My own galaxy far, far away... (Berlin reminiscences)

[fabrisse]

Twenty-five years ago, the Berlin Wall came down. Less than ten years later, I made a remark about not having been back to Berlin since the wall came down and sunspiral's and roozle's eldest son, who was 11-ish, asked if the wall were medieval

Comments

[harvey_rrit]

Answer to question:

"Only in concept."

[fabrisse]

Exactly.

[tediousandbrief]

Such wonderful stories. I've been curious about going to Berlin at some point, but haven't made it there.

I've also not heard of Modern Jazz Quartet! I liked that song! Thank you for providing the link for it!

[fabrisse]

I really want to go back and see it as a truly free city.

I'm happy you liked MJQ. Their music is fascinating.

[nefertina86]

It's great to read your stories. Especially for me as German.

[fabrisse]

Berlin was genuinely lovely and genuinely weird when the wall was up.

One of the more surreal cinema going experiences I've had was during the third (?) Jason Bourne movie. He's finding someone in the middle of a huge commuter crowd, and I know I've been there, but I can't make the place look right. It's Alexanderplatz.

When I was last there, Alexanderplatz was a vast, empty area. Everyone knew that the big building with the ball on top was Stasi headquarters. More than any other place, this was a part of the city that seemed dimmer and greyer than normal.

To see it as vibrant and crowded was a complete disconnect.

I assume you're too young to remember a divided Germany?