BERLIN, May 29 - The city
split by the Cold War was reunited in 1989 after the euphoric collapse of the
Berlin Wall but divisions between the formerly Communist East and West Berlin's
enclave of capitalism still linger.
Berlin, by far Germany's largest city with a population of 3.4 million, will
host the World Cup final on July 9 at the Olympiastadion, an honour it was
denied in 1974 when the World Cup was last held on German soil and the final was
in Munich.
The reunited capital has borne the brunt of the best and the worst of
Germany's turbulent history. Shiny new office towers and modernised quarters
stand in contrast to older pock-marked buildings, silent testimony to World War
Two bombs and bullets.
Berlin's high unemployment rate, low rents and falling property values also
reflect a weak underlying economy that belies the ostensible wealth and power on
display in the newly renovated government quarter or posh new shopping
districts.
Unlike European capitals such as London or Paris that dominate their
countries, Berlin faces constant challenge from provincial cities -- leery of
centralised power after the Nazi abuses -- that compete for funding, cultural
events and corporations.
The loss of many key pre-war industries -- the banks went to Frankfurt and
firms like Siemens fled to Munich -- has left gaping holes in the local economy
and mountains of public debt.
Berlin, where people from all 31 visiting World Cup teams live in a melting
pot made up of 180 nations, will be briefly reunited at least emotionally in
celebrations around the tournament -- especially in vast public viewing areas at
the Brandenburg Gate.
The city, a magnet for students, artists, filmmakers and musicians, is hoping
stimulus from the World Cup will inject a new optimism to help overcome
structural woes and its trauma-filled history.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to present Berlin to the world with
positive news," said Klaus Wowereit, Berlin's popular mayor -- first elected
after outing himself as gay.
"Germans might not be temperamental or break out in dance spontaneously like
in Mediterranean climates but we have people from 180 countries. It's our chance
to show we're a city open to the world. Cultural diversity is not a threat but
our asset."
GOOD PARTIES
Wowereit is confident Berlin's enthusiasm for a good party -- more than a
million revellers crowd around the Brandenburg Gate each New Year's Eve for one
of the biggest celebrations anywhere in the world -- will leave a lasting
impression.
"Our aim is to measure up against Paris and London," he said.
Yet the east-west divisions in politics, attitudes and other areas will
return by September when a city election will again show the former Communist
party to be the strongest in east Berlin while western parties will control the
western districts.
Most of the Berlin Wall was torn down in the heady weeks that followed its
breaching in 1989, when strangers in the east and west threw their arms around
each other in moving embraces in front of the Cold War barrier.
The internal divisions it left behind, however, seem to have only deepened in
the intervening 17 years. While streets, bridges and train lines severed for
three decades were re-connected, there was no emotional rapprochement after the
initial joy wore off.
There are countless east-west splits. East Berliners earn less, though they
work longer hours. Their life expectancy is shorter. They like different food
and use different words for everything from grilled chicken to apartments.
Even when it comes to soccer, east Berliners tend to support Union Berlin
while westerners are more often fans of Hertha Berlin, who play in the
74,220-seat Olympiastadion.
East Berliners read different newspapers, watch different films, different TV
programmes, and are more likely to sunbathe naked -- a cherished expression of
"freedom" in the Communist state that is now a source of summertime east-west
tensions.
When it comes to love and marriage, there are hardly any east-west
relationships. Less than three percent of Berlin marriages each year are
east-west affairs. Berliners are 10 times more likely to marry foreigners than
each other.
It may be hard to find anyone who admits missing the Wall -- except maybe cab
drivers stuck in traffic. But many will tell anyone who listens that the Wall
also had its advantages.
