Our trip to Berlin last week ended up being a lot more eventful and entertaining than I had at first hoped. Going on previously disappointing experiences, I was pleasantly surprised by the city this time, maybe as we were also visiting relatives there this time, as opposed to just doing the tourist thing.
Still, when our cousin suggested we stop by the East Side Gallery as a "must", I was a tad skeptical. I am about most "must do" tourist things, you understand, but we decided to give it a go. I'm glad we did.
Essentially, the East Side Gallery is a long series of murals on the bank of the Spree, adorning the longest surviving strip of the Berlin Wall.
Naturally, almost all the wall art (stunning, tbh) relates in some way to freedom, with some murals addressing current wars, while others served as throwbacks to the time when the Berlin Wall was more than just a tourist attraction.
I won't bore you trying to describe, as I think art is subjective and best appreciated on an individual level.
Instead, I'll just show you some of my favorite pieces, and share some personal thoughts.
As I walked along the Berlin Wall, I was struck by how small it was, really. In my mind, I'd always pictured this sky-high, insurmountable wall. I suppose you would. But when faced with the actual thing, I was stunned. It could've easily been the wall guarding someone's yard or something. Not in length, of course, but in height? Definitely.
I'm sure I wasn't the first one to look at it and lightly think "I coulda jumped that". As I'm sure many tried. I imagine some succeeded, while many more were probably brought down and punished accordingly. As an example, of course, but also as chastisement for the worst crime of all - thinking you can be free.
Many more, I'm sure, didn't even try. Some may have contemplated it but didn't have the gall, for lack of a better word. In their situation, I doubt I would've tried jumping the wall. Others probably never even thought about it. Not seriously, at least. Not as a valid option.
It's all in a state of mind, as an old poem goes, and freedom is for many minds a commodity, but not a must.
After all, how many people attempted to fight "the law" during the pandemic? This time in our recent past, bricks and mortar were not needed to impinge on one's freedom of movement, yet the effect was much the same.
It's certainly interesting to consider. If any politician would've suggested an actual wall, it might not have gone down so well. And yet, the same authoritarian terror reigned. Not just behind the Iron Curtain, but right here, in our precious civilized Western world.
Why didn't they try to fight, then? Was it because they were all terrified of a virus that the vast majority of the population survived without a hitch? Or was it because it was the law, and you're supposed to obey it? I lean towards the latter.
Another interesting question to ponder - how many people secretly agreed or in some way condoned the Berlin Wall?
Sure, if told the story of poor Ivan or Gustav or whoever and his family behind the wall, they might go "aww". But really, I imagine there were quite a few people over in the West who thought us backwards Eastern peasants got what we deserved. Not in as many words, probably, but we were as a mass, dirty filthy commies, right? No doubt, people in Communist countries agreed with their leaders, ergo they deserved privation and punishment.
At the very least, you had to secretly be glad it wasn't you. It's an interesting thought, that if your house had been a kilometer to the east, you would've spent the next half a century inside a Communist regime. Has an odd twinge of random chance to it, and we don't like chance anywhere near us, lest it turn rotten.
At the end of the day, it's very nice to walk along the remnant of a tragedy past and ponder the wrong-doers, the monsters of yore. However, I think it's far more useful, when viewing these freedom murals, that we consider the evil within ourselves. The parts of us that could most easily be made to turn against a brother. We hated our families during the pandemic, and we'll hate them if they vote for Trump. We hate them if they're pro-Israel or pro-Palestine.
Because that evil that creates walls, that's all inside us, baby. Brick and mortar's just a statement. And it's that evil we need to keep a careful eye on, lest history repeat itself.
Obviously, the point of this is not to make light of what was a terrible tragedy. It's to learn. That's what history's there for, not just to give us interesting tourist attractions to gawk at and post on Instagram about. And it doesn't seem to me like we're learning much more from our past, other than marketing. This time, they knew the brick and mortar would be seen as crass, so they let them aside.
