Life in Berlin: Then and Now

The Contrasts of Berlin After WWII and Berlin Today, by Kyle L. and Steve




Berlin in Ruins



Streets filled with rubble



Berlin, 1943-45

Berlin's 200-year history as a capital city has been fraught with war and rebuilding. Toward the end of WW II, British air strikes pummeled the city, while Soviet ground troops further damaged the capital's historic buildings with rocket launchers and hand grenades.



Berlin, December 1948: With German cities in ruins after World War II and the country's male population decimated, it fell to the women to clean up the rubble. The so-called "trummerfrauen," or "rubble women," worked with their bare hands and whatever tools they could find.

Berlin after WWII was not a good place to live, especially if you were a woman. With a large portion of the male population gone, women had to work to clear the streets of rubble and debris. After WWII the USSR wanted reprimands from Germany to be made. A blockade was made and western Berlin was cut off from the rest of the world. Without an easy supply line living in Berlin at this time meant having hardships. However, soon after the blockade was built allied forces began flying supplies to West Berlin, as much as 8,000 tons a day. Life in Berlin at this time was very boring for children. After the war lots of buildings and parks and other places you would expect to find children had been destroyed, giving the children of the war not much to do.

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/9raw-berlin-wall-looking-back/xyujsqb?fg=rss











Berlin is a much different place to live today as opposed to the post World War II era. After reunification Berlin became a metropolis with nearly 4 million in population. Living conditions are much improved and everyday life is much easier and simplistic. It is a very inexpensive place to live and property is very affordable.



Klaus Wowereit, the Mayor of Berlin, explained it well with his quote “Berlin is poor, but sexy.” A day in the life in Berlin is much like life in other western cities. The main sources of income are services instead of manufacturing. Seimens and Bayer Schering Pharma are headquartered in Berlin and are the main manufacturing business in Berlin. Seimens is the largest engineering conglomerate in Europe. Bayer Schering Pharma is a pharmaceutical company best known for their contraceptive pills. Unemployment rate was at 20% in 2005 it has since decreased to 14%. Berlin is a laid back place to live despite its large population. The economy is going through slow times much like most of the world. However, it is still a much better quality of life than immediately following the Second World War


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miR9KHK1Eig&feature=related


Sources of Information

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-56829.html

http://newamericatoday.com/na/2010/03/rebuilding-destroyed-cities.html

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Berlin

http://www.berlin-life.com/



Pictures from google images