Evening star., 1956-08-30

Lost OF five articles.
real hub Of Germany lies divided
and partly behind the Iron Cur
tain helps maintain the tension
one feels in Germany today. And
the atmosphere and very appear
ance of the two capitals keeps
the Berlin "frontiersmen" and
the Bonn government workers on
edge.
The contrast between Bonn
and Rerlin is most striking when
one flies from one to another in
one afternoon.
Bonn used to be a sleepy resort
town hugging the great River
Rhine. Today it is crowded with
sprawling. plain temporary
buildings-about like the Veter-
ans Service Center that, until a
few months ago, defaced Penn
Sylvania avenue in downtown
Washington. The Bonn streets
are jammed far beyond capacity.
The main avenue through Bonn
and the suburbs that house more
government buildings and en-
bassies has been ruined by traf-
nc and now is partly closed for
rebuilding.
A Fairy Tale Setting
The town itself is pretty with
its ancient walls and towers and
churches. And the view is mag
nif1cent. It's doubtful whether
any other capital in the world
provides its Office workers with
such scenery-the river and the
castle-tipped mountains that rise
from its banks.
From the American Embassy,
for instance. G-girlS look out
their windows at the Drachen-
fels, the legendary mountain
where a dragon used to eat the
local maidens until the first good
Christian came into the Rhine
land and chased the snorting
beast into the river.
But as one German govern
ment worker put it to this re-
porter, II love to watch the
Rhine, but I would give it up in
an instant for the chance to
look at ruined Berlin building
out of my Office window"
Old-time Bonn citizens are as
anxious for the government to
leave as are the officials. This
yearning to go, this hostility
from the townspeople. the tenn
porary construction, all make it
hard to work and hard to think
about anything but reunification.
West Berliners Impatient
In Berlin there is a strange
livelineSs among the dead and
mouldering buildings. Berliners
are impatient. They've been
going places through all of Ger
man history, and they keep
moving now, even though there
is no place to go.
After all. the only function of
Berlin is to stay put-to be a
symbol for the West demonstrate
ing that the Communist
world will never acquiesce to the
permanent partition of Germany.
The Kurfuerstendamm is a
busy street. lined with stylish
shops and thronged with we'll
dressed people. True. the second
floors of the remodeled shops are
likely to be SCARED from the. war.
perhaps be only the twisted
skeleton of a building: but the
spanking new stores in the
ground floors and their bright
displays give a snappy appear
ance to this part Of the tradi-
tional capital of Germany.
Away from the Kurfuersten-
damn. however. the buildings
are shabber: many hundreds Of
blocks have gaping spaces where
rubble piles that once were build
ings have been hauled away.
Many people still live in partly
patched homes-some in base
ments under empty shells of
shattered buildings. Shops look
poor and uninviting.
This reporter could not help
but feel that Berlin. despite the
hustle and glitter Of the main
street, is a fading city. Trade is
slow. Reconstruction is tagging
The future is dim. Berliners must
know it and feel it, even though
they don't show it.
Doesn't Seem German
It's easy to go to East Berlin,
the Russian-occupied sector
This reporter simply hailed a
cab on the Kurfuerstendamm
and asked to be taken to Stalin-
alice. German guards-some
from each side-glanced at my
passport and waved the taxi on
through.
I wandered through East Ber-
lin streets. walked through the
shops and watched the people
1t just doesn't seem German.