Berlin

August 9. Berlin is more bustling than ever. The former East Berlin is now one big building site. Dozens of giant cranes tower over the city. Still, when you cross what used to be the dividing line, the place where the infamous wall stood, the difference is striking. Alexanderplatz, in Communist times a vast, empty, dreary expanse of concrete, has been adorned with some trees and grassy areas. Gendarmenplatz, one of the jewels of the city, is still under renovation. The communist authorities had renovated the exquisite Schinckel Theater, but one of the matching pair of churches on either side (the "French" Cathedral and the "German" Cathedral) is still in the same state of ruin as it was at the end of the war. (My photo shows the restored church.) A visit to the Museuminsel, the museum island, is thrilling, especially the Pergamon Museum. This houses many great treasures, the most important of which is the ancient altar from the Greek city of Pergamon that was brought to Berlin piece by piece and reconstructed here in the late 1800's. My other photos show the Protestant Cathedral and the Brandenburg gate. The Brandenburgertor used to straddle the border and was off-limits for thirty years. Now it has taken its place as the center of city life again. [Since then all the major museum collections of East and West have been combined and housed on the Museuminsel.]