Before I started on the Ghost of Berlin, I briefly went over the content table and illustrations of this book. At first, I expected to see a large portion of the book about architecture and landscape. However, as soon as I started my reading, I found this book is far beyond that.
Author first presented his definition about Berlin: "Berlin is haunted city." The history of Berlin is heavy and sort of painful. And then he talked about that buildings or landscapes are the story teller of history, reminding people all the time about what was happening at one place. Building in Berlin therefore became the symbol of memories of history, full of political meaning.
The author started from the most famous landscape Berlin wall in chapter one. About six months ago, when I started on my first German class, I surprisingly found out that west Berlin was like an island staying within the territory of east Germany. The history of Berlin is different from what I thought. The wall built at 1961 instead of immediately of second world war. Before 1961, people still had possibility to pass through the border but at the midnight August 13th 1961, the wall was put up. It was not only a physical barrier that separate streets and road but also split up families. The wall marked Berlin as a battlefield of Cold War. East Berliners died because trying to escape to West Berlin when cross the wall "illegally". What is ironic that east berliners were not only one felt being limited and so were west berliners.
Berlin wall brought suffering and pain. But people kept different opinions about its preservation, which reflected their attitude about this heavy history. What experience made those people felt differently even though they suffered through the same period of time?
Author first presented his definition about Berlin: "Berlin is haunted city." The history of Berlin is heavy and sort of painful. And then he talked about that buildings or landscapes are the story teller of history, reminding people all the time about what was happening at one place. Building in Berlin therefore became the symbol of memories of history, full of political meaning.
The author started from the most famous landscape Berlin wall in chapter one. About six months ago, when I started on my first German class, I surprisingly found out that west Berlin was like an island staying within the territory of east Germany. The history of Berlin is different from what I thought. The wall built at 1961 instead of immediately of second world war. Before 1961, people still had possibility to pass through the border but at the midnight August 13th 1961, the wall was put up. It was not only a physical barrier that separate streets and road but also split up families. The wall marked Berlin as a battlefield of Cold War. East Berliners died because trying to escape to West Berlin when cross the wall "illegally". What is ironic that east berliners were not only one felt being limited and so were west berliners.
Berlin wall brought suffering and pain. But people kept different opinions about its preservation, which reflected their attitude about this heavy history. What experience made those people felt differently even though they suffered through the same period of time?