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“Ich bin auch ein Berliner!”
By Dorothea Holloway | July 3, 2013
Aus KINO – German Film No: 38 aus dem Jahre 1990:
Letter to My Niece
Dear Tina, Berlin, Summer 1990
Dorothea and I are pleased to hear that you are coming to Berlin this summer with your college class for the Semester in Europe program. You’ re coming at the right time, too. The city is in full bloom – indeed, with the Wall disappearing daily chunk by chunk,
this is a momentous time to visit Berlin.* Let me give you an Earl of Chesterfield preview of what’ s awaiting you in this cultural capital – truly, a city of destiny that’ s often referred to these days as the “heart of Europe” and the “cross-roads to the East.” I want your stay here to be a memorable
one.
* What would someone from Chicago like to see first? Naturally, your guidebook will recommend a “Bummel” on the Ku’damm, our Michigam Avenue, with its shops and corners full of “Wessis” (the West Germans from the mainland) and “Ossis” (the
East Germans who cross over the border). We’ ll stop at the “Wasserklops” (pint-sized Buckingham Fountain) next to the Europa-Center and let you pick out which is which – a favorite game for Berliners!
* Then it’s off to the Brandenburg Gate. More history was probably made here than anywhere else in Germany, but you’ ll look in vain for the famous Quadriga atop the Gate – sorry, to see the four magnificent horses and the peace goddess in her carriage, you’ ll have to go to the Museum für Verkehr und Technik, where the figures are presently being restored.
* After that, we can either saunter down the boulevard Unter den Linden in East Berlin, or wander along the No Man’ s Land, where the Berlin Wall used to be, to stand before the Reichstag. From there, it’ s only a short walk through the Tiergarten to the carillon, where we can lie down on the grass on the banks of the Spree and listen to a concert.
* Summer concerts and shows are plentiful in Berlin. You’ ll probably enjoy visiting the Waldbühne, our huge outdoor arena in the woods where families can relax with picnic baskets to hear Sir Yehudi Menuhin conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
or to watch Billy Wilder’ s One, Two, Three on a gigantic movie screen with sparklers in you hand. Picture 20,000 sparklers on a warm summer night !
* But you may like your classics in a castle. So we’ ll drive off to the lake district to take in Bach and Mozart at the Glienicker Schlosskonzerte. We could even make a day of it: first, an excursion to the Pfaueninsel to visit the peacocks, then a walk
around Glienicke Bridge into “Prussia’s Arcadia” – parks, gardens, castles, churches – on the very doorstep to royal Potsdam.
* You’ ll love Potsdam; everybody does. But before we exhaust ourselves in the vast parks of Sanssouci, let’ s make a sidetrip – Frederick the Great won’ t mind – to Babelsberg and the DEFA Studios, the largest in Europe. Our film tour
might even feature a concert by the DEFA Orchestra. I can’ t think of a better warm-up to the rococo splendors of Potsdam – for which you’ ll need the whole summer!
* Back in Berlin, before departing, take your pick of two great happenings on Potsdamer Platz smack in the middle of “No Man’ s Land”: Lorin Maazel conducting five orchestras in an open-air concert of Gustav Mahler’ s “Resurrection”
Symphony, or Roger Water’s “The Wall” rock concert – before an audience of 250, 000.
Your “Ich bin auch ein Berliner,” Uncle Ron
Siehe KINO – German Film No: 105 von diesem Jahr 2013: Auf Seite 1 stehen Regina Ziegler und Ron Holloway vor dem Brandenburger Tor: “You’ll look in vain for the famous Quadriga atop the Gate.”
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