Global Berlin

The Humboldt Forum presents Berlin as a city of alternative stories from diverse perspectives and experiences. It asks the spectator to enter into the story telling by responding to a series of questions that seek to reveal their values, principles and feelings for Berlin and cities around the world. 

The indelible image of the wall coming down has a west but also an east side story. For those living in East Berlin it resulted in upheaval and for many a dislocation of their lives and an ignoring or often a denigration of their past. But this is just one of many images that can be interpreted from differing perspectives. Berlin owes it to itself and the world to be open and transparent. 

But Berlin is also a city of fakeness. It has been rebuilt from the  rubble of war to reflect the past and incorporate a future. New edifices do reflect an intent to present Berlin as a city that is the seat of power and influence nationally and internationally. Following the move of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin by a slim majority it has strived to reflect the nation’s aspirations as a global city. The new is big and bold incorporating the scale and grandeur of the past. The entrances to the new administrative buildings referred to as the ‘Federal Ribbon’ are supported by columns and plinths reflective of those built in the past.  

Berlin is certainly a city that ‘will always be pure potential’. Some say ‘Berlin ist zu gro für Berlin’! That may be a reference to it being a sprawling metropolis or maybe to its ‘burdensome past’ that today is overlaid by an ‘ultra cool city’.