Germany
Explore the eastern side of Berlin to help conceive what life might
have been like when the Wall still stood. The east contains the densely
populated working-class quarters of Mitte, Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg
and Friedrichshain, which inspired the theatre of Erwin Piscator and
Bertolt Brecht. After the city was occupied by the four post-war victorious
powers, the two halves diverged even more as West Berliners broke
away from their past and embraced the idea of a new, intensely western,
Americanised city. At the same time, eastern counterparts chose to
retain what remained of the old Berlin instead. This is why the eastern
half of the city probably gives a more accurate image of what Berlin
was like in the 1920s and 30s. |
