Communism and Democracy Collide

Ever since I was a kid learning about communism and history from WWII and the cold war, I have been interested in learning about and visiting Berlin, Germany. Berlin is the capitol of Germany, but it was also mostly destroyed in WWII, and was the center of the division between democracy and communism. The city of Berlin symbolizes the 20th century and the struggles millions of people lived for decades. It can be scene from the paint on the most famous and controversial wall in modern history.
As my friends and I marked off the sites we wanted to see in Berlin, we realized that the wall was outside of the city center. We took the subway into a different world. The modern Berlin in the west is rarely found in the east. East Berlin was the capitol of East Germany and was under soviet control until the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The east is still suffering from poverty and pollution, and it can be scene all around the city. The wall that was built by the soviets in the 1960’s started to be torn down in 1989, opening up a city that was divided and controlled for decades.
Today, nearly 20 years after the fall of the wall, a long stretch of the façade facing east is the only strip still left for visitors and residents alike to see history. It is painted with artwork that reflects the pain the people of the city dealt with, as well as the pain they still feel today.
I had no idea what I was going to see at the wall. When we arrived after getting off the train, all I saw was a run down neighborhood that was littered and decrepit. Once we walked toward the river, we could see a wall full of artwork. We had arrived at the east side gallery, which is over a kilometer long, and is the largest open-air gallery in the world. The artwork symbolizes the history of Berlin. Many of the works include references to former leaders, the hammer and sickle, and other icons that relate to the history of Berlin and Germany.
One of the most iconic symbols in the era of eastern and western Berlin is the Brandenburg gate, which split the city in half, and became a gate to nowhere. This is where president Reagan made his famous “Tear down this wall” speech. Less than a year later, the wall fell. Today, one can still see the effects of the wall on the streets and buildings. A red brick line lies in the ground where the wall once stood. The area around the wall, especially where the wall once stood are streets, parks and modern buildings today.
I have truly never been so affected by something so simple. Every time I go to a museum to see art, I appreciate it but I never have ever just stared and said “wow.” The wall, and the artwork associated with it, is a simple reminder of the magnitude history has had on Berlin. When I turned a corner of the wall, the words “No more wars, no more walls, a modern world” were on the façade. I was touched by this phrase because few cities in the world have experienced more pain than the city of Berlin. The Fernsehturm tower stands in visible distance from the east side gallery, which is a building built by the soviets in East Berlin. The tower overlooks the city as a reminder of the painful past in Berlin history. Territory was so fiercely defended in this city that a wall was built that separated families and friends of the same city. The wall is one of the most symbolic monuments of the 20th century and its destruction 20 years ago has not been forgotten.
In modern Berlin today, the buildings are modern and the economy is powerful, but the lack of historic buildings left in the city are overshadowed by the Fernsehturm as a symbol of the painful history Berlin deals with every single day.