Opposed themes
Construction cranes in Berlin, 1999
Kurfurstindam shopping
New building in Berlin
The reconstruction of a 19th-century city at the border of the 21st century is an exercise in fantasy and national mythmaking. But Berlin's savviest entrepreneurs and corporate executives well understand the commercial power of fantasy. Alongside the government buildings, they are building a multibillion-deutschmark theatrical event whose theme is "great city." Their goal isn't the literal re-creation of an industrial city, but the creation of a new, convincing urban environment that will attract a new audience of tourists and knowledge workers. . .
For the privileged knowledge workers . . . Berlin is not a central node on a shipping network, but a lifestyle choice.
Wolf 1998, 143, 204