All European cities somehow look identical to me. Berlin isno exception. The German capital is a heady blend of the old and new withtradition and modernity living in harmony with each other. The lengths to whichthe Europeans go to take care of their cities is instructive and fascinating.For them, they are not merely urban habitats but their nation’s heritage. Thepast is preserved and prized with a passion that is quite alien to us.
Unlike in much of the Middle East and South Asia, wherehistory is taken for granted and often neglected, no landmarks and monumentsare allowed to go to seed in Europe. Every tiny slice of history is preservedfor the posterity with great care.
While European cities like Berlin and London proudly liveand breathe their past, great historical cities like Delhi are falling apartand cheap, dangerous politics is played over the globally celebrated icons likethe Taj Mahal.
Exploring Berlin today, it is hard to believe this is thecity that had been at the heart of the action during World War II. Being at thehead of Hitler’s unstoppable juggernaut that ravaged the continent, Berlin hada ringside view of the most catastrophic war in history.
Nearly 70 million people — about the size of Iran’spopulation — died, not to mention the economic and other incalculable costs ofthe war. The Nazi monster was eventually defanged, but not before it had turnedEurope upside down. It took the collective might of the US, Soviet Russia,Britain and the rest of Europe to bring the Fuhrer to his knees.
The Allied bombing totally decimated Germany with thevictors partitioning the country and even dividing Berlin right down themiddle, not to mention millions killed and raped. The wall that came up betweenthe two halves of Berlin came to define not just the division of one countrybut epitomised the split of the world into two perpetually bickering blocs andan inevitable nuclear holocaust.
No wonder when the Berlin wall came crashing down, it wasnot just the Germans who cheered; the world celebrated with them. The groundhad truly shifted. More important, it marked the beginning of the end of theSoviet socialist empire, setting off a tsunami of change, much like the ArabSpring revolutions of 2011.
So it all began and ended here in Berlin. For years anddecades, Germany had been humiliated and made to pay for Hitler’s crimesagainst humanity and delusions of grandeur.
Today, the scars of that destruction and all the evil thatoriginated here are hardly visible. What is truly extraordinary is theincredible pace at which Germany has managed to spring back to its feet. Likethe mythical phoenix, it has risen from its ashes, just as it had after WorldWar I, emerging even more powerful, and clearly wiser in its new avatar.
It hasn’t just managed to survive years of humiliation andpunishment that followed WWII, it has emerged as Europe’s largest economy andglobal power. Although its military wings still remain clipped, and like Japan,it is still dependent on the US and NATO for its protection and defence,Germany has begun to come into its own slowly and surely.
With the economic meltdown claiming one formidable EuropeanUnion economy after another, the impregnable economic fortress that Europe usedto be has suddenly started wobbling ever so slightly. The only port that lookssafe in this storm is Germany. Even more so after a Britain, full of hubris,decided to walk out of the European Union.
Save for some awfully polite protests demanding higher wagesand curbs over immigration, Germany did not witness the chaos that ruled thestreets of Europe after the 2008-9 crash. Its economy remains robust and haseven been extending a helping hand to others.
The country has invested in a great deal of hard work andfamous German dedication over the decades to reach where it finds itself today.The Germans put in the longest working hours in Europe.
It has moved forward on other fronts too. It appears to havelearned from its past and is ever mindful of what happened to minorities underthe Nazis. There are no attempts to gloss over the past or brush it under thecarpet. The city guide on television in my room at InterContinental goes togreat lengths to highlight the memorials and sites associated with the Jewishsuffering and persecution.
So is the mindset that created the Nazi Frankenstein andsent millions to their deaths dead and buried now? Well, it is still seen inoccasional targeting of mosques and Jewish and Muslim cemeteries. However,despite the growth of far-right anti-immigrant parties like AfD (Alternativefor Germany), the Right has yet to acquire fearsome proportions that it haselsewhere in the region, thanks to the mature leadership of Chancellor AngelaMerkel, who is on her way out after years at the helm, making way for a youngerleadership.
Perhaps to compensate for its past, Merkel’s Germanygenerously welcomed refugees from conflict zones in the Middle East and Africa,especially the victims of the Syrian conflict. In 2015, at the height of theSyrian refugee crisis, Germany accepted at least a million refugees. Peopleopened their homes and churches to accommodate the guests, winning hearts andminds around the world, especially in the Islamic world.
When it comes to safety and a general sense of security forreligious and cultural minorities, Germany is perhaps far ahead of manyEuropean nations that trumpet themselves as champions of human rights andtolerance.
While in neighbouring France, Austria and the Netherlands,the vilification of immigrants, especially Muslims, has acquired dangerousproportions, Germany has managed to buck this growing trend of demonising theOther. The country is home to around 6 million Muslims, a majority of them fromTurkey (two-thirds of them), the Balkans, and North African Arab countries,forming 5 per cent of the 82 million population. German Muslims are at peace withthemselves and their adopted nation even as they remain loyal to their faithand traditions.
You see Middle Eastern or halal eateries all over Berlin andelsewhere with the Germans queuing up for their regulation Doner kebab withtheir characteristic discipline. While my Arab friends exult over theubiquitous blondes, repeatedly gushing, “Wallah so pretty, so pretty all ofthem!” I could not help notice quite a few colourful scarves wherever we went.
A recent survey by the German government together with theOIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) found that Muslims are at peace withthemselves and better integrated in German society than other European nations.Compared to France and Britain, the second generation German Muslims,especially women, are better educated and more upwardly mobile than theirparents’ generation.
Clearly, when it comes to tolerance and cultural diversity,nations like Merkel’s Germany and Jacinda Ardern’s New Zealand can teach alesson or two to the rest of the West. Adolf must be turning in his grave.