When my need for a quick city break kicked in, my friend Katherin invited me to visit her in Berlin, Germany

I had never been to Germany and what I knew about the country and the people revolved around its divided history, which in some ways resembles my own country, South Africa.

My tour de Berlin was a time for friends to rekindle lost moments, in a city trying to define itself, over historical monuments, great food and German hospitality!

Kat grew up in East Germany and is much happier living in the west of the city. She grew up during the years of the Berlin Wall that separated East Germany from West Germany for 282 years, and was there with many others when it was brought down on 9 November 1989.

I let Kat transport me into her recollections of old Berlin and the Wall, her memories as well as her desires back in those days. I was fascinated, drawn in by her stories of human beings asking to be treated with dignity and freedom. Kat was one of the thousands who broke down the Berlin Wall, in search of that freedom which the East Germany government had denied them. When I asked her what was the first thing she did when the wall came down, she said quite cheerfully: “I had yoghurt with fresh tropical fruit. That was the first thing I wanted, yoghurt and fresh fruits, because it was such a luxury in East Germany.”

We rode our bikes deeper into the city, stopping whenever Kat had a story to share about a particular historic place and her memory of it. The Gendarmenmarkt holds a special place in Kat’s heart, as it’s where thoughts became dreams and where later, dreams became reality. “This is one of my favourite places in all of Berlin,” Kat told me. “When I was a teenager, I would come here, go up to the Deutscher Dom (German cathedral) and look out to West Berlin. It was so close, yet so far away. I hoped, I dreamed and longed for the day when I would be a part of that world. I knew that once I crossed over the wall, my life would begin.” And begin, it did. When the wall came down, Kat finished her schooling and later sat down for her foreign office exams, and she became the youngest and one of the first diplomats from East Germany.
 
I looked around, taking in the panoramic view of the plaza and agreed with Kat that perhaps this may be one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. Here the Deutscher Dom, the Französischer Dom (French cathedral) and the Konzerthaus (concert hall) create a beautiful architectural ensemble. It’s almost like music is being amplified through architecture. In other words, if you just keep quiet… you could hear serenity and beauty!

By the end of the trip I felt whole again, I remembered what friendship is about and why travelling infuses so much into our lives. I had traveled differently in Berlin, not rushing to go to all the museums and galleries. I took in the multi-racial celebrations at the Carnival of Culture and the smiles from strangers. Berlin, as a city, reiterates that differences need understanding and that there’s room for everyone to live in harmony, not always perfectly, but always evolving and adjusting. Thank God the wall fell 20 years ago, or I would never have know the new Berlin.