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Berlin |
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BERLIN TRAVEL GUIDE
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The division
of BERLIN into zones of occupation in 1945, although
seemingly arbitrary, followed exisiting local government
boundaries,
and the dual profile which emerged was by no means solely a
product of the Cold War.
In his famous interwar collection of short stories,
Goodbye to Berlin , Christopher Isherwood wrote:
Berlin is a city with two centres - the cluster of expensive
hotels, bars, cinemas, shops
around the Memorial Church, a sparkling nucleus of light, like a
sham diamond
in the shabby twilight of the town; and the self-conscious civic
centre
of buildings around the Unter den Linden, carefully arranged .
The latter, the political and cultural core of the Imperial German
capital
duly became the heart of East Berlin and of the GDR, while the
former
quickly adapted itself to the makeshift role of city centre.
Because of the
decades of division, the reunited city found itself with two of
almost everything
but the rationalization process has already reduced the
duplication quite markedly
and will eliminate it almost entirely over the course of the next
decade.
Although never a conventionally beautiful city, Berlin has much
fine architecture
as well as an extraordinary spread of museums which collectively
rank among the
very richest on the planet. It also has a wide range of bars and
restaurants , a
vibrant nightlife and strong traditions in the performing arts .
Because it occupies
a vast geographical area, one interrupted by a plethora of parks,
forests and lakes
Berlin is not a place that is appreciated easily or quickly.
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