The wide-open, bohemian Berlin of the time immediately after the wall’s fall in November 1989 is now the stuff of legend – and rightly so. Those of us who were there can attest to the thrilling originality of the impromptu cafes and bars, dance clubs and pop-up galleries. They materialised almost overnight in the basements, abandoned factories, disused shopfronts and destroyed buildings that littered downtown East Berlin in the aftermath of an exhilarating democratic revolution that upended communism and terminated the Cold War.
Remembering those days, though, and that unique moment, is more than simply an exercise in nostalgia. Berlin still lives – or perhaps better said “profits” – from the sound, aesthetic, style and spirit of the 1990s, if in a much altered, commercialised, depoliticised and made-for-the-mainstream incarnation.
“Those anarchic years have become a selling point in the global competition for tourists, investors and businesses,” writes Ulrich Gutmair, author of the catchy, recently translated memoir The First Days of Berlin. A journalist today, Swabian-born Gutmair experienced that time as a history student who moved to West Berlin three weeks before the Wall’s breach.
Gutmair and I navigated the same dilapidated neighbourhoods and barren streets of East Berlin in the months of 1990 and 1991 – although we never met. In part, at least, this is because we travelled in different worlds of the subcultural bohemia that spanned about a hundred city blocks across East Berlin, the capital of the German Democratic Republic until October 1990.
I was a young, left-leaning American journalist and spent long evenings talking politics with the revolution’s makers, who saw East Berlin and the post-communist GDR as a crucible of another kind of Germany – one better than either the post-war East or West.
Gutmair’s chronicle is about another mise en scene, one that only at times converged with mine, namely that of the first electronic dance clubs. His descriptions of the sounds and smells, bass drums and breakbeats, the low-ceilinged and cinder-strewn dance floors transport one to those locations better than any film version of the day. While this is a memoir, Gutmair gives voice to many of the personalities behind the projects, large and very small, that populated the city like wildflowers pushing up in the cracks and crevices of an abandoned car park.
The First Days of Berlin shows that much more than revelry made the Berlin clubs so extraordinary. Their quirky impresarios came from all over the world, including from East and West Berlin. They didn’t come to partake vicariously, but to make and create. It was as if a tsunami of creative energy had been building up for years – and indeed in the East bloc this had been exactly the case – and found the moment and geography right in 1990s Berlin.
One didn’t need capital or a credit rating to make something out of nothing, but simply a crowbar, an idea, and perseverance – and a resilience to the biting cold: it snowed and snowed during the winter of 1990-1991. The coal ovens took hours to get even warm, and then died out during the course of the night.
Gutmair captures this feeling precisely, describing the different world one entered crossing from West Berlin to East Berlin: “To cross the border was to experience how social pressures lost the power you’d always regarded as innate in them; they meant nothing here. Why live alone if you could live together? Why pay rent when you could live free of charge in a squat? Why go to work when you could make art? Why watch films and read novels when, every day and every night, you could talk to people, listen to music, party and have new experiences?”
Gutmair could perhaps tell readers a little more directly why this story is so important to Berlin today, if he thinks it is. Does the world of today’s techno clubs – with names like Katerblau, Watergate, Tresor, Wilde Renate and, of course, the worldwide citadel of electronic music, Berghain – embody any of the zeitgeist of the wonderful years of anarchy? That omission, however, is minor.
A more important point of criticism is naming persons as East German secret police informers when there’s no evidence behind these charges – and even plentiful evidence to the contrary. To do so is unscrupulous. Authors can make factual mistakes in a first edition, but a translation is a perfect opportunity to correct them. Gutmair should definitely have taken the opportunity to do this.
The First Days of Berlin will be out on January 4, 2022
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Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
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- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Here are a couple of Valentine’s Day food products that may or may not go the distance (but have got the internet talking anyway).
Sourdough sentiments: Marks & Spencer in the United Kingdom has introduced a slow-baked sourdough loaf dusted with flour to spell out I (heart) you, at £2 (Dh9.5). While it’s not available in the UAE, there’s nothing to stop you taking the idea and creating your own message of love, stencilled on breakfast-inbed toast.
Crisps playing cupid: Crisp company Tyrells has added a spicy addition to its range for Valentine’s Day. The brand describes the new honey and chilli flavour on Twitter as: “A tenderly bracing duo of the tantalising tingle of chilli with sweet and sticky honey. A helping hand to get your heart racing.” Again, not on sale here, but if you’re tempted you could certainly fashion your own flavour mix (spicy Cheetos and caramel popcorn, anyone?).
