Berlin - Part 1: In a Family Way

Written September 24

It is a serenely satisfying Sunday morning here in Prenzlauer Berg [PB], Berlin. Autumn has made an early appearance with temperatures in the high 40's as we awaken, rising to the low-60's by mid-afternoon. Germany's weather can be variable to a maddening degree. During the course of a single hour you can experience four seasons. That breathtakingly beautiful soft breeze of summer's fading warmth with an overlay of chill portending the coming Fall. Then, with the sun at full height and exposed with the parting clouds, heat that requires for a layer or two to be stripped. If the sun becomes shielded by cloud coverage and the wind picks up, the winter is more than inferred, the air piercing, you are once again compelled to bundle up. This bantering between you and the weather is a conversation that continues throughout the day.

I have made a ritual, first thing in the morning, of opening the tall, glass-paneled doors to our fourth-floor balcony overlooking Hufelandstrasse and, stepping outside filling my lungs with a bracing gasp of brisk morning air. I then gaze skyward to determine, by the most indeterminate of forecasting methods, if there will be any natural impediment to our day. Then, I listen to the sounds of a wakening village - the "flub-a-flub-a-flub' of delivery trucks tires over cobblestone streets; the squeak and rattle of the cortège of bicycles; the low-level cafe chatter at the coffee houses that line the street; and, the range of gurgles, whines and laughter of children sharing mom's or dad's breakfast.

A view from our balcony

This is a privileged district in Berlin. Once 'up and coming', Prenzlauer has "up and came". Prenzlauer in general, and Hufelandstrasse in particular became "an anomaly in the increasingly drab Soviet-administered city" during the reign of "the wall", from 1961 - 1989. Right smack in the middle of East Berlin, these buildings boast proud facades and balconies, linden trees line the broad sidewalks, and an unusual number of privately-owned shops remain in business established since the Soviet blight. Following the reunification, Hufelandstrasse had undergone what many refer to as the most rapid and miraculous gentrification anywhere...ever. Just one kilometer in length, with 49 beautiful and historic houses from the Gründerzeit period and a single modern structure from after Reunification, Hufelandstrasse is a model settled community. “The street is more beautiful than I expected, but also more foreign. It lies in the old East – yet that East has eluded it.” Joachim Gauck

Stately buildings line the Volderpark Freiderickshain where we walk daily.

During the post cold ware era, the German population was in steep decline. In 1996 the growth rate fell off 4% the previous year which followed years of steady decline. So, the government instituted policies that would encourage families to have children which included subsidies for rent, education and health care. These policies had immediate impact, and the growth in Prenzlauer was not merely ensured, but focused a new generation in the city's most charming area. Accused of being 'haute middle-class", I personally am reminded of my own young adult years in the streets of the Bronx and Brooklyn in the midst of similar revamping, expansion and improvement. I witnessed the gentrification which, as a young man, took me to the garbage and butt-strewn streets of the Upper West Side of New York with vagrants and vamps living in public parks and dark recesses. I was never happier. Later, in Brooklyn Heights, I felt the majesty of the old red brick, mid to late 19th century brownstones as they were renovated and spruced up for what became prime real estate in New York.

It's no wonder why these bright and successful young people have chosen Prenzlauer as their home. An amble down the wide avenue is like a reveal of modern sensibilities. It starts at the bookstore on the far corner, where you pick up the tram. A salon, ballet and dance school, a cafe, dress shop, cafe, bakery/cafe, cafe, apothecary, and deli on a single street. It continues: a pharmacy, Portuguese restaurant, Electrical Stimulation exercise studio, cafe, Italian restuarant, another exercise studio, osteopath, florist, travel agency, and cafe. The other side of the street opposite our building has three cafes in succession - one with health food, another a soup and salad 'take-out' restaurant and an Italian cafe and pastry place. Three Thai restaurants, a German restaurant, and a Korean pancake restaurant are cordial companions with the Pizzeria, two German bakeries and designer clothing shops. One hardly has to wander far.

"Wow! That is some stroller."

Grandmothers, of course, are part of the story.

Never have I been to a place so befittingly descriptive of Garrison Keillor's refrain, "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average." Except the women are stunnning and strong and the men vulnerable and good looking, and all fearlessly playing out their roles without any sense of self-deprecation. Everything is so nice and normal...as life should be. So, why not have children.

A cafe in the park where Adele and I take our daily constitutional.

We would see as many as four kids balanced between stroller, 'bumper seats' and arms.

No longer funky and 'hep', Hufelandstrasse is lively but staid and not very exotic. Adele likes to point out that you can hardly walk on the sidewalks in Prenzlauer without getting hit by a stroller. The perambulator is the current weapon of choice here. Mothers, dads and pregnant women are everywhere. They meet, by chance, on corners like rashes of chicken pox. They meet as "ladies who lunch" at coffee houses at all hours of the day. But, the new "metro-sexual" male is not a rarity. Seen pushing a stroller and entertaining the kids in the late afternoons and on weekends, they share responsibilities demonstrating the new world order.

I think what we most enjoyed and admired was the complete civility of our neighborhood. There was a quiet acceptance of their good fortune rather than a brash demonstration. People were friendly, for sure, but then would go out of their way to be helpful. There are issues amongst the Germans regarding the breadth and scope of Merkel's immigration policies, but by-and-large the people of Germany have accepted a new role for themselves. The appear to be ready to lead the world in many ways.