European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The old and new Kaiser Wilhelm memorial Church in West Berlin. The Modem to Tower rises above statues in East Berlin s Alexande Platz. By Joe Mapother staff writer the ghostly Silhouette of the bombed out Kaiser Wilhelm memorial Church looms above two Young girls As they Waltz across West Berlin s Central Square at 6 a.m., dancing to the chirping of Birds and muted disco music from a nearby club. Early Dawn Light changes the shadows into structures As the girls dance off into the new morning a speck of motion on a sea of Stone growing smaller and finally disappearing from View. A sunday morning snippet of life from the Only City Ever to serve As the capital of a United Germany. Two dancers in one City claimed by both Germany. In a few hours members of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church choir will raise their voices in the modern Structure next door to the world War ii ruin. The twin Spires old and new commemorate the Scourge of War and the blessings of peace. Dawn has come when the Sun rises. Driven away Are the sins of night. Holy Light and life comes again. Hallelujah sings the choir. The words Are those of 16th-Century composer Nicholas Herman. Hope for a new Day expressed in time worn lyrics. Hope expressed by president Reagan in Berlin last summer and again this year at the Moscow Summit when he called for the Wall that divides Berlin to come Down. Hope for a City that remains Frozen in time Between the collapse of the third Reich and the postwar failure of the Allied Powers to agree on what to do with a conquered Germany. Berlin remains a City occupied by the four allies. With twice As Many inhabitants As Warsaw Berlin is the largest City Between Paris and Moscow. It is a microcosm of a Europe divided since the end of world War ii. It s name became a catch phrase of the cold War that followed. Unique because the division of the City is brutally visible. A Street sweeper works on the bottles and political flyers strewn across the Square outside the Church As the hum of Early morning traffic picks up. The new heart of Germany s former capital City prepares to receive yet another weekend throng. Unless of course the City is viewed from the perspective of the East bloc in which Case the modern television Tower rising above East Berlin s Alexande Platz symbolizes the present Day capital City not the West Berlin Church. There is also the pan German View represented by the thousands of Stone markers standing at City and town limits across Germany and giving the distance and direction to Berlin. One Berlin. The ideas that the City symbolizes Are Complex. In the political situation of this City one can recognize All of the Hopes and visions of Europe said Eberhard Diepgen mayor of West Berlin. The problems of a divided continent the clashes and differences of different ideologies Western democracy is. People s democracy All come to a head in Berlin Diepgen said. One can experience the different atmospheres in one  when the superpowers clash diplomats cast their eyes to Berlin to see what might be played out the City sometimes referred to As a sounding Board of East West tension. The cuban missile crisis in 1961. The russian March into Afghanistan in 1979. Reagan s tear Down this Wall pronouncement this year. It was not always that Way. Berlin claims a 751-year history but its growth into a european Metropolis was tied to the growing dominance of the prussian state and later to a unified Germany. Home to the kingdom of Prussia since 1700, Berlin was made the capital of United Germany after the Franco prussian War in 1871. The various German monarchs agreed to accept Wilhelm i of Prussia As emperor of Germany. By 1880, Berlin was a City of More than 1 million residents. Incorporation of a number of surrounding towns into greater Berlin in 1920 helped the City reach a pre War population of 4.3 million. Then came the War Germany s defeat and the division of Berlin and Germany into sectors of occupation. The City remains occupied. Defeat put a stranglehold on Berlin one the City has yet to recover from. The present population of both East and West Berlin is about 1 million less than the City boasted before world War ii. For years the population of West Berlin declined and officials worried about the High percentage of elderly people. Today statistics show a slight increase in population but one City official said the dem graphical imbalance is still a concern. Fewer working age people mean a smaller labor Pool for businesses which May relocate in cities with greater labor pools. Working age people Bear children. If the City can t attract working people the economic climate suffers. A vicious Cycle. The geography of isolation is one Factor in that Cycle. West Berlin is 102 Miles from West Germany and is surrounded by a Barrier that prevents it from Tully drawing on the surrounding area like a Normal City. In that respect East Berlin is Normal. A stable business climate is another Factor. East West relations dictate stability in the City. When relations Are Good things get accomplished. When tension dominates life in West Berlin is difficult. Diepgen 46, the mayor since 1984, grew up in this environment and according to one aide has made improving the situation the focal Point of his career. His Job is like that of a Tightrope Walker Between East and West Between the occupying Allied Powers. 12 stripes Magazine july 7, 1988