Learning Objective: This is a reading and comprehension and conversation. At the end of the session, the participants are expected to be able to practice reading properly, enhance comprehension and and discuss confidently the issue.


Introduction Question

How many memories of a dark past should a city preserve?

It's a question Berlin struggles with constantly, says DW's Louise Osborne.


For many, Berlin's charm comes from its connection to recent history and the way it has been shaped by world events through the 20th century - arguably more so than any other European city.

Evidence of these historic events can been seen all over Berlin, including the Olympic Stadium and Finance Ministry built by the Nazis, the Holocaust Memorial, the Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism, the Berlin Wall, Teufelsberg and Checkpoint Charlie.

But what would it mean for Berlin if the relics and memorials to its past disappeared?

That question took on a keen sense of reality when local media reported that the owners of the plots of land on either side of Checkpoint Charlie had become insolvent. An Irish investor has said he hopes to pay off the debts and use the land for retail and residential developments, while including a Cold War museum or memorial.

The former checkpoint between East and West Berlin is the most famous of all the crossings through the Berlin Wall. It was the site of one of the tensest standoffs between Soviet and American tanks, nearly triggering a third world war.

The news that it was under threat has been met with mixed reactions from Berliners. Some are also outraged by the recent appearance of fast-food stands and the thought of further commercialization of the site.

Still, others would gladly see Checkpoint Charlie gone so they could forget the past and finally move on.

Remember or move on?

The conflict is just one example of Berlin's never-ending dilemma: Should the city preserve relics of a past fraught with some of the darkest times in human history, or should it sweep them aside in order to move on?

"Checkpoint Charlie was an important gap in the Wall, which doesn't exist anymore, but at the same time it was a site of enormous historical significance and that needs some sort of recognition and regulation. The question is, how to deal with it?" said Fredrik Torisson, author of "Berlin - Matter of Memory," which explores the city through its relics and monuments.

...cont.


Relics and monuments

Other relics have changed in their significance to the city.

Tempelhof Airport was built by the Nazis in the 1930s at the heart of what Hitler wanted to become Germania. Later, the airport became a symbol of freedom as the site of the Berlin Airlift. From June 1948 to May 1949, more than 200,000 flights brought supplies provided by the United States and the United Kingdom to West Berlin while it was besieged by Soviet forces.

Torisson said that monuments are "subjective interpretations of history, while relics are open to interpretation with a historical significance to those to whom it played an importance on the world wide stage."

...cont.



Discussion