In Search of Berlin

Book Recommendation: "In Search of Berlin. The Story of Europe's Most Important City," by John Kampfner

John Kampfner is a  veteran British foreign-affairs correspondent with years of experience reporting from Germany.  His last book was Why the Germany Does it Better. Notes from a Grown-Up Country. As the title of that work suggests, Kampfner is a great admirer of Germany, and his new book displays a grest affection for Germany's capital city.  Kampfner sets out to describe "Berlin exceptionalism": the spirit of anarchic freedom and creativity that sets Berlin apart from so many other German and European cities.  The book's chapters are arranged chronologically,  depicting the great events and upheavals, the triumphs and the catastrophes, of German history that have shaped and shaken Berlin  over the past 300 years.   Berlin's need to repeatedly  "reinvent" itself, argues Kampfner, accounts for the incredible cultural vitality,  the sense of freedom and abandon, that has been attracting creative  talents to Berlin for centuries.

Another theme running throughout the book is Errinerungskultur,  Germany's "remembrance culture," a core constituent  of post-war liberal-democratic German national identity. The Federal German president Richard von Weizsäcker best expressed remembrance culture  in a  1985 speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the end of the Second World War: "Those who refuse to look at the past remain blind to the present; those who refuse to remember the inhumanity remain prone to new outbreaks of the virus," As Kampfner shows, no German city displays the rembrance culture like Berlin, which he calls "the city that can't stop remembering."  All throughout Berlin, residents and visitors are constantly confronted by reminders of Germany's troubled  past, be they memorials, bulletholes, or the ubiquitous "Stumbling Stones": small bronze plaques placed set into the sidewalk in front of the last-known voluntary addresses of victims of Nazi tyranny. As Kampfner remarks, it's an interesting pastime to watch passersby and see how they react to the Stumbing Stones, or if they react at all.

The strength of the book is Kampfner's casual tone. Reading it is like accompanying a friend on a walk throughout the city. (The chapters are based on actual walks Kampfner took throughout Berlin and the surrounding area.) The friend knows a great deal about the places he shows you. True, not all of his stories are accurate, but they are never dull, and you just want him to keep on talking. 

The book has its faults: many  small factual errors  and a few major ones  (one can only hope a historian didn't edit the manuscript).  Kampfner mixes up members of the former Prussian royal and German imperial dynasty, the Hohenzollern.  He repeats the debunked legend that the underground station Anton-Wilhelm-Amo (formerly Mohrenstraße) was built with marble taken from the destroyed Reich Chancellery. He also makes false claims such as that the achievements of the liberal-democratic revolution of 1848/9  "were reversed in all the German states." (The constitution the Prussian king was forced to sign during the Revolution remained in place).

To be fair, however, Kampfner is a  journalist, not a historian; and his main concern is with present-day Berlin. His familiarity with the city is formidable; and his account is enriched by his conversations with prominent Berliners.  For instance, the excellent chapter on Berlin's Jews, "Back Where They Belong," is largely based on a discussion with Hermann Simon, the son of a Holocaust victim who survived the war hiding in the city, and the longtime director of the Centrum Judaicum, (the Berlin Jewish Cultural Center). Jews were in Berlin from almost the very beginning. They were repeatedy driven out over the centuries, but some always returned to make their contributions to Berlin's culture, society and econonmy.  Kampfner ends the chapter on a note of hope, noting how not only many Jews from other countries have found a new home in today's Berlin but also many Muslim refugees as well:  "The world's traumatized flock to the city that once unleashed trauma, finding common cause with those who suffered at its hands."  Sadly, current events  have dimmed such hopes for mutual tolerance in Berlin. Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, anti-Semitic acts have skyrocketed, making Berlin once again a dangerous place for Jews. 

Despite its flaws, Kampfner's book is a good introduction to Berlin for those planning a trip to the city.  Those who want an in-depth look at Berlin's history, one based on academic reserach, might want to read a work like Alexandra Richie's Faust's Metropolis. Those who want a quick overview of Berlin's past and a solid understanding of the city today should read In Search of Berlin.