Berlin — The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
By Michelle McConnell
Berlin is a city brimming with history, where continual destruction and reconstruction have created a unique aesthetic. I may have learned about Germany’s history in school, but I arrived with a selfish fantasy that Berlin would still display Prussian extravagance and the later elegance
of the experimental Art Nouveau style. I did not expect to find myself in a city with mismatched architecture and graffiti tags taking over the walls. Every way you look, you can see a construction site. Honestly, I found Berlin ugly at first. But three weeks later, with a deeper sense of the place, my view has changed.
At the end of World War II, Berlin was a scattered city with disoriented citizens and piles of rubble. A third of the buildings had been heavily damaged from Allied bombings between 1940 and 1945. An estimated 600,000 apartments were destroyed and 40% of the population had fled.
In 1945, the Potsdam Conference took place and Berlin was divided into different zones occupied by England, the US, France, and the Soviet Union. The Western powers united their zones in 1948, which created West and East Berlin.
Architects were at a loss. Some fought to preserve what little they could in the name of history, while others wanted to shift to a more modern style in attempts to free Berlin from its past. Reconstruction in West Berlin was immediate. Funds flowed in through US President Harry Truman’s Marshall Plan in the hopes of helping the economies of postwar Europe. In response to the reconstruction in the West, the Soviet Union raced to see who could rebuild their side of Berlin the fastest. Modern buildings were erected, however old buildings were restored when the Council of Europe declared 1975 as European Architectural Heritage Year. Berlin became a city without
a coherent style of architecture — on both sides of the Cold War divide.
Unter den Linden boulevard in Mitte, the center of Berlin, continues to boast Baroque architecture. The streets are lined with linden trees, smelling of herbal tea and shading you from the sun. Around Unter den Linden, you can find Humboldt University, the Berlin State Opera,
and world-class museums which continue to honor the old architecture aesthetic. Although many buildings in this area had been partially destroyed during World War II, architects have done their best to rebuild them using the original materials and styles.
The Reichstag parliament building, built in the neo-Renaissance style in 1884, was heavily bombed during WWII. After German unification and a decision to move the capital of the Federal Republic from Bonn to Berlin, an architectural contest was held, that directly stipulated a merging of the old and new. British architect Norman Foster succeeded and went on to place a glass dome at the top of the historic building, with panoramic views of Berlin.
Another striking project is the Humboldt Forum, opposite Museum Island. After a 20-year debate, the asbestos-filled former East German parliament and “People’s Palace” was torn down and from 2013 to 2020 a replica of the façade of Berlin’s earlier Prussian Palace went up around a space now dedicated to museums and cultural events.
Berlin is an awkward city, perpetually stuck in different eras and philosophies. Don’t come to Berlin expecting to find the charming elegance of Vienna or the iconic blue roofs of Paris. It is a city of architectural crossroads formed by leaders with contrasting visions — to obliterate the
past, to preserve the past, or to architecturally integrate the layers of the past.
Today, it is not uncommon to walk past buildings with starkly opposite aesthetics. Now that I have fully digested the reality of its destruction and immediate need to recover, I have come to appreciate the city’s appearance, out of respect for the perseverance of its citizens, past and present. Color schemes and materials may differ around Berlin, but its history, wrought through obstacles, unifies it. It’s oddly satisfying. Sometimes even beautiful.
Michelle McConnell is an undergraduate student studying writing and literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara who is reporting from Berlin this summer.
