De la Segregaci´ on a la Integraci´ on

The interviews revealed that some of the organisers strategically used the events to promote particular institutions and places. This includes the branding and marketing of Berlin and particular locations within the city, as well as marketing the Berlin Wall Memorial. The branding of Berlin was already alluded to before. However, the events are also used more broadly to promote the work done in the context of the ‘Overall Concept’. The following quotes outline these priorities in more detail.

With these events we determine important topics for Berlin. And we are branding Berlin in the area of contemporary history, make people aware of what happened in the various places and how it is all connected and this way we make Berlin attractive for a lot of people who come to this city as the German capital and ask what happened here and where can I see it. […] We don’t have any mountains and we also don’t have the sea, there are loads of lakes, but not the sea, and instead Berlin lives on its history. (Interviewee 4)

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The interviewee outlines the importance of history for tourism in Berlin and the necessity of making this history visible to visitors. The rich history further functions as a resource to brand the city in this respect:

It [the theme year] is an additional way of branding Berlin as the capital city, as the Rome of 20^th century history. (Interviewee 4)

This marketing priority was thus particularly important for Interviewee 4, who outlines the role the events played for the branding of Berlin as a place rich in contemporary history. This interviewee specifically refers to the demands of tourists to see evidence of this rich history. The interviewee argues that history is the city’s most important resource for attracting tourists and in this vein a commemorative infrastructure of events and memorials is required to fully make use of this resource. The Berlin Wall in particular continues to attract tourists as the most recognisable reminder of a recent historical event with international consequences which are generally associated with positive change. The Wall thus remains one of the city’s most famous and most emotive landmarks despite its absence. The interviewee furthermore compares Berlin with Rome. Whereas Rome is a place that people visit for its status in ancient history, Berlin is said to play a comparable role for 20^th century history. In this respect it is not only the history of the Wall and unification which contributes to this status, but also the city’s role as the capital during the Nazi regime. Overall, this interviewee argues that Berlin needs to be branded as the place where the Western world’s most important historical events of the 20^th century unfolded. A final point made by the interviewee relates to branding Berlin as the capital city. Having previously been a city on the margins during times of division, the status as capital had to be re-established and was underpinned, for example, by the move of the government from Bonn to Berlin. As Berlin was struggling to become a modern European metropolis, these large-scale events drawing on its historical significance use history as a resource for branding. This process of branding Berlin also requires the highlighting of important locations within the city and the linkages between them as outlined above by the interviewee.

The creation of an overarching network of places of permanent commemoration of the Berlin Wall is also something which was done through the ‘Overall Concept’. The same interviewee further considers the

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commemorative events in the context of the development of the ‘Overall Concept’:

We opened the ‘Wall Information Space’ in the subway station at Brandenburg Gate during the theme year, and as I said, the visitor centre [at the Berlin Wall Memorial] after only one year of construction, and the first part of the extension to the Berlin Wall Memorial, so that the people can see, things are really getting started now. Because before we developed and executed the ‘Overall Concept’ there were complaints that you can’t see where the Wall used to be and what it meant for Berlin. That’s why 2009 was a very important date for us to direct public attention to the actions taken regarding the ‘Overall Concept’ and provide a range of offers. (Interviewee 4)

The events are thus also used to market and showcase the work done in the context of the ‘Overall Concept’ with particular focus on the Berlin Wall Memorial. As one of the rationales for the development of the ‘Overall Concept’ was the complaints about the shortcomings of Berlin Wall commemoration within the city, these large-scale celebrations are an effective way of addressing these complaints and gaining publicity for the completed work. Interviewee 4 furthermore refers to the importance of the Berlin Wall Memorial and outlines some of the work undertaken to enhance the Memorial and underpin its status as the central location of Berlin Wall commemoration. This is in line with the work of the ‘Overall Concept’ which determined the key role of the Berlin Wall Memorial and the requirements for its enhancement, again outlining how the events are line with the ‘Overall Concept’. Furthermore, apart from marketing memorials, the interviewee also mentions using the anniversaries as an impetus for the creation and opening of memorials which is outlined further here:

Well, of course we want to create sustainable impacts with these theme years in that institutions are planned or completed, that places within the city are highlighted, that memorials are created, so that something remains from each year which continues to carry out this commemorative duty. (Interviewee 4)

In this quote, this interviewee refers to the ‘sustainable impact’ of these commemorative events more generally in that the anniversaries are used to stimulate the planning and completion of places of permanent commemoration and the events can thus be used to raise awareness of and demand for these. Interviewee 3 mentions a similar priority:

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Well, these memorial days are very important and if you have a look at Google how the numbers have gone up […], well, our website exploded at times and so on and so on, this is quite crazy. But the question is, what remains? And that’s the interesting thing. And this cracker¹⁷, it was important, but it was not just a cracker, it was a successful cohesive event, but yes, we are here permanently. (Interviewee 3)

This illustrates that some of the organisers may have used the publicity the events received to increase awareness of their own institution and direct public attention to their work in relation to places of permanent commemoration of the Berlin Wall. Overall, this section indicated an interesting interplay between permanent and temporary forms of commemoration, in that the events are strongly interlinked with memorials throughout the city.