"Peoples of the world! Look upon this city!”, Berlin’s former mayor Ernst Reuter once claimed. “Once” is 1948 and Berlin was still lying in ruins. Today, 54 years later, the headquarters of Germany’s amok government is located in Berlin. Berlin is the city, in which one of four civil servants gets money for doing nothing, the city with the greatest debt burden and the most unfriendly taxi drivers, it is also the city, in which the most money and landscapes are being spoiled and rebuilt. The latest coup: The Brandenburg Gate, initially built in 1788-91 has been renovated and can be visited without cover. However, you can’t make out any more, that it has experienced history. With halogen lamps inserted in its walls and floor it looks even more ridiculous than its half-sized copy in the “Phantasialand” in Brühl near Cologne. The modern estates at the Potsdamer Platz don’t even try to adapt to the architectural style of times past. Nevermind. The glass palaces over there still do look better than the Federal Chancellery ...