Out of the Ashes of Hardship and Pain, Rises Cultural Richness
My friends and I waited in line around 3:00 am on a cold night tucked in the east side of Berlin, Germany. Strangers chatted around us in a mix of different languages, smoking cigarettes with eager anticipation to get into a busy night club. We could hear the muted bouncing of bass escape the building’s interior. The line wrapped around the street corner’s graffiti covered walls and moved slowly but steadily. Above us was a large abandoned industrial power plant with ominous red blinking lights perched on two spired smoke towers. Rave goers wore primarily black, with leather being the staple outside but a coat check just indoors would reveal the night owl’s true outfits for their evening. Stickers were placed on phone cameras upon entering to stop pictures from being taken, allowing for a greater sense of presence in the evening. After our share of drinks, lasers, smoke and crowded dance floors, we departed the club around 6:00 am and found that there was still a healthy line of people waiting outside to get in, likely timing their entrance to attend the sunrise set. It’s well known that many Berliners actually start their escapades on Sunday morning and parlay their outings well into the next day. The overall energy was grungy, dark, passionate, and ultimately an expression of individualistic freedom. At no point did we feel unsafe, the community seemed to operate with a high degree of “peace, love, unity and respect” towards other fellow night owls.
Berlin is an international city seeping with culture, because it bears the weight of its heavy history to provide perspective to their citizens who live their lives with freedom, passion, respect, and purpose.
This post is not about Berlin, but the city serves as a primary example for the subject of how culture is developed.
Oxford Dictionary defines Culture as “the collective arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievements”.
Everywhere has a culture. Your work, your family, your friend group. Cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Some cultures are stronger, more palpable and apparent than others.
Notable points of history of Berlin, sticking to the 1900’s:
- 1900’s: Berlin experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization, establishing itself as a major European cultural and economic center.
- 1910’s: Berlin was capital of the German empire in WWI, serving as a central point for military command, war propaganda, and an economic center in a war that resulted in little to no material gain but took the lives of ~10 million soldiers and ~7 million civilians.
- 1920’s: The “Golden Twenties” saw Berlin as a global cultural capital, with flourishing arts, avant-garde movements, and a vibrant nightlife.
- 1930’s: The rise of the Nazi regime brought a dark turn, with Berlin becoming a central hub for Nazi propaganda, persecution of Jews, and the staging ground for the 1936 Olympics. An estimated 45,000 jews in Berlin alone were deported to concentration camps staged for extermination.
- 1940’s: World War II and the subsequent Allied bombings devastated Berlin leading to a new era of division and reconstruction.
- 1950’s: Berlin, divided by Eastern and Western thought, became a focal point of the Cold War, symbolized by the construction of the Berlin Wall that would occur in 1961.
- 1960’s: The Berlin Wall became a physical manifestation of the Cold War, separating East and West Berlin.
- 1970’s: The city remained divided, but West Berlin became a bastion of counterculture and activism, while East Berlin was under strict Communist rule.
- 1980’s: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 symbolized the end of the Cold War and led to the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990.
- 1990’s: Berlin emerged as the capital of a reunified Germany, experiencing rapid urban development, cultural renaissance, and embracing its role as a symbol of German unity.
What is the result of pain, hardship, and tumultuous history?
Why is it common that Berlin night clubs are located in abandoned power plants and industrial factories on the eastern side of the city?
During the ~30 years the city was separated by the Berlin Wall up until 1989, East and West Berlin operated on completely separate power grids, logistics, and utilities. After the city’s reunification began in 1989, power structures merged back together. Without the need for duplication, many eastern economic structures folded when rejoining the capitalist west. The spaces slowly became repurposed largely by the entertainment industry, creating world famous nightclubs and the birth of electronic/techno music.
Berlin now is known for its clout in streetwear, ravey nightlife and music, innovative tech and start-up scene, green park spaces, diverse cuisine, tolerance and openness, film industry, and arts. In the center of the city is an island created by two partings of the Spree river dedicated to museums as a gathering place to observe and appreciate art and history.
It is now the European Union’s most populous urban city, being the largest city and capital of Germany which is also Europe’s strongest country by GDP. If you want to “make it” in some artistic medium in the world, Berlin may be a compelling place to start out due to its affordability compared to other culturally powerful cities in arts and culture like LA, NYC, London, Paris, Tokyo (list goes on).
Takeaway: Pain and hardship accelerates cultural growth while comfort stifles.
A culture that has not experienced hardship will be weak and susceptible to other trends and movements.
If you are aiming to foster a strong and unique culture, whether that’s amongst your friends, families, company, or otherwise — consider the fact that embracing hardship accelerates growth. Out of ashes, a richness of culture is created.
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What is the ☀️SOL Series☀️?
SOL simply stands for a Subject Of Learning. I am pushing myself to process thoughts into more concrete understandings of the world which provide material conclusions, while simultaneously improving my writing.
The collective profile (an eventual community) will become a Strategic Atlas of sorts for individuals to gain perspective on global trends, philosophy, and cognitive science. The aim is to become rich in perspective that leads to strategic mental growth.
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