With its move to Berlin, the domestic isolation of German politics is coming to an end. A great capital has always functioned as more than a decision-making arena; it is also the first place to gauge public opinion in a country, the stock exchange where political and social ideas are traded and evaluated, and the place where the country’s elites square off. The word itself and the concept of an “elite” fell into disrepute in the Germans’ manic quest for egalitarianism after the war: they considered equality the quintessence of democracy, more so than freedom, and thus unwittingly dragged along a legacy of the “national community” of the Nazis. It is also correct that they no longer have the old elites at their disposal, [those elites] who, across all changes in political forms, see service to the common good as a worthwhile charge; at the same time, they have – as an unavoidable result of social selection and personal achievement – the most varied elites who shape the commentary, the conventions, and for the most part also the impact of society’s actions in politics, the economy, science, and culture. The poor communication among the elites was characteristic for the old Federal Republic, because it had a multitude of centers but no capital in the full sense of the word.
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Berlin will be the headquarters not only of federal politics, but also the center of the life of the individuals who will shape it. Previously, ministers and parliamentarians found it unappealing to settle themselves and their families in the capital for any length of time and to give up, in return, pleasant locales that could easily offer more than Bonn was able to. The large organizations, always dependent on contact with the federal power, will carry out their moves in one fell swoop, and that will also include those who never bothered to settle in Bonn, like the Confederation of German Trade Unions. Berlin will create what federal politics has not known until now: full political workweeks and social interaction among the politically talented, as is characteristic for all true capitals of the world.
During the Bonn era, the great figures in the arena of public opinion had no incentive to leave their nurseries and go to the capital. From Hamburg or Munich people might look upon the goings-on in Bonn kindly or disdainfully; a patronizing relationship to the political exertions of the constitutional organs residing in Bonn was not unnatural; headquarters or an imprint in Bonn did not enhance one’s prestige, but diminished it. Exactly the opposite will be true for Berlin – a publication with national, let alone European, pretensions will be less able to realize them if it is not printed in Berlin. For German public opinion, Berlin will be New York and Washington in one. The Hollywood of Germany, which the city once was, is something it will become only in vestigial form; for now, there is no overpowering motivation for the entertainment industry to focus on Berlin.
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