Steve Mowat gives his personal reflections as an ‘informed tourist’ travelling to Berlin and Bulgaria. Steve is a member of Solidarity and a regular contributor to DGS magazine

On recent visits to Berlin in Germany and Bulgaria in 2008 and 2009 I was amazed at the differences between the two since the collapse of Stalinism across East Europe in 1989. This small essay is a collection of memories, observations and pictures of the two visits. It’s a personal account rather than a thorough analysis of the rights and wrongs of Stalinism, Capitalism or the European Union. My account is from the perspective of an informed tourist, it reflects some conversations with locals and stems from a personal interest in the collapse of Stalinism in 1989 which I remember viewing on the television as an adolescent.

Indeed in 1989 I vaguely remember watching news reels of East Europeans standing in 100 yard queues at the grocer shops waiting for the bare minimum rations of bread, I remember the Western media propaganda of the late 1980’s and later in 1989 seeing East Berliners smashing the tops off the hated Berlin wall with sledge hammers, tearing at it with unbelievable zeal, drowning themselves in a convulsive party celebration as the wall literally began to come down, bringing down with it the entire Iron curtain which had divided Europe for 40 years. 

Check Point Charlie from where Trabant safaris take foreigners on a tour of Berlin’s recent history

I went along to the bookstore in Inverness and got myself a small Lonely Planet City guide to Berlin last summer booked my self an Easy Jet flight from Glasgow and made my way to Berlin. I was surprised at how many highlights of the old Stalinist regime were now tourist attractions, still there and functioning as part of a thriving Berlin economy. Berlin is unique as it has effectively two City centres, one from the former West and the other from the former East. I decided to stay in a hostel on the East side - a decision I will never regret. I was immediately struck by the fantastically efficient tram service which, set up by the old regime and operates 24hours through the East of Berlin. After World War Two the Communist East Germans rebuilt the largely flattened City with extra wide road ways to incorporate trams, cycles and cars in a way which is not possible in old cities in Scotland which have evolved over hundreds of years.

This is the thing with Berlin; it is being created on a new slate since the war. Large sections are dominated by Soviet style housing complexes and high rises, not to dissimilar to those in the South side of Glasgow, or the Bridge of Don in Aberdeen. Except that these buildings in Germany are in pristine condition, freshly painted, double glazed, clean and well serviced, actually quite a joy to be around. This is due in part to the Solidarity Tax paid by West Germans to regenerate Eastern areas since the collapse of Stalinism. A couple of British servicemen staying in my room at the hostel talked gladly of giving a small portion of their Army wage to the Solidarity Tax. Examples of these rejuvenated buildings can be seen in the huge Karl Marx Alley, along side examples of bronze socialist art which adorns part of the street. 

Regenerated Communist era housing adjacent to Karl Marx Alley

The former East Side City Centre is a marvel of Socialist Art and architecture. It consists of Marx Engel’s Forum; a public square with bronze statues of Marx and Engel’s who still guard the approach to the Fernsehturm Tower. The tower was built by the German Communist Party as a showcase of Communist technological capability and functioned as a Television broadcast building. Today the tower serves as an immense attraction; there is a lift inside to a rotating café at 207metres. I couldn’t resist paying the café a visit. From the café I sat with a most generously portioned German pork steak and sauerkraut meal enjoying 360 degrees over Berlin, fantastic. In fact as one approaches Berlin from the air on a clear summers day there are no obvious outlines of skyscrapers which typify the skyline of most world city’s finance districts. The city is in fact dominated from the air by the sight of uniform housing buildings and the Fernsehturm tower puncturing its way into the sky over everything else at only 368metres in height.

Marx and Engels guard the Fernsehtrum Tower

From the locals I encountered in Berlin I felt a confusing array of emotions regarding Stalinist rule over the City. On the one hand I detected a wounded sense of pride from some senior citizens who lamented the scarcity of ancient buildings and memorials. Because everything was totally flattened in War the only repaired or replicated ancient buildings I saw were the Reichstag, Brandenburg Tor (Gate) and the Berliner Dom (Cathedral) in the West side. These are remarkable buildings and many older Berliners were almost desperate to show them off as part of a claim to Berlin as an ancient European City of culture and heritage. Defeat in war has left a legacy with some Berliners I met. I got a personal sense of this human need to connect with history when I arrived back in Glasgow after my trip and realised almost every building is over one hundred years old. Architectural, cultural and colonial history, identity and culture is almost everywhere in Glasgow, like it or not.

I would say that Berliners by and large wish to put experience of Stalinism behind them. There is a deep desire in all Berliners to make economic and social progress, recent celebration parades of the fall of the wall in Berlin are testament to this community spirit of solidarity. Change in Berlin is a process of mixing and matching ideas and experiences, it has not meant wholesale rejection of one ideology over another. 

One small example I can think of is the recent attempt by the Berlin City council to replace all the East Berlin traffic lights with the Western model. However this decision was fought and rejected because of a grassroots citizen’s campaign to keep the East Berlin traffic lights, which are a quirky socialist addition to Berlin’s diversity.

Grassroots campaign to save the East German “Appleman” was a success

The point I am trying to make here is that in some way the better aspects of Communist life and ideas remain a fabric of changing and evolving Berlin life. Many characters that shaped the world socialist movement including Marx and Engle’s are German. In some ways these characters are respected (and revered by some) as nationals who have contributed disproportionately to European and world culture, and so are necessarily rejected as entirely irrelevant, or as complicit in the Stalinist regime.

The experience I had in Bulgaria was different.

I travelled to Bulgaria to ski in some of the fine mountains which lie to the south of the country and border Greece earlier this year, fulfilling a sixteen year ambition to ski in Europe. Arrival was in the capital Sofia where a lengthy transfer journey took us south. Travelling thought the countryside of Bulgaria there was plenty of evidence of change since the collapse of Stalinism.  Big car sales show rooms, selling Mercedes sat alongside dozens of ESSO garages and McDonalds restaurants.

Upon arrival at our ski resort, we were greeted by fantastic mountain sun, perfect snow and luxurious three, four and five star accommodation littered the area. On the slopes there were “Royal Property Group” winter apartment construction projects building complexes for sale to Russian and British investors and holiday makers. I could scarcely believe how cheap these apartments were to purchase, built to a high standard in a winter paradise. The hotel accommodation and entertainments in my resort were of a high standard. Flags on the buildings proudly proclaimed European Union and even NATO membership.

However I also experienced another side to Bulgaria. The Bulgarian post Stalinist experience is very different from the German experience.

In Bulgaria there is no Solidarity tax. It became clearly evident to me that locals employed in my hotel were paid a pittance. The cleaners, waiting staff, receptionists would constantly expect tipping to the extent I wondered if the tips formed the bulk of their real income. If I did not tip the room cleaners for example, my hotel room was not cleaned the next day. At the ski school too there were groups of impoverished gift sellers looking for newcomers to buy carved mountain bells from them they had crafted (quite skilfully) themselves. There was obviously no regulation as to where, how or how much these people were allowed to sell and charge there goods for. For them life and income is obviously haphazard and I suppose occasionally profitable. But really you feel for the obvious poverty these people endure.

I was followed by a taxi driver at one point through who on seeing me walk through the resort turned to offer me a lift. I refused; he however followed me at a distance to the cash machine where I was going shouting “are you sure…no lift” until I promptly continued walking. The taxi meters at the resort are notorious for running exceptionally quickly. 

I spoke with several ski school instructors about the situation of local poverty. One wished such haphazard trading to be outlawed, or regulated. Another told me I should feel no guilt in going to Bulgaria and having a holiday, Bulgaria is desperate for the lifeline of tourist income. To stop visiting would be a tragedy they told me, as he swigged a sip of Bulgarian brandy from his flask offering me some, ten metres up on the ski tow, before departing to teach a class.

Snezhanka Tower at 1929 metres built by the Communist Party of Bulgaria at the ski resort

At the top of the Mountain Snezhanka the Communist Party built a Tower similar to the Fernsehtrum in Berlin. It is possible here to have lunch high up in the tower enjoying the surrounding views. However few ever do, the approach gates have been left to rust and it seems this Snezhanka tower is an unwelcome reminder of dark times in Bulgaria. Much rather the ski instructors directed us to lunch and relax at the numerous Bulgarian, Italian, and Serbian cafes and bars which dotted the mountain offering log fires, great food, music and a comforting welcome.

Driving through Sofia on the way back to the airport I was stunned at how little some aspects of the City appeared to have changed in comparison to Berlin. From first glance Sofia is dominated by row upon row of dreary housing blocks, many with crumbling walls, roofs and single glazed windows which must be terrifyingly cold to live in the Carpathian winter. It seemed strange to see car show rooms and fast food enterprises along the road, where staff are probably paid extremely badly and surrounded by the relative squalor that many Bulgarians appeared to be enduring.

It seems to me that the situation in East Europe, certainly in Bulgaria is that aspects of capitalism have been copy and pasted onto a country which has not the resources, infrastructure, legislation, or codes of conduct to ensure that its population benefit from that. I think most Bulgarians look to the EU with the expectation that things will change for them. Economic and social change is an enormous task, and one really cannot go with out the other. I worry that the EU does not fully appreciate the task of reconstructing East European society. In a country such as Bulgaria where the Communist Party headquarters was burned to the ground by an angry mob in 1989 I sincerely desire that their hope does not give way to frustration as Bulgaria moves so slowly and unevenly towards prosperity.

By all means the celebrations of the collapse of the Berlin wall should be praised by all Europeans; it celebrates something unique in human nature. Freedom to travel, freedom to speak, to affiliate and so on are core human rights. But at the same time it should be remembered that experiences of post Stalinist life differ across East Europe. The floodgates of wealth have not poured their resources into every East European home, and immense wealth and huge capitalist enterprises now have a presence amongst some of the poorest communities in Europe.

Although this article is written purely fro a personal perspective as a traveller, I feel I have highlighted some real differences between Germany and Bulgaria since the fall of the Berlin wall. I would very much like to return to both places for longer, enjoy the hospitality of the places and people I met and to get a deeper personal sense of their circumstances and their views of the future for Berlin, Bulgaria and Europe as a whole

Just briefly I’d like to comment on my views of EU responsibilities for change in the East. Following the recent EU elections I feel this is a good place to finish. The EU should avoid a mentality of triumphal victory as the Union moves east, but think very carefully about disparities of wealth in these very areas. Whether it is with regard to housing, healthcare, labour wage and employment laws, corporate responsibilities, the environment, tourism or corruption, much needs to be done.

With so many poor alongside a few rich in East Europe, the potential pitfalls are obvious. The wealth that does flow to East Europe should be distributed fairly, appropriately and not gained from exploiting wage expectations and poor labour laws.  A socialist perspective has a duty to highlight these and campaign to ensure the European Union embraces its opportunity to improve the lives of so many.