Living History [Berlin, Germany]
My feeling about Berlin is still very conflicted. The city is full of culture, history and character, and yet, I can’t say that I love it. This surprises me given how many friends have only raved about Berlin. I fully expected to be a Berlin-lover, too. A week before we move onto our next stop, I still feel like we have so much to see. And we do. Even in 3.5 weeks, we haven’t ventured anywhere near all the nooks and crannies we know are worth seeing. One more weekend to make the most of! On the list: Mauerpark, the Pergamon or DDR Museum, graffiti tours, underworld visits, and other recommended bars and haunts.
One thing we have had the privilege of living through is the most recent German elections. I say “living through” lightly as we didn’t vote and honestly didn’t experience much fuss around the city other than some people demonstrating in front of Brandenburg Gate when we biked past it a couple of weeks ago. (Going to go by again this weekend to see what’s brewing now.) As you may know, Angela Merkel won another tenure as Chancellor of Germany but the relatively new far-right party of AfD (Alternative for Germany) garnered a whopping 12.6% of votes, making it Germany’s third largest party and marking the first time in 60 years that a far-right party has entered Parliament.
I won’t make this an in-depth political post, so I’ll pause here to recommend some reading if you’re interested in finding out more about how the AfD came about and some of the tactics it used to make its historical entry into the Bundestag (parliament).
What strikes me is that just last week, I was talking about how Germany’s efforts to remember its history and specifically its mistakes throughout history felt omnipresent throughout Berlin. I mentioned how the country makes a point to honor the victims of its past rather than their perpetrators. And then I read about how the AfD is rebelling against this practice, calling it weak and encouraging Germany to “take a more positive attitude towards its history.”
I had thought this attitude was quite positive already… How many countries are so open about their mistakes and actually make (sometimes unpopular) political decisions that demonstrate it has learned from them? Seeing Germany step up as the European country to accept the most refugees in need of a home at the peak of the refugee crisis in 2015 was a powerful moment for me. My family suffered first-hand from the Holocaust — 3 of my grandparents were in Auschwitz and lost their entire families. I never want any race or religion to suffer the same kind of persecution the Holocaust embodied. It’s not just the Holocaust — genocides in Rwanda and Armenia and Apartheid in South Africa are other recent examples of racism we in hindsight condemn and critique. The American Civil War and fight against slavery may have been over 150 years ago, but we still witness undeniable expressions of racism and rejection in the United States today.
That history is cyclical should not stand as an excuse to let it repeat itself. As I live through the repercussions of the Brexit vote, read about exaggerated travel bans and unsanctioned white nationalist/neo-nazi rallies, watch outspoken discriminating politicians slowly but surely claim more power in the Netherlands, France, Austria, now Germany under the guise of ‘nationalism’ and ‘identity’… I’m terrified kids one or two generations from now will be learning about these events as catalysts towards a larger global conflict I don’t even want to put a name on.
What does nationalism even mean today?
When talking about diversity in Germany with a couple of friends recently, they matter-of-factly stated that for example Russians and Turks are a central part of today’s Germany. You can’t imagine Berlin without kebab stands at every corner, they justly remarked.
The makeup of a country changes over time and what may have been a “pure” (debatable) population centuries ago is now mixed and enriched. To be nationalistic can mean to embrace this growth and diversity, rather than long for a past that alienates new- and otherness. With open economical borders, refugees escaping war-torn areas, broadening spirits and more informed, less fearful constituents, I would hope that European countries (and North American, and Middle Eastern…) choose to welcome and even promote this now globalized reality. Of course, there will always be people clamoring for “the good old days” and yes, some of the old days do have value and a country’s identity and history should also be preserved. I just hope we can work together to find a balance that doesn’t conflate identity with discrimination, and sadly the advancement of the AfD and the shift in its policy since its creation represent an upsetting setback.
I acknowledge this post is by no means a complete political commentary that compares both sides of the argument. It represents a few thoughts and concerns that have been weighing on my mind, and I welcome any comments or feedback to continue the discussion.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite recent campaigns for acceptance and diversity before I resume my explorations of Berlin:
- “All That We Share” — This Danish TV2 ad which came out earlier this year is so beautiful and heartfelt, one forgets it’s an ad at all.
- The DNA Journey — Coincidence or not, this short film was also shot in Denmark and directed by Danish filmmaker Jeppe Rønde. It shows how much we all have in common beneath our prejudices…
- National Geographic’s Prediction of What the World Will Look Like in 2050 — published in 2013 for NatGeo’s 125th anniversary issue. I’ve always loved this piece.***
