In May MIS went on a trip through Europe, and while Berlin was the city we stayed in the shortest it was one of the most impactful cities we visited during the study abroad trip (at least for me). It was impossible to walk through the city without feeling the weight of its history. Nowhere else have I seen such a vivid contrast between distant past, recent past and present, and.
One of the most striking places we visited was a metro station that was previously on the East Germany side of the city. Where the DDR agreed to allow the FRG to operate its metro through the station, but to never stop. Being there gave me a much more personal understanding of what the Cold War meant for everyday people. The wall may have come down in 1989, but the division between East and West Berlin is still apparent today—in the architecture, in the infrastructure, and even in the general feel of each neighborhood.
This experience became even more layered as we traveled south through the state of Saxony. Seeing a DDR and Soviet flag flying from a house in a rural area was a stark reminder that the cultural and political divide still lingers in some parts of the country. It was a sharp contrast to the modernity and global energy of cities like Munich and those that make up the Ruhr Valley. Germany may be one country today, but in Berlin, you can still feel the push and pull between two very different pasts.
