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Threats to the Berlin Wall

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    Threats to the Berlin Wall

    The stretch in question is the East Side Gallery, the largest existing section of the Wall that's been left up as a memorial to those who died trying to cross it, and as a reminder of the scar that division left on the city. After the fall of the Wall, sections of it were painted by a number of well-known artists, and it's one of Berlin's biggest tourist attractions.

    Today, they tried to remove part of it to put up luxury condos. Thankfully, an overwhelming amount of support for its preservation from all over the world stopped the demolition for now, and the Senate has promised to talk about it. However, I'm still a bit worried for the future of this landmark.

    This reflects a bigger issue in my city. Right now, there's a lot of development going on, and there are a lot of clashes between "new" and "old" Berlin. The largest problem is that no one seems willing to see the middle ground on this issue. One camp wants to keep everything exactly as it is, and the other sees little value in the city's last 100 years of history. Both sides are horribly wrong. I think on one hand, change is inevitable, and you have to let a city grow, especially a relatively "new" city like the unified version of Berlin. On the other hand, tourism is Berlin's largest industry. People come here from all over the world to see things like the Berlin wall. They aren't here to see Brandenbug Gate and such at the end of the day...they want to see the Wall. They want to see the history that they've read about (recent history). This is huge source of competitive advantage and income for the city. We have other sectors, and a growing tech sector, but none of these even come close to touching what tourism brings in. It represents jobs and money for Berlin. If you take it away, the city has very little value. Some of these investors are so short-sighted, I can't even begin to fathom how they think tearing some of these things down is a good idea. They want people to move here and stay in their high-end hotels and live in luxury apartments, but the reason people usually do so is because they're interested in the city's diverse history and its eclectic cultural atmosphere. It's like trying to build a luxury chalet in the forest and then cutting down the forest.

    #2
    Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

    That kind of thing frustrates the hell out of me.

    I understand the desire to grow, modernize and expand the occupancy possibilities of an area. I understand the fact that some people want no memory of the past, especially if that past is pretty sad or even perhaps sickening. I can't disregard history. I hold out for truth... misconceptions and misunderstandings, really, being the norm, all across the board. The Wall is one of those things that offends some people, intrigues others, is an homage to progress or a reminder of how far people have come. I mean, there's such a wide range of emotional reasons, both ways, and a just as wide range of material or monetary reasons, again, both ways.

    The cliches start running amok, for me. Cutting off one's nose to spite their face. Ignore it, it'll go away. Out of sight; out of mind. If there's no evidence of it, it didn't actually happen or exist. And on and on.

    It kind of drives me insane, the lengths to which some people will go in the name of progress.




    "Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it." - Ayn Rand

    "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." - Marcus Aurelius

    "The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice." - Mark Twain

    "The only gossip I'm interested in is things from the Weekly World News - 'Woman's bra bursts, 11 injured'. That kind of thing." - Johnny Depp


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      #3
      Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

      Most East Berliners actually support the memorial. It seems to be firms from outside of Berlin that want to tear it down.

      I think the part that irks me the most is that if you think about it and actually use your head (and the things you should have bloody well learned in business school...I know I did), this isn't even "progress". If you erode competitive advantage in a market, you cut off the value of your investment. In a city where tourism is the main source of revenue and appeal, you don't really want to be messing with historic landmarks. Even if all you care about money and put all regard for history and people aside, it's still freaking stupid. Whoever thought this is a good idea needs to be fired.

      Edit: on a side note, the building proposed is ugly as hell. This is what they want to ruin a landmark for:

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        #4
        Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

        That looks exactly like the thing my uncle used to keep betamax tapes and 8-tracks on!
        Trust is knowing someone or something well enough to have a good idea of their motivations and character, for good or for ill. People often say trust when they mean faith.

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          #5
          Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

          Backasswards.


          And Denarius is right. I used to have a triple rack stand, for movies, music and such, that each rotating rack looked exactly like that.


          And yes. I agree. It's ugly as hell.




          "Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it." - Ayn Rand

          "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." - Marcus Aurelius

          "The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice." - Mark Twain

          "The only gossip I'm interested in is things from the Weekly World News - 'Woman's bra bursts, 11 injured'. That kind of thing." - Johnny Depp


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            #6
            Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

            Something about plopping some shitty condo down over a memorial to human beings who died trying to reach freedom just doesn't sit right with me. I'm glad to see others feel the same.

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              #7
              Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

              Originally posted by iflewoverthecuckoosnest View Post
              Something about plopping some shitty condo down over a memorial to human beings who died trying to reach freedom just doesn't sit right with me. I'm glad to see others feel the same.
              Ditto. Let's never forget what the Bolsheviks did to Europe, and the people who live there.
              Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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                #8
                Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

                That's not cool, man. :/ Why can't they just let it be and build their ugly shit somewhere else? Tearing it down for something as silly as an apartment building is somewhat insulting, if you ask me.

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                  #9
                  Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

                  Oh yes, it's very insulting. I couldn't even bring myself to live in one of those condos. Makes me cringe inside just thinking about it.

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                    #10
                    Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

                    Yeah I just can't imagine who would want to live there. Someone with no cultural awareness maybe?

                    It's worse than the housing development going around Mauerpark. this is a park that also contains part of the wall....part of it IS a park, and therefore safe, but part of it isn't. It's not so popular for its chunk of the Wall, but more as a cultural center of the city. As a park, it's nothing special looking, but every Sunday the place turns into a giant festival. There's a huge flea market (not in the park part), there's karaoke (in the park part), entertainers of all sorts, and people just enjoying the place. At the far edge of the park, there are a series of old warehouses that have been turned into a sort of beer garden, and a children's petting zoo, and community garden. They managed to expand the park, but the last part was supposed to be turned into housing. It was supposed to be "social housing", which wasn't so much of an issue, but then it became clear that the promise was not going to be upheld and it would be luxury condos. This area is huge on gentrification and a lot of original residents have been pushed out (I can't comment because I also live in a new, nice condo in such a neighbourhood, though mine went up in a courtyard and not a park or historic site). Even the yuppies over here didn't like the idea of the park being compromised for high-end condos. everyone, rich or poor, loves that park. I almost feel the park represents a sort of democracy, where people of various backgrounds get together and it doesn't matter who you are. Due to outcry, the park was expanded, but it's looking like they can't (or won't) save the north west corner of it. I want to know who would live in a development that is so widely hated by almost the entire city.

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                      #11
                      Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

                      Originally posted by DanieMarie View Post

                      Edit: on a side note, the building proposed is ugly as hell. This is what they want to ruin a landmark for:

                      Looks like someone played too much Jenga.
                      �Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.�
                      ― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
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                      Avatar picture by the wonderful and talented TJSGrimm.

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                        #12
                        Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

                        Originally posted by Juniper View Post
                        Looks like someone played too much Jenga.
                        That's what that reminds me of!
                        http://catcrowsnow.blogspot.com/

                        But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness.... Which could obviously only be redeemed by passing through the fiery inferno of my digestive tract.
                        ~Jim Butcher

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                          #13
                          Re: Threats to the Berlin Wall

                          Originally posted by Juniper View Post
                          Looks like someone played too much Jenga.
                          Funny you should mention that....

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