East Berlin needed some time to adapt to West German way of life. Of course many of them don't want to. And that is totally fine. People in East Germany didn't revolt in order to become just like West Germans, they revolted in order to gain similar liberties and similar standard of living. While remaining with a different cultural identity is no big deal in one's spare time it was expected of them to assimilate in work life because (no matter whether it is sad or not) West Germans run the show economically.

On the other hand many people from former East Berlin are disappointed with what happened after reunification. They hoped to gain the standard of living of West Germans of their generation. Instead they lost their jobs because the East German industry couldn't compete well enough and many of them became welfare cases. They wanted to work and felt like 2nd tier citizens when they saw that they didn't get the chance to contribute. The problem wasn't always the bad state of East German industry. Often times Western companies received government money for transforming East German companies into a modern industry. The outcome was often the opposite: Managers bought the companies, took the money from the government and then let the East German economy die. It was an easy way to get rid of competition.
Again, there are two sides, however. Large parts of the economy are productive now after releasing like 90% of their work force.


When you look at Berlin today, yes it is growing together. There are parts where it is hard to determine whether they belonged to the East or to the West. On the other hand the differences can not be overlooked either. They also translate into election results. The socialist PDS party which had goverened the GDR under its original name SED for 40 years gets a large share of votes in East Germany. In Berlin it has enough votes to form a coalition government with the SPD.
It has been widely discussed in Germany whether the PDS would be a passing phenomenon or not. Well, I can't judge on that. My estimate is that it will remain influential as long as there are people who are not content with capitalism. This may be a long, long time.

Another thing to cultural differences is the phenomenon of "Ostalgie" a word play from Nostalgie, meaning a romantic image of what life was like in the GDR.
So special Ostprodukte are being bought again, movies are being made about how fun it was to be young in East-Berlin, and so on.
Famous movies of that sort are "Sonnenallee" (a comedy) and "Good Bye, Lenin" (a more serious comedy about the months of change in 1989/90).
While both movies made tons of money in Germany the second one is very successful internationally, as well. You can get it on amazon.com. (Btw, I recommend both.)

Finally, I would like to stress that I am not an expert in all of this. I am just reflecting some of the things I notice in everyday life. If you have questions or differing opinions, I 'll be glad to read and respond to them.

Turkish people in Berlin

I have been asked to say something about Turkish people in Berlin (in response to my comment on May 1st riots and that they have nothing to do with the Turkish community)
So I thought about Turkish people in Berlin. The first answer is quite striking, I don't know that many.
Most of them live in other parts of Berlin: Kreuzberg, Schöneberg, Wedding, Neukölln (all parts of former West Berlin). I live in Reinickendorf. (Northern part of former West Berlin) When the Turkish people came as foreign workers during the 60s they came into neighborhoods with more affordable rents. To a large extent they still live there.

So the few Turkish people I know, don't live in these areas:
1. A colleague of my mom. I played with his kids (same age as me) when we where young
2. My doctor. He graduated from medical school in Istanbul before coming to Germany. He lives around the corner.
3. A classmate. In my graduation year from highschool we were 128 graduates. One of them was Turkish.

On the other hand, there are areas in Berlin where turkish people are the majority. However, I would not see those areas as ghettos or slums. I have accidentally come through a slum in Chicago and have been through some less nice neighborhoods of LA, I don't see any areas in Berlin that could compare.

These days talking about people who pray to Allah is often connected to radical Islamism. There are many mosques in Berlin and Islamism is an issue. However, Berlin has worse problems than Islamism. While some German girls are afraid to walk through Wedding by night, I am not. I actually feel more threatened in other areas of Berlin like Marzahn or Hellersdorf. These areas in former East Berlin are notorious for skinheads and neo-nazis.

In summary,
a lot is left to do to integrate foreign people better into our community while not making them abandon their cultural identity. It is tough and both sides need to increase their efforts. However, the Turkish community in Berlin always has been and still is a valuable part of Berlin culture.
Even the Nazis eat Döner Kebab. (famous Turkish fast food, first made in Berlin and nowhere else to be found cheaper or better than here)

No Love Parade in 2004

Well, it is not really news anymore: There will be no Love Parade in Berlin this year. Although many attempts had been made in order to save this festivity the organizers couldn't find a way to finance it.

The Love Parade is the largest Techno Party on the planet. Still... for those who have never heard of it(I don't know where you have been for the past ten years), here is a history of the event.

Anyway, the Love Parade has always been controversial. While many people supported it because it brought tourists to town (about a million for the weekend during the best years of the event) others stressed the negative effect on Berlin's parks. The parade route led right through the Tiergarten (sort of the equivalent of New York's Central Park for Berlin).
Garbage and urin from several hundred thousands of techno lovers wasn't really good for flora and fauna.

I didn't enjoy the event very much. But that is mostly connected to the fact that I don't like techno music.

A few years ago - right before Love Parade weekend - I was riding the subway when a few rhimes came to my mind. Since it was boring to sit in the train I tried to make a poem out of them.

When I had reached my destination I just had to write them down. The poem is meant to be a little funny. I didn't want to insult any techno fan. Ok, here it is. (I never translated the poem, sorry):

Der Raver

Jedes Jahr zur Sommerszeit
Im Juli macht er sich bereit,
Damit er durch Berlin nun tanze.
Love Parade - so heißt das Ganze.

Ob die Sonne scheint, oder ob's regnet,
Mit Enthausiasmus reich gesegnet
Erträgt der Raver Hitz' und Nässe,
Solang nur aufgedreht die Bässe.

Erblickt er eine schmucke "Sie",
Schluckt er Red Bull und Ecstasy,
Um für den Balztanz fit zu sein.
Natürlich sagt sie da nicht nein.

Im Tiergarten, so in der Mitte,
Sie pfeifen auf die gute Sitte
Und geben sich der Liebe hin;
Der Raver mit der Raverin.

Doch... leider hat er's nicht geahnt:
Der Freund der Raverin, er bahnt
Den Weg zum Liebespaare sich
Und schlägt den Raver fürchterlich.

Halbtot liegt er am Wegesrand,
Die Mutter hätt' ihn kaum erkannt.
Und doch er freut sich - das ist klar -
Auf's nächste Mal, in nächsten Jahr.

Opera with a special guest

I went to the opera yesterday night. Salome by Strauss. While waiting in the lobby the newly elected German president and his wife walked by. Whoever recognized him greeted him friendly and he was so kind.

Later he took his front row center seat and was applauded by the audience. He seems to be a very humble man. I just feel sorry for him if that was his first visit to the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Well, the director gave a very unusual setting for the story. It was all placed in a madhouse. Salome played with a very realistic head of John, blood everywhere. Finally when Salome is killed her limbs fly around...
graphic, to say the least. Furthermore Prof. Köhler got a perfect up-skirt view on Salome when she was lying on her back, feet to the audience.

Anyway, the singing and acting was exquisite. For me, that saved the day.

Prof. Köhler new German President

A new President has been elected today. Prof. Horst Köhler will take over from Johannes Rau in July.
Köhler is an economy expert. He used to be the head of the International Monetary Fund and only stepped down from that function in order to be a candidate for the office of Germany's highest representative.

His opponent Prof. Gesine Schwan is an expert in Political Science. I am sure that both candidates would have served the country well.

Prof. Köhler outlined the issues important to him in his first speech as elected president. He stressed that Germany has to become a family friendly country, he stressed the importance to use Globalisation in order to fight poverty and injustice and furthermore he talked about the need for inner reforms. Germany will have to be transformed into a country of ideas.

(As a sidenote: Köhler did something uncommon for German politicians. He asked for God's blessing for the country.

Last year I criticised trends in US politics to utilize religion for politic goals.

I still hold true to this opinion. However, Prof. Köhler's plea for God's blessing had nothing political. In contrast to what I have criticised he never created the impression that God's blessing would favor Germany above all the other countries of the world.)

Riots in Berlin - Attempt of a Summary

Whenever May 1st draws near the residents in Berlin are in a mood of expectation.
Will this day remain peaceful? It hasn't been since 1987. That year the first "Revolutionäre 1. Mai Demo" (revolutionary may 1st rally)was held. This is what followed: barricades, stones, burning cars, pillaged shops on the one hand.... teargas, batons, water cannons on the other hand.

Intensity has varied over the years, so have the strategies employed by the police. This year, a mixed strategy of deescalation and zero tolerance of violence was attempted.

While the Walpurgisnacht (the night before May 1st) went relatively peaceful (many arrests, many injuries but only light ones) things heated up the next day.

I am not going to give you a detailed account because I wasn't there.
On the fringes of a NPD rally (right wing extremists) violence occurred in the afternoon between skinheads, left wing radicals and the police. 55 arrests.

Later that day, a festival was held in Kreuzberg which should promote non-violence. That worked till about 8pm.

Then the usual (sad) thing happened: radicals erected and burned barricades, attacked the police force with bottles and stones and this was met by watercannons and teargas.

The police acted swiftly and struck hard.

Overall, comments suggest that this year was better than expected.

Sidenote: Again lots of teens were there for the fun. Witnesses often saw people hooding and afterwards photographing themselves with their cell phones. Also, this year some anti-american resentments could be seen as at least in one occasion an American flag was burnt.

May 1st, bomb threats, the OSCE conference on anti-semitism and terrorism

These are eventful days in Berlin.
Yesterday the Hilton Hotel in Berlin's scenic center was evacuated due to a bomb threat. It seemed very serious. After like 5 hours the search of the Hotel was stopped without result.

It is being speculated whether this was a bad joke or maybe connected to the two day OSCE conference on anti-semitism that will begin tomorrow. Or was it an Al-Quaida threat?

We don't know yet.

One thing is for sure, the police will not rest these days. On Labor Day (May 1st) there will be burning cars, pillaged stores barricades in the streets, flying stones, teargas and the like... one has to say: the same procedure as every year.


Usually our troubles here have something to do with the NAZIs but on May 1st, they are our least problem.

Every year, radical left wing extremists come from all over Germany to Kreuzberg (traditionally left wing part of Berlin) to fight.

Who are they fighting, you ask? The state, the government, capitalism, you name it. They feel like revolutionaries, I believe. It's bad. Better be out of Kreuzberg on this day.
Actually it all starts the night before. Because it is the "Walpurgis Nacht" That has to do with heathen witch craft traditions. It is rather complicated. (Careful: my assumptions are coming up.) Somehow the radicals seem to find it apealing that there may have been a sub culture of wise men and women who where declared witches and burnt by the establishment in order to keep them down. And probably the radicals feel like this is happening to them so they celebrate the night when the witches supposedly had held their "annual conference" on a certain mountain. Funnily, there is more than one mountain rumored to be the meeting point.

Anyway, in that night fires are burnt in the city and people fire each other up for the coming fight with the police.

The saddest part of this is, that it has become something of a tourist attraction for spoiled teens who get their kick from it. Last year I heard, that the riots would probably not have been very bad if it hadn't been for those kids who fueled them up by often being the first to throw stones at the police. The kids would have been disapointed if everything had been peaceful.


Traditionally, there is also a skinhead rally. Usually just a few hundred carefully separated from the left wing radicals by the police.
The skins march on May 1st because the Hitler government was very fond of the holiday.

By the way, Kreuzberg is not only traditionally left wing but also the part of town where most turkish immigrants live. However, they have nothing to do with the riots.


EDIT: Maybe I should add that many people celebrate Walpurgis Nacht just for fun and are not at all involved with the May 1st riots.

How should terrorism be dealt with in Germany?

Otto Schily, Minister of the Interior and former lawyer of Germany's top terrorists of the 70s, the RAF, gave an interview in Germany's top political weekly Der Spiegel


This interview was a big surprise. Schily used to be left wing and liberal, liberal enough to defend left wing terrorists in court. But times change.

After he became Minister of the Interior his opinions changed. Today he is regarded as right wing as it gets for the Social Democratic Party. And still this interview was like the drop of a bomb ( i am sorry for my military language, but it fits here)

He kind of said that eventually, it should not be ruled out to kill terrorists before they can do their deed.

For the US this isn't spectacular. For Germany it is! There is no death penalty here. German politicians of all factions criticize Guantanamo Bay. Germany does not deport foreign criminals to their home country if they will face torture or death there BUT...
referring to a terrorist statement (You love life and we love death) he said they can get it if they love it.

Maybe Schily said that unintentionally because he seemed to try to get out of it.
He went on that he was against death penalty but posed the question whether it is part of the right to self-defense to kill suspected terrorists before they comitted a crime.

The coalition partner, The Green Party, is furious about Schily's comments but the conservative opposition applauded him.

I can tell you, there will be lots of lots of debates on this.