Berlin Is the Johannesburg of Europe

I spent three days in Berlin, which is not enough time to get to know a place and make dramatic pronouncements like, “Berlin is the Johannesburg of Europe.”

But I’m saying it anyway because that’s how I felt when I was there.

Berlin/Joburg

Of course there are the obvious differences. Berlin is in Europe and Joburg is in Africa. Berlin is wealthier and cleaner and has far less poverty than Joburg. Berlin certainly has less crime and is safer to walk in at night. Berlin has superior public transportation to Joburg. Berlin is gloriously flat, making it an excellent city for cycling, and doesn’t have any mine dumps.

Unlike Joburg, I hear Berlin has horrible weather in winter.

And yet there are so many similarities.

Both cities are full of immigrants.

Both cities feel chaotic in their own ways, and are considered atypical compared with other cities in the same country. Both cities are artistic, creative hubs.

Both cities have beautiful graffiti and an anything-goes kind of vibe. Both cities have incredibly friendly people who seem to provide inexplicably unfriendly service.

Both Berlin and Joburg have painful, tumultuous histories and their people were victimized by repressive, brutal regimes that lasted until the recent past. Both cities have supposedly “moved on”, but the scars remain.

Both cities have changed dramatically over the last few decades. Both cities are quirky, hard to fathom, and kind of make no sense.

Both cities are beautiful but the beauty must be uncovered.

Getting to Know Berlin

As I mentioned previously, my friend Jeroen lives in Berlin and knows everything about the city. I spent two days cycling the streets with Jeroen and learning everything I could.

We spent the first day cycling along the path of the Berlin Wall. Jeroen explained the history of this crazy structure.

Modeling with some remnants of the Berlin Wall. (Photo: Jeroen Van Marle)

I can’t believe how little I knew about the Berlin Wall before this trip. I’d always imagined it as a straight wall dividing the city neatly in half, with the western half of the country on one side and the eastern half on the other.

In reality the Berlin Wall meandered, zig-zagging haphazardly to separate the districts belonging to East and West Germany. When the wall was built in 1961 (so recent!), it divided streets. Buildings standing on the edge of the East Berlin side were closed off, the west-facing windows and doors filled in with bricks. People tried to jump out of those windows before they were filled; some jumped to their deaths. Churches along the wall were closed and eventually destroyed.

Couples got married on the streets below the new wall so their parents on the other side – who suddenly couldn’t cross to be with their children – could witness the wedding.

I never knew before that Berlin was not actually the dividing line between these two “countries”. In fact, the city of West Berlin was completely surrounded by East Germany – in the same way Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa – a small island of “freedom” in a communist sea.

None of it made sense. How could anyone have ever thought this made sense?

The Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the year before Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

I could go on and on about the history of the Berlin Wall and how astonishing and violent and non-sensical it was. Much like I could go on and on about the history of apartheid for basically the same reasons.

This post is getting long though. Let me just share a few more pictures of interesting things I saw and did in Berlin.

The stunning and poignant Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe**.

More Kreuzberg street art.

Berlin is my kind of city. I guess that’s another thing it shares with Joburg. I hope to go back soon.

If you happen to find yourself in Berlin, check out Berlin In Your Pocket. I’m a huge fan of the In Your Pocket guides (especially Joburg in Your Pocket), and Jeroen writes for the Berlin guide.