photos: Jan Rückert
My dearest Berlin,
you are loud, moody and exhausting. A city driven by hectic energy.
But you are also calm. This is why we come from all around the world.
We – the outsiders of norms. We – who love to go against the flow.
And here with you we can be free. No cages, no bars.
You are a city of freedom. I can’t think of a city that is more free. No rules, no limitations.
In a strange way this was exhausting to me. Freedom can be overwhelming. A scorn to those who are not free themselves. I was aware of that. But still.
I wanted to leave you. My bags were packed. At the last moment I realized what a huge mistake I was about to make.
It was not easy. I had high expectations. And so did you. You challenged me. I felt lost.
I lost myself and that is how I found myself.
Grew with you. Grown up on the playground for adults. At least a bit.
You allow me to become my true self. You and I have many sides to us.
Sweatpants and glitter. World savior and world destroyer. Lightness of Being during the summer and the sorrow of fog during winter.
Night becomes day and day becomes night.
At night even the darkest shadows glow.
My love-hate relationship for you will always exist. But you are tough.
I understood that everything and nothing is possible with you. It depends on me. Every day gets reinvented. I must not finish what I start. And I can start what has already ended.
To become part of your family was not easy. It is hard for new family members. Harder than in other families. After a couple of misunderstandings I was accepted.
Inside your hard shell sits a hard core. But inside this core hides a heart of gold. Or one of confetti.
Your family is as colorful as the whole world. Cultures merge.
The bigger and dissimilar a family – the higher is the potential for conflict. People of different kinds stick together in Berlin.
And it works. This is not a conservative, quiet family. We laugh, we scream and we fight.
But at the end of the day this chaotic family is reunited.
I am happy and proud to be part of this family.
Let’s clink glasses.
To you and to me.
To us my dearest Berlin.
* * *
Text: Marie F. Trankovits, Photos: Jan Rückert
Marie F. Trankovits, 31 – moved around the world until she fell in love with Berlin. Currently working on writing career.
Jan Rückert is a Berlin-based photographer who shares his beautiful photos of Berlin on his Instagram account instalyrik_ and his passion for photography on his blog pixellyrik.
