20 Berlin in the Morning

Berlin am Morgen

Berlin |

Germany

German

Behind the scenes

I lived in Berlin for three years, a city that left a deep impression on me. Its buildings, monuments, and scars constantly tell the story of humanity, in both its darkest and its finest expressions, but also of the capacity of societies to rise again and rebuild.

This text came to me one winter morning, as I was walking alone on Museum Island. The falling snow gave the city a soft, almost unreal atmosphere.

I took a photograph, which later became the illustration for the book, to capture that moment where several symbols of this layered history appear side by side: the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom), the Television Tower (Fernsehturm), a symbol of the former GDR, and the equestrian statue of Frederick II of Prussia on Unter den Linden avenue. In the sky appears a quote by Sophie Scholl, a member of the White Rose resistance executed in 1943, reminding us of the price to be paid for defending freedom.

Thinking of these often ordinary and unknown heroes who dared to stand up against tyranny, I found myself asking a difficult question: would we have been better… or worse? A question also raised by Jean-Jacques Goldman in his song Born in 17 in Leidenstadt. And one I would extend to the turbulent world we live in today: will we be better… or worse?

Echoes of the world

German has a particular strength in both its structure and the way of thinking that accompanies it. Words can be combined to form highly precise terms. For example, Pressefreiheit literally means “freedom of the press,” and Rechtsstaat refers to a state governed by the rule of law. In a single word, a complete idea emerges.

Another feature of German is that in certain sentences, especially subordinate clauses, the verb comes at the very end. This means you often have to wait for the final word to fully understand what the other person intends to say.

This has taught me to listen more carefully, all the way through. Perhaps this is also a form of vigilance that the language encourages, a way of remaining attentive before judging or concluding.

That same vigilance extends far beyond language when it comes to defending our values.

Listen to an audio excerpt of the text