Ballet – The Popes Revenge – Berliner Fernsehturm

The walk from Checkpoint Charlie into the heart of East Berlin was dark, ominous, and foreboding. I could not help but think over how close I got to being in real trouble. I could feel the newspapers still stuffed into my coat and in silence (because it was not safe to have a conversation in this area because of all the audio and video that was clearly along all the blocks close to the wall) myself and my friends walked calmly to Chissy’s father’s house.

After unloading my coat filled with contraband and the gifts that I had brought that had now been unceremoniously opened, we all sat for some coffee and discussed the unfolding events.
Clearly, my friends were as spooked as myself. Her father was also concerned but said that if we just stuck to the tourist destinations … he thought we should be fine.
Bolstered with surprising courage and warmed by the coffee, we again ventured out into the bitter cold Berlin weather.
Walking is a normal thing one gets used to living in Europe. The walk from Checkpoint Charlie to the Pergamon Museum was a little over a mile walk. From that amazing place we continued towards Alexanderplatz, where the tall television tower called, The Popes Revenge was a big tourist attraction. To get there that added another half mile or so.
But during that walk, we were continuously accosted by the Stasi, or some very informed, uniformed men, asking in perfect English, “Miss Wagner, may we please see your passport and visa?”
It was instantly unnerving. I am good at acting calm when I am anything but.
That happening once was hard but it happened continuously for the rest of the journey in East Berlin.
We get to the Berliner Fernsehturm in Alexanderplatz and I see this very modern looking tower 368 meters high, including its antenna. It is a very prominent landmark in East Berlin and clearly a statement of power for the East German government. It was great fun to the West that in the sunlight a perfectly formed cross appears, hence its nickname, “Pope’s Revenge”.
We get in line for tickets and take the elevator to the top. The views were spectacular for reasons that were not always so pleasant. One could see the darkness of the eastern side, fewer lights, fewer cars, and the almost melodramatic mood that one would expect to see in a spy film. Then just past the wall, you could see West Berlin, with all its light, color, cars, and vibrant movement. The differences were so obvious and alarming. One city divided into to two worlds. One free, light and shining a hopeful gaze onto its sister on the east side. This Eastern sister was depressed, separate, alone, and without. It felt poor, hungry, solemn, and wanting.
That view told a story of a country that allowed a madman to destroy its people and its land. That view told the story of the desires and powers of other countries and how they were going to either impose continued punishment on the German people and keep them under the thumb of communism, or the other side that while they had control over the country they were willing to give opportunity and advantage to those that were willing to change, educate themselves, and work towards rebuilding this city.
While in West Berlin at that time, one could still see machine gun bullet holes in the foundation stones of many buildings, in East Berlin, the buildings were in much worse shape, devoid of color, desperate for repair, and the buildings felt very cold, and as if the people did not have the will or the means to make the necessary improvements.
Sometimes we have to see to believe things. This image will remain burned into my mind forever. A city divided by war and warmongers. A city caught in the duality of light and dark, good and bad, democracy and communism.
The wall that I was looking at below me was a terrible scar upon the face of what used to be the capital of Germany. I could feel how that city longed to become whole once again. And I prayed in that moment that one day, I might be able to see that come to fruition.
~Suzanne Wagner~