Oh, and by the way....

Some General Observations

Buildings and Architecture

Berlin was largely destroyed in the War. As a result, the buildings that existed before the Wall came down (in 1989) belong to three types: 1) a few old buildings that were habitable with some repairs, 2) completely new (think 1950 – 1960) buildings, and 3) buildings that were reconstructed to look like the buildings that used to be there (primarily palaces and some government buildings). Some of the new buildings, especially in the West, were designed by important architects of that time period. Most of the buildings in the east were designed according to the socialist workers' concepts of monumental (or at least big) and poor quality.

Since the Wall was removed along with the “no-man's land and mine fields, valuable property became available in what had been, historically, the very middle of the city. The center of the city, Pariser Platz, right in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the beginning of the avenue Unter den Linden again became a focal point. The Reichstag building right around the corner was rehabilitated to be the seat of the German Bundestag (parliament). The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is just down the street. Potsdamer Platz, a subject of other blog postings, is completely new with shining buildings and eye-popping architecture.

In addition, they are now replacing, among a few other old buildings, the city palace of the Prussian kings. They are placing this new construction on the completely empty lot where it stood until bombs destroyed it in the war. The East German government had razed it and replaced it with an ugly government building, now removed.

Much like Washington DC or like the imperial parts of Paris, Berlin has broad avenues. In fact, there are almost no narrow lanes like one might see in old European cities. Roads are not in a grid, and it's hard to get your bearings, but most of the roads are wide and accommodating. Distances are relatively long between sites, like in Washington.

There are signs at most corners specifying which direction and how far the closest 3 to 6 sites may be found.

Ground Water

Throughout the city you see huge, usually blue, overhead pipes 8 to 12 inches in diameter spanning streets and following streets. These pipes often have traffic signs attached to them where they cross a street. I wondered what they were. In a city that has only underground electrical wires, cable TV, and phone lines, why would they have these obtrusive, above-ground things that look like water mains?

Turns out that the water table in Berlin is only inches below the ground. Historically, when buildings were small, this was not a problem. In fact, buildings hundreds of years ago until the beginning of the 20th Century usually had wooden foundations. The high water table actually acted to preserve these foundations, sometimes for centuries.

Once they started building sky-scrapers (such a building is called a Hochhaus, or high house), they could not pour concrete foundations with all the ground water in the way. They had to pipe it out, and that's what those huge pipes are all about. Anywhere there is a construction site in the vicinity is likely to have such pipes sticking out of the ground. I don't know what happens when the construction is done. Since I don't see such pipes around Potsdamer Platz, for example, I assume they are removed.

In the meantime, the little houses with wooden foundations suffer rotting foundations.

Jewish Day School

There are a couple of Jewish day schools in town. Perhaps the most successful is Chabad's. At the orthodox shul I frequented, very few kids show up. At Chabad many more come to services. The really gratifying turnout is the attendance by college students, about every other week at the Chabad and alternating weeks at the orthodox shul.

Buying Domestic Cars

In Germany 8 of 10 cars are German cars. Other than them, you see Toyotas and Hyudais, an occasional Suzuki, and that's about it. One is compelled to ask, “How do domestic cars compete with Japanese cars?” I haven't studied the tariff structures, but you can be sure that Germans are buying cars that are fuel efficient, as the price of gas is between 150% and 200% of the price in the US, largely due to taxation.

In addition, Berlin has a designated “Umweltzone” (Environmental Zone) within the S-Bahn perimeter. Cars must carry a sticker to be permitted entry into that zone.

Economic Crisis

Everyone blames the US for the crisis in which we find ourselves these days. It's not as bad in Germany as in the US, but layoffs are increasing. The government has an almost universal safety net. Some people fall through, but for the most part, people don't seem to be losing their homes and don't seem to be homeless in general. By the way, religious and social organizations as well as the government itself provides support for the homeless. You see almost no homeless on the streets. As in any big city, you do see a some panhandling and some people performing for donations on the street or in the subway.

Interest rates, though, look a lot better than in the US. While it's hard to find an account these days in the States paying more than 3% (and that's difficult), I've seen numerous banks paying 4.35% and more – for savings accounts.