Jahrbuch 2014-2015

53 Schule A city of contrast I have never in my life encountered a city quite like Berlin, a city literally made from con- trast between new and old; east and west; rich and poor. Its everywhere where ever you go within Berlin you get the impression of this modern and important city playing a very curi- os balancing act that so that it can survive and accommodate its people and its slightly contro- versial history. I have the impression this balan- cing act is the only way a city like Berlin would be able to survive and in actual fact it seems to thrive on these contrasts by capitalising and exploiting them for tourism and itself. From what I have seen the city does this brilliantly by converting old and dilapidated buil- dings into something new and exciting like the old brewery that was converted to a cultural centre. This contrast is also apparent in the peo- ple of Berlin, with people from all social, eco- nomic and ethnic groups mixing in this melting pot of a city. But in my point of view in spite of all the attempts by the city to eliminate the affects of some of its less than ideal past the- re still seem to be remnants of its history that affect the city to this day and in some cases affect it negatively, for example the territories occupied by the soviet union during the war still to this day seem to be slightly inferior to the western half due to the fact that the buildings on the hole are just less lavish and slightly dila- pidated as well as the fact that eastern Berlin seems to host poorer people within the city. Although this might be a negative aspect in some ways in other ways it is positive because eastern Berlin seems very lively, colourful and diverse with a very strong international commu- nity there which is a bit of a contrast to the con- ventional modern western Berlin. In conclusion Berlin is wonderful and unique city unlike any other I have seen in my life. Jurgen Slabber