Berlin: A look at the past, a race toward the future

November 11, 1996

(CNN) -- Berlin has had one of the most colorful and chaotic histories of any modern European city. Now Germany's largest city is preparing to make history again with the government's scheduled move East, from Bonn to Berlin, by the year 2000.

Just seven years ago, things were quite different in Berlin. The Berlin Wall and the desolate no-man's land surrounding it ran through what are now the city's top tourist spots.

In 1989, the world was caught off guard when a spokesman for East Germany's Communist Party casually announced at the end of a news conference that East Germans were free to travel abroad.

That statement changed the face of Europe forever, and hours later the Berlin Wall began to fall. Within a year, the two Germanys became one after more than 40 years of separation.

Since the fall of the wall, Berlin has undergone a transformation. Construction work is one of the first things to greet visitors these days as Berlin begins to evolve into the country's capital.

Tours of construction sites like Potsdamer Platz are all the rage. Nestled in the heart of Berlin, the square was the busiest in Europe during its heyday before the World War II. However, the war and the building of the Berlin Wall left it a desolate area.

Now, plans to make Potsdamer Platz a hub once more are under way. Sixty cranes and 4,000 workers make it the biggest construction site in Europe, and one of Berlin's No. 1 tourist attractions. A three-story "info box" is set up to welcome visitors and give them an idea of what the future office, entertainment and apartment complex will look like.

Brandenburg Gate, inspired by the Acropolis in Athens, is a landmark that has seen its share of history from Prussian parades to Nazi marches and East German patrols.

For many years, the gate was off-limits to tourists because of the Berlin Wall and was symbolic of a divided Germany. Now, it's the symbol of a united country and is a gathering place for visitors and peddlers. Tourists will find Soviet and East German memorabilia for sale, as well as pieces of the wall.

For another, perhaps harsher, look at Cold War rule, the Hohenschoenhausen Prison sits on the outskirts of what used to be East Berlin. Until 1951, it was used by the Soviets. Some inmates' cells are now open to the public, including the padded cell and the water torture cell. The East German secret police, or Stasi, once used the jail but gave up their predecessors' physical torture for mental torture -- in the form of interrogations.

The Cold War did leave Berlin with some benefits. It is home to dozens of treasure-filled museums and cultural sites, like the 630-acre public park, The Tiergarten. Tiergarten, which literally means "animal garden," gave West Berliners a chance to enjoy nature, even though it was surrounded by Communist East Berlin when the city was divided.

Destroyed during World War II, it was rebuilt and is now home to an abundance of shrubs and flower beds, statues, idyllic lakes with rowboats, restaurants and walking paths.

Kennedy remembered

The Schoneberg Rathaus was once the town hall for West Berlin. The building's 230-foot-high clock tower has a replica of the U.S. Liberty Bell, which hangs at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It was a gift from Americans to the people of Berlin. Seventeen million Americans contributed money for the bell during the 1948-49 Crusade for Freedom. Their signatures are preserved in a book in the tower. The bell rings at noon every day and on special occasions.

It was from the tower balcony in June 1963 that President John F. Kennedy issued his famous words: "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'" After his assassination, the square in front of Schoneberg Town Hall was renamed John F. Kennedy Platz.

The most famous street in Berlin is the two-mile Kurfurstendamm, affectionately called the "Ku'damm" by Berliners. The city's most popular shopping street and promenade is lined with upscale shops, hotels and cafes. During the Cold War, the Ku'damm symbolized all that Western capitalism had to offer.

Anchored at one end of the two-mile Ku'damm is Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Built in the 1890s to mark the 20th anniversary of the Second German Reich, it was almost leveled by Allied bombs during World War II. In the early 1960s, controversial additions were made surrounding the shell of the landmark. It remains a testament to the horrors of war, and a memorial hall was built inside the ruined tower for the city's 750th birthday in 1987.

The city's picture-perfect sites, such as the Brandenburg Gate, offer visitors a peek inside history and a time to reflect on the past and the present, the East and the West.

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