The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape

302 Pages·2018·23.082 MB·English

by  Brian Ladd

The Ghosts of Berlin

The Ghosts of Berlin
Confronting
German
History in
the Urban
Landscape
with a new
afterword
Brian Ladd
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1997 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1997.
Paperback edition 1998
Expanded edition 2018
Printed in the United States of America
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-55872-1 (paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-55886-8 (e-book)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226558868.001.0001
Frontispiece: Berlin Wall and Potsdamer Platz, 1966, looking east. Photo
courtesy of Landesbildstelle. The map facing page 1 is by Ellen Cesarski.
Uncredited photographs are by the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ladd, Brian, 1957– author.
Title: The ghosts of Berlin : confronting German history in the urban
landscape / Brian Ladd ; with a new afterword.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2018. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017053374 | ISBN 9780226558721 (pbk : alk. paper)
| ISBN 9780226558868 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: City planning—Germany—Berlin. |
Urbanization—Germany—Berlin—History. | City and town
life—Germany—Berlin—History. | Urban ecology
(Sociology)—Germany—Berlin. | Berlin (Germany)—History.
Classification: LCC HT169.G32 B4127 2018 | DDC
307.1/2160943155—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017053374
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI-NISO Z39.48-1992 (Perma-
nence of Paper).
Contents
Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Berlin Walls 7
2 Old Berlin 41
3 Metropolis 83
4 Nazi Berlin 127
5 Divided Berlin 175
6 Capital of the New Germany 217
Afterword: Two Decades Later 237
Chronology of Berlin’s History 257
Notes 267
Bibliography 277
Index 281

Illustra tions
Central Berlin in the 1990s Facino paoe J
1 Pieces of Wall, Brehmestrasse, Berlin-Pankow, 1991 8
2 Vendor selling pieces of Berlin Wall 9
3 Berlin's districts 14
4 Berlin Wall being built 17
5 Postcard: "Greetings from Berlin" 20
6 Allied sectors of Berlin 21
7 Crosses at the Wall near the Reichstag 24
•
Memorial to slain border guards, East Berlin 25
9 Berlin Wall, 1983 26
10 Wall graffiti 27
11 East Side Gallery 36
12 Scaffolding and canvas facade on site of royal
palace, 1993 42
13 Nikolai Quarter 45
14 Berlin, 1737 49
15 Royal palace 50
16 Marx-Engels-Platz and Palace of the Republic 58
17 Brandenburg Gate, 1898 72
1. Brandenburg Gate, 1959 77
19 Brandenburg Gate, November 1989 78
20 Reichstag, circa 1901 87
21 Reichstag, after 1945 90
22 Wrapped Reichstao, 1995 93
23 Aerial view of central Berlin, 1939 97
24 Eighteenth-century houses in Potsdam 99
vii
56 Berlin Wall memorial 239
57 Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe 247
58 Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe 248
59 Stumbling stones 252
vviiiiii
Acknowledgments
Berliners-especially those typical Berliners who come from
somewhere else-love to talk about their city. I have borrowed
ideas from friends and strangers alike and in many cases have
conveniently forgotten whom to credit. For assistance offered in
their particular areas of expertise, however, I would like to thank
Michael S. Cullen, Frank Dingel, Eberhard EIfert, Alfred Kernd'l,
Annette Tietenberg, Helmut Trotnow, Johannes Tuchel, James
J. Ward, and Horst Weiss.
The Free University's Berlin Program for Advanced German
and European Studies brought me to Berlin to do another proj
ect-but it brought me to Berlin. The American Council of
Learned Societies supported a summer research trip to study the
Wall. I profited from the use of newspaper archives at the Free
University's Otto-Suhr-Institut, the Humboldt University, the
TaBeszeitunB, the Aktives Museum Faschismus und Widerstand,
and the Gedenkstatte Deutscher Widerstand.
I am especially grateful to those who read and commented
on all or part of the manuscript: Richard Bodek, Donna Harsch,
Claus Kapplinger, Daniel Mattern, Dan Sherman, Ray Stokes,
Sam Tanenhaus, and the Press's anonymous reviewers. Karen
Wilson and the staff of the University of Chicago Press guided
the manuscript through a lengthy but useful review process.
Finally, Louise Burkhart was my most careful and relentless critic
and supporter. This book is for her and for Clare, whose immi
nent arrival spurred me to completion of the manuscript and
whose presence keeps me from brooding about faraway cities.
ix