Memories Of A Unified
(an article)
In 1992 I took a tour to the former Eastern Bloc countries previously closed to
the West. Amongst the cities visited, one of the most memorable was
Everywhere cranes stood skeletally over enormous building works. Cat's cradles
of pastel-coloured pipes straddled streets, criss-crossed junctions and
wandered over wastelands. A construction engineer's dream,
The Brandenburg Gate, formerly the boundary between East and West, now proudly
faces the new Parliament buildings, the symbol of a unified
Also on the K'damm, is the smart department store
CDV, which enjoys a prominent position in the
huge city, and rivals
Taking the glass-walled lift to the higher floors was the tea section where
birch and elm cabinets fitted with small drawers with brass fittings housed the
selection. These listed the names of the many varieties of teas. Lapsang Suchong;
Then, one arrived at the open-plan, glass-walled restaurant. Here there were
special sections for every food. Health, Chinese,
smorgasbord, carvery, salad-bars, and of course every
kind of sausage, Germans lurve sausages. In
another area were sumptuous cakes, puddings and strudels, each one an enticing
example of the pattisier's art. Displayed in shining
splendour, topped with cream, cherries, hand-made chocolate and spun sugar, one
could feel the ripples of temptation from the onlookers. Making a choice was
difficult.
Further along, cheeses of all types jostled with breads and rolls, plain and
salted biscuits, snacks and savouries. However, these foods are in luxury shops
everywhere. What really grabbed the imagination were the table decorations, the
fanciful settings and imaginative use of ice-sculpture, and the delicately
carved fruit and vegetables. It was a tribute to the skill and creativity of
the chefs and pastry-cooks of KAY-DEE-VEE.
"Check-Point Charlie" museum, formed from two battered double-story
houses close to the infamous East/West barrier, was filled with thousands of
mementoes of 40 years of Communist oppression. It generated great interest, as
well as sadness for the wasted energy of ideological oppression and the lives
it blighted.
Testament to the desperation of the East Germans to escape from Communist
domination, it houses hundreds of ingenious inventions used to cross over the
Wall, ranging from a one-man glider to a mini-submarine and everything
in-between. A tiny VW Beetle converted to carry a hidden passenger stood in
pride of place, while a clumsy under-water breathing apparatus - refined and
improved - was later sold to the Canadians for naval use. Photographs of
dangerously unstable tunnels bear witness to daring attempts to rejoin divided
families. With tears in our eyes and lumps in our throats, we imagined what
these people had endured after more than sixty years of aggression.
Our first glimpse of the famous Wall was unimpressive. Dirty, bland, it was
very different from the fearsome barrier we'd imagined. Scrawled with grafitti and crude ugly pictures of Breshnev
and Brandt embracing in the "Kiss of Peace" - the enemies' first
stumbling effort at re-unification - it was a pathetic remainder of the
fearsome barrier separating nations. For years, this wall had alienated
thousands of "Ossies" and forced them to
live lives of austere deprivation under Communism. Unification had come at last giving the "have-nots" a taste of
what life could offer, and they were grabbing it with both hands.
Barbara Durlacher
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Name |
Comment |
Date |
|
James |
I stumbled over the opening
paragraphs unsure whether this was a history/architectural lesson or a
memoir. Points 3 - Very promising piece of writing |
2008-02-22 |