PLEASE DON'T TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!
I write this to you not just as a Los Angeleno, a citizen of Berlin's sister city, but as a BERLINER!
Yes I said it: "ICH BIN EIN BERLINER!"
Because I too have been touched by the magic and enchantment of your city. One of the key factors of the magic in Berlin is the Wall that stands today as the East Side Gallery.
Berlin obviously has a tumultuous past. It's history is vast and it's stories are legendary. The East Side Gallery has become exactly that: A gallery. An exhibit portraying all the wrongs that Berlin has suffered. All the tragedy and the lives lost. But also of a victorious future filled with hope and equality for all man kind.
I first visited your Wall in November of 2012. I remember running my hands along the concrete and graffitied Wall. The energy there was indescribable. I felt a passion for life alongside horrors of human suffering. I felt anguish. But I felt hope. Love. Peace. I openly wept at the Wall and was beyond moved by the shear impact that it's imagery instilled in my head forever.
"As long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand," Reagan once said. To many Berliners, I'm sure the Wall is a scar. It's rife with street art and graffiti and sits on a hotbed of real estate development. Right on the river Spree, I could see the Wall being torn down and replaced with modern architecture. Condos, perhaps.
But you see, I was so surrounded by hope and love when I was at the Wall in November that I too had to leave my mark. I saw some tourists take an ink pen and graffiti the Wall in small print. I wanted to do the same: leave my mark. Let the world know I had been there and seen and felt that incredible energy.
I asked the couple if I could borrow their pen. I had to be quick, so as not to get caught, but I really wanted to say something in line with the emotions I was feeling. Hope. Love. Aspirations of greatness. Tolerance. A Future. I remember pushing back some tears and writing this:
"Love One Another Always -AML, Koelen"
(AML stands for All My Luv.)
When I returned to Berlin for my second time in July of 2013, I was again surrounded by the magic in your city. Berliners and Germans aren't always known for being friendly, but Berlin welcomed me back with open, motherly arms and embraced me like I, too, was a Berliner. Each time I have visited your city I found the aforementioned stereotype to not be true at all. Berliners ARE a warm people. They are kind and considerate. They are welcoming. I had more strangers help me in my two weeks in Berlin than I have had in my entire life. Either my experiences are unique, or Berlin itself is changing. Berlin is embracing the world as the world embraces Berlin.
Everyday I road the U Bahn, I would cross the bridge at Warshauer Strasse and see the heart beat of my favorite city. The Wall stood sentinel, guarding the city and reminding us of it's past but telling us to look forward.
My last day in Berlin, I returned to the Wall in person, to once again feel what I had previously felt. I was saddened to see that the city is using the Wall as a new exhibit to showcase walls around the world and the division they cause between people. I know that these beautiful images were covering up street art and graffiti, but hasn't street art and graffiti become another trademark of Berlin?
You as Berliners have some of the best street art in the world. And you've embraced it in your murals and your graffiti. In that way every one is free to express themselves. Any single idea can be shouted from the rooftops or etched onto the side of a building. This is a far cry from your city's recent past.
It took a little breaking and entry and climbing over a fence, but I was able to use my photos of the Wall in November to find the exact place that I had graffitied it.
To my shock and pure amazement, my graffiti was still there! 8 months had past. New street art, new tags, and new paint had been thrown on the wall, yet someone (or many) had respected my message enough to leave it be. Sure, my segment looks like it is next to be torn down: it has a turbine in front of it and is surrounded by construction tools. Yet, there was my message clear as day:
Love One Another Always.
You see Mr. Mayor, Berliners…this is no ordinary Wall.
It has become what you have affectionately began to call it: The East Side Gallery. It is a giant, outdoor art exhibit. Unlike most art exhibits in the world, this one anyone can contribute to. Anyone can leave their mark on. Anyone is free to see it, touch it, absorb the air, and let it's majesty and energy set in.
What once stood as a divide is now one of the most visited places in all of Berlin. It is beyond a tourist destination: it is THE destination in Berlin.
The Berlin Wall…the East Side Gallery is now a beacon of hope that stands to let its citizens and visitors remember the past and embrace a future of peace.
So I say again.
Mr. Mayor and Berliners:
Please don't tear down this wall.
Koelen Andrews
koelenandrews@gmail.com
http://koelen.blogspot.com
(I have sent copies to the other mayors as well as the local newspapers in Berlin. I apologize for writing this in English. Mein Deutsch ist sehr schlecht.)
