Berlin and the Fourth of July...

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must,

like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.

Thomas Paine – The American Crisis

George thought taking a bicycle tour of the city might be something I would enjoy doing. A little checking on my part revealed the ride would be about 4 hours and provide an intimate and informative view of Berlin in a way that other tours could not. Walking is good, but is limited in the distance covered. Buses work, but cover so much that it is hard to get a flavor.

I do a little recreational bicycle riding in Southern California where I live. Actually, this calls for a context, because recreational riding here can mean an 80 to 100 miler (129 to 160km) on a Saturday…uphill and on narrow roads! No, I am what real recreational riders call a ‘noodler.’ I explore and poke around neighborhoods and areas within a 15-mile (24km) radius or so. I don’t have the right riding pants with the built in butt pad. I don’t have the right colors for a road jersey, and my helmet is pretty bland looking – protective, but bland. I don’t have the ‘it’ appearance, nor fitness index to compete. Compete? Yes, recreational riding here can be a blood sport, with small packs of riders, determined looks on their faces, iron strong thighs and calves that would make Hercules feel inadequate. Sometimes I ride for an hour, maybe even two – I’m feeling a little inadequate just writing about this – but confession, they say is good for the soul.

The city tour
So, here is George, a young, very fit German colleague who exercises with the precision of one of those finely tuned German cars. While he was talking, my mind was questioning whether I thought I could sit on that seat for four hours. Of course, because I have not run completely out of testosterone, I said I thought this would be a great idea. I should add here that I had never done a city bicycle tour, so in fact had no idea what it might entail…all those cars, pedestrians and NO HELMETS!

This is, of course, part of the dynamic of growing older…I mean, this is my first time growing older, and as Kermit the Frog said, ”It’s not easy being green,” It’s not easy growing old…

At 11:00AM – bikes assigned and tested – Carrie, a 40 something, 6ft (1.8m), 180 pounder (81.6kg) with braided hair arrived to lead 15 hearty souls through a 12 mile (18km) route to get a flavor of this famous city’s underbelly.

An historical sidebar
For Westerners, Berlin represents a line in the sand against the, then Soviet Union, and her Eastern Bloc Allies. The city lies deep within what was East Germany, and became completely isolated with the creation of the East German State. The city had been divided into four sectors (French, English, Soviet Union and United States) by the allies following the end of the Second World War, but because of its location, the Soviets wanted complete control of the city.

On August 13th, 1961…overnight and without warning…a barbed wire barrier was erected, ultimately replaced by a 12 foot (3.65m) high wall, completely isolating the Eastern part of the city from the west…and so it would remain until November, 1989. While it is impossible for us to imagine, one (1) out of every seven (7) East Berliners were informants to the secret police – the ‘Stasi.’ There was not only a physical wall, but also a mental one. No one could be sure their thoughts were secure, so many simply went unspoken. That day in the early 1960s some families unceremoniously separated by this barrier, would live years before they would see, and in some cases speak to, one another.

Back to the bikes
Carrie turned out to be smart, thoughtful, extremely knowledgeable and very diligent in caring for her pedaling flock – we did have the appearance of a mother goose and her goslings following behind. In addition, while she looked like what I had imagined as the prime example of a strong German woman, she was, in fact an expatriate Australian!

Frequent stops and animated information flowed from her as we passed from East to West and back again with no barbed wire, walls or checkpoints to navigate. For the youngsters on the tour there was little context for the Brandenburg Gate, permanent city art in small parks, apartments built on the demarcation line or the Holocaust Memorial….it’s hard to “…never forget…” when there is nothing in the memory to remember.

For me, however, there came an understanding as I rode through and stopped at places I had only read about or seen on television during those tense years of the 1960s…they seemed surprisingly resonant, touching unexpected places in my heart and mind. Others have told me, how a kinship with this city is felt by those who visit her, and so it was with me. I felt a sense of meaning in the iconic words spoken by John Kennedy on that day in June of 1963 – “…I am a Berliner!”

“…Two Thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum (I am a Roman citizen). Today, in a world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’…All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’

It is hard to put in words the kindred spirit, a thirsting for freedom, that seemed palpable…even in this day…from each place we visited on what turned out to be a touching and intimate visit in Berlin.

It is appropriate I would have preceded the Fourth of July celebrations fresh from visiting this place. It is appropriate I would have been so recently reminded that freedom is not so much a right as a gift…a hard fought for and hard won gift.

This year as I visit with family and friends on the Fourth of July, I will be a little more grateful and a little more appreciative of the land in which I live…where for my entire lifetime, I have been able to do and say pretty much whatever I have felt like.

Thanks George for providing me with an opportunity and a place, to remind me that contrary to Kris Kristofferson’s lyrics and Janis Joplin’s rendition of “Me and Bobby McGee.” Freedom is NOT just another word, for nothing left to lose…It is precious, meaningful and becomes truly resonant when we realize that without it we have everything to lose.

- ted