Berlin Reclaims Glory as Capital of Germany : Reunification: In tense vote, Parliament decides to gradually move Bundestag from Bonn to historic site.
BONN — Forty-six years after it lay smoldering in the ruins of the Third Reich, Berlin reclaimed its glory as the capital of Germany when Parliament voted 337 to 320 Thursday to abandon Bonn and “complete the unification†process.
After 11 marathon hours of debate, weary lawmakers decided to gradually move the Bundestag, or lower house of Parliament, and the seat of government to the country’s historic capital over the next 10 to 12 years.
Jubilant Berliners honked their horns on the fashionable Kurfuerstendamm and popped champagne corks in cafes after the announcement was made shortly before 10 p.m. In Bonn, morose burghers milled around the rain-spattered marketplace where they, too, had hoped to celebrate.
“Berlin was the focus of Germany’s division and of the yearning for German unity,†said Chancellor Helmut Kohl before casting his vote for the Prussian metropolis less than an hour’s drive from the Polish border.
“This is a heavy blow for Bonn and the region,†a somber Mayor Hans Daniels told about 10,000 people who watched the fateful vote on a giant video screen in the baroque, cobblestoned marketplace.
His Berlin counterpart, Mayor Eberhard Diepgen, left the Bundestag saying a “weight has been lifted from my heart.â€
To easterners, the move represents a gesture considered crucial to tearing down the so-called inner walls that continue to hinder the emotional integration of two very different societies. “This will give easterners fresh impetus,†said Lothar de Maiziere, who served as the last prime minister of East Germany during its brief democracy leading up to unification.
Choosing between Bonn and Berlin became the most divisive issue Germany has faced since unification last October. During their impassioned debate, the lawmakers hashed over the arguments that have dominated headlines and conversation across the country for months.
Advocates of Berlin claim that the country’s most cosmopolitan city is its natural capital and not only symbolizes the merger of east and west in a German context, but also--with European economic unity coming next year--reflects a more integrated continent.
Opponents pointed to the city’s Nazi past and its history of frequent upheaval, while arguing that Berlin need not be the capital to draw investment to the crippled eastern states. The staggering cost of moving a government, they said, could be better spent rebuilding the east.
Supporters of Bonn also painted that city as the cradle of German federalism and democracy, a safe and proven capital for a Western-oriented land.
Thursday’s decision keeps a promise Germany made to itself when it was divided after World War II; when West Germany was founded in 1949, Bonn became the provisional capital--a political baby-sitter to a newborn democracy.
Although the Bundestag resolution names Bonn an “administrative center†of Germany and calls for the Bundesrat, the less-powerful upper house of Parliament, to stay behind, the mass exodus from Bonn will almost certainly drain the lifeblood from the tranquil Rhine town where Beethoven was born. Observers warn that as many as 100,000 jobs could vanish from the city of 300,000.
The Bundesrat, appointed to represent Germany’s 16 states according to population, will make a final decision on its own fate July 5. It is thought unlikely to follow the Bundestag recommendation that its members stay behind in Bonn, since a majority of them have publicly advocated a move to Berlin. The 662 members of the Bundestag, which is roughly equivalent to Britain’s House of Commons, are chosen in a national election.
Kohl, although championing Berlin, spoke of a “great moral duty†to Bonn and cautioned after the vote that “this is not grounds for celebration. Celebration would mean there were losers and winners, and that would be the wrong feeling at this moment.â€
During the tense debate and voting that preceded the selection of Berlin, the Bundestag rejected a compromise proposal that would have divided the capital, Solomon-like, between the two cities, with the lawmakers in Berlin and the government in Bonn. Three other resolutions also fell by the wayside, including the one that drew 320 votes--a mirror image of the winning one--that would have kept the government and Bundestag in Bonn and sent the president and Bundesrat to Berlin.
An undetermined number of ministries and government offices would be given to Bonn, and some form of compensation for the city is expected to be hammered out under terms of the resolution. Kohl has suggested leaving the Defense Ministry and the huge Postal Service behind.
Once the heart of Hitler’s monstrous Third Reich, Berlin still stirs mixed feelings among Germans, particularly the postwar generations that never knew an undivided Germany.
“Berlin is a murder capital,†said Marco Heinz, a 32-year-old unemployed Bonn resident. “Berlin is characteristic of war, imperialism, fascism and war again.â€
Berlin dancer Petra Wigna, 25, considered her city a logical choice, since lawmakers would have a closer view of the social problems wrought by unification. “But the politicians will have to watch out for tomatoes being thrown . . . because people are more aggressive here,†she warned.
Since the anti-Communist revolution in East Germany led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989, the city of 3.4 million has been the pulse of Germany, the place where the excitement and joy of unification collides head-on with its challenges and disappointments. Crime is on the rise, housing is scarce, and Berliners still refer to each other--not kindly--as “Easties†and “Westies.â€
Berlin was named “official capital†of Germany after unification, but the seat of government remained in Bonn, and the title was purely symbolic. Now, not only the Parliament but also the federal president, the chancellor, the embassies and most of the ministries will move about 375 miles east.
No firm figures have been outlined, but moving the government is expected to cost billions of dollars. Finance Minister Theo Waigel, who advocated staying in Bonn, has said the money for such a move is simply not there. Taxes already are being raised to pay for rebuilding eastern Germany.
Many lawmakers spoke of the 45-year vow to bring the capital back to Berlin. When Bonn was chosen in 1949, its very provincialism was desirable, since it was seen as only a temporary choice. And, as folklore has it, Bonn was also picked because the first chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, lived in the vicinity and did not want to give up his beloved rose garden.
Former Chancellor Willy Brandt, a Social Democrat and ex-mayor of Berlin, drew uncomfortable murmurs from the Bundestag floor when he indirectly compared Bonn to Vichy, headquarters of the Nazi-collaborating French government during World War II.
“No one in France would have thought of remaining in relatively idyllic Vichy once foreign power no longer stood in the way of a return to the capital on the Seine,†he said, referring to the Nazi occupation of Paris.
Calling Bonn a “cocktail party†capital, Brandt argued that Berlin “deserved†more than an empty title in united Germany.
Berlin served as capital of Germany from 1871 to 1945, when Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker there in the last days of World War II as the capital of his Third Reich burned in a firestorm of Allied bombs and Soviet artillery. Before its ruin, Berlin was the second-largest city in Europe and the fifth-largest in the world. Today it is the largest city between Paris and Moscow.
When Germany was divided after the war, Berlin was deep inside East Germany, and the city itself was divided into American, British, French and Soviet zones. West Berlin’s isolation was painfully underscored in 1948, when the Soviets cut off all roads and rail lines leading from West Germany to Berlin. Over the next 11 months, the United States and Britain saved West Berlin from starvation by airlifting supplies in a total of 272,264 flights.
On Aug. 13, 1961, the Communists erected the Berlin Wall to halt the flood of refugees heading west. Border guards were under orders to kill anyone attempting to escape.
Until the Wall fell 19 months ago, Berlin was the world’s most dramatic symbol of the Cold War, a once-resplendent city with an ugly wall carved through its very heart. As East Berlin evolved as the cold, gray model capital of the Communist Bloc, West Berlin thrived on an artificial life-support system. Heavily subsidized by the West German government, the western sector became the neon-lit refuge of anarchists and draft-dodgers, artists and pensioners.
Tale of Two Cities
Berlin Historic capital from 1871 to 1945 Site: On Spree River Population: 3.4 million Personality: Cosmopolitan and lively
Bonn West German capital since 1949 Site: On Rhine River Population: 300,000 Personality: Tranquil and efficient
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