A Canadian perspective on the new Berlin and the Adlershof miracle

By Mike Darch

The advantage of reaching late middle age is that you can look back at some major changes that have occurred in your lifetime. Previously, I have blogged about the amazing changes that I have seen in China. Today, it is the new Berlin.

I grew up during the Cold War. It was the time of the Berlin Wall, with frequent news stories and photos of “no man’s land”, the barren patch between the Wall and the fences of East Berlin. Other stories told of the dark and oppressive living conditions in East Berlin.

This November will mark the twentieth anniversary of the tearing down of the Wall. If you want to see the Wall today, stop at any of the souvenir shops near the site of the old Wall to get a little piece on a very expensive postcard. The new Canadian Embassy in Berlin sits right in the middle of “no man’s land”. Out front, a small section of the Wall still stands, unfortunately spoiled by graffiti. Another section still stands, protected from the souvenir seekers (photos are of the remaining Wall looking from both the West and East).

Berlin Wall from the East

Berlin Wall from the West

I have spent the day in various parts of East Berlin. Dark and oppressive, I think not! Just as Beijing had changed radically between my visits, so has the Berlin of my youth. The Adlershof Science Park where I was attending meetings, houses over 800 knowledge based companies and their supporting professional services and research institutes. Streets are wide and clean. Construction is everywhere. Streets are vibrant with people and an amazing variety of stores, cafes and restaurants. Certainly not the picture of Berlin in my youth.

And East Berlin is certainly not bureaucratic and oppressive. Adlershof is on the site of a former airport and aircraft manufacturing facility. It was Germany’s major aircraft manufacturing facility in both the first and second world Wars. On one hand, it clearly represents the decline of the industrial sector in East Berlin following WW2. Today, twenty years after reunification, it represents how knowledge based industry can rebuild an economy to be competitive in the twenty first century.

I was in Berlin while Adlershof was hosting two separate groups of European visitors. The first was a group of Science Parks that offer “soft landings” to SMEs between the various members. The second was another European Union project, bringing together the capitals of the countries bordering the Baltic Sea to discuss strengthening their economies. Adlsershof and Berlin are key players in both initiatives.

I used the afternoon to visit the Canadian Embassy in Berlin to discuss our mutual projects in Germany. The Embassy opened four years ago and as I mentioned is located in the former no man’s land. It is a beautiful Embassy in a fantastic location, but the tight security was a reminder that security needs still trump economic and social revival.

Great idea for the basement of City Hall

The dinner that evening was not only an opportunity to network with the participants of the two events, it also was a lesson in municipal financing. The dinner was in a ratskeller in the basement of the City Hall for the borough. I think that a Bavarian Beer Hall is a far better idea to meet municipal cash challenges than underground parking!

(Mike Darch is Executive Director of OCRI Global Marketing)

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