Does anyone know a lot about Berlin (especially 20th century?)

by Corkak

I'm studying geography and I'm doing research about Berlin and the wall. Some of my questions are pretty specific and Google can't really help me. Anyone willing to help? Thanks! My research is about the western part of Berlin These are some questions:

*What is the influence exerted by the wall on the city -geographic developments?

*What where some limitations that the wall created for the Western part of Berlin?

*How was capitalism visable in West Berlin?

*Are there still things visable of the influence of wall?

Might add some other questions! I'm Dutch btw so my English isn't the best

holytriplem

I lived in Berlin as a child during the late 90s/early 00s, and I learnt a lot about Berlin during the Cold War in primary school, so I can certainly answer a few of these questions

Are there still things visible of the influence of wall?

For the most part, no, most of the time there's no sign or anything telling you which side of the wall you're on. However, there are certain areas of Berlin, such as in Bernauer Straße, where they either keep bits of the Wall up as a memorial, or they have some kind of dotted line marked on the pavement to mark where the Wall once was. Also you have more subtle signs of a once divided city, for instance the fact that the former East has a very comprehensive tram network, while the West has barely any trams at all. Satellite images of Berlin also show that the streetlights used in the former East are still different to those used in the West.

What is the influence exerted by the wall on the city -geographic developments?

One effect was that a new city centre developed in West Berlin in what is now the area around Zoo, although since the Wall came down the centre has now moved towards the East again. The wall also left a barren no-mans land through the middle of the city, where you now have new developments in places like Potsdamer Platz. In effect, the Wall had the effect of causing Berlin to fragment into two different cities, with the Wall serving as the Eastern (or, in the case of East Berlin, the Western) periphery of the city.

bbbberlin

quoted text*What is the influence exerted by the wall on the city -geographic developments?

Well when the wall came down like the rest of East Germany, East Berlin needed to be updated in terms of infrastructure: whole neighbourhoods needed phone lines installed for example (they had phones but not many). I mean you also had the mirroring of services and institutions, which created complications later: for example there was an Western art university (the UDK) and the Eastern art university (Weissensee Kunsthochschule). The wall froze East Berlin in communist-bloc state of development, and that decay has resulted in lots of under-utilized buildings and the sort of "abandoned" and "wasteland" sites that Berlin is known for today (although those also existed in other parts of the city too). I mean the architecture styles differ too- remember that Berlin needed near total rebuilding after the Second World War.

quoted text*What where some limitations that the wall created for the Western part of Berlin?

There where "Ghost Stations" where the trains kept going without stopping because the tracks crossed what were newly-made borders. West Berliners could mostly visit the East by applying for permits, although there were periods of time where this ability was taken away during political negotiations.

quoted text*How was capitalism visable in West Berlin?

The KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) was sort of the iconic shopping mall of West Berlin, where you could buy expensive imported goods and produce from all over the world. It still exists a luxury shopping mall and importer of foreign food.

quoted text*Are there still things visable of the influence of wall?

Streetcars only exist in Eastern parts of the city, while the West was more into subways: it's blurred a bit of course, but its still a division after all these years. You can of course still see pretty stark differences in the architecture, for example the DDR apartment buildings called "Plattenbau." The movement of people is also naturally influenced by where they live, like if you live in an area you hangout there more... so social divisions still exist in that way as a hangover from the wall. You can see also political divisions still exist if you track down a map showing neighbourhoods vs political support.

An interesting book would be "The Berlin Reader" for a mix of urban studies/history (tending towards the former).

Here's a newspaper article from the Globe and Mail for more casual reading.