Goodbye to all that

On Monday, after 54 years, Berlin regained the glory it had lost after the Armistice and once again became the capital of Europe8217;s most powerful nation. The Reichstag, the power-centre of old Germany, is again the seat of government. Only, if some MPs have their way, it might be called the Bundestag or the delightfully bureaucratic Plenary Building. Reichs appear to be out of style. The building itself, shattered by Soviet artillery in the siege of 1945, has been redesigned by Sir Norman Foster, an architect from England, Germany8217;s most committed opponent in the War. And for the first time since it was designed by Ludwig Gies, the German eagle, which will hang in the building, has been partially reworked for the times 8212; by Sir Norman. Gies8217; critics, who have disparaged the eagle as the quot;fat federal henquot; for decades, are naturally pleased, but the fact remains that this is a little like asking a Pakistani artist to redesign the tricolour. Such was the outrage that Gies8217; family actually went to court, claimingthat the national emblem was being desecrated.

It is a shocking package for nationalists. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder8217;s move from Bonn to Berlin has generated its share of acrimony, and not only on cultural issues. Apart from Sir Norman8217;s bill, there is the 20 million Deutsche Mark that will be spent on moving bureaucrats, an expense that is difficult to rationalise when Germany has millions on the dole. But the move also underscores Germany8217;s commitment to lay to rest the ghosts of the past. The nation has been one of the prime movers of Eur-opean unification. The Euro, the first real symbol of the process, was born in Frankfurt. The Marshall Plan is still one of the leading examples of the success of international aid. With the Bridge Across the Sky8217;, Berlin itself saw the first evidence of a new world in which national borders are no longer very important. Yet, Nazism is still an issue, kept alive by regular war crimes trials and the recent revelations about Jewish money in Swiss banks. The quot;fathenquot; still kindles memories of jackboots and double lightning blazes. And the Reichstag? The only image most people remember is that of a Russian infantryman pulling down the Swastika on the roof, far above a Berlin in flames.

The new Reichstag and the change of seat of government should help Germany shed that image. The former, with its acres of glass and facilities for the public to watch the proceedings, articulates a commitment to open dealing and transparency in government. Designed by an Englishman, it shows a further commitment to a Europe without borders. And the move back to the home city, from the patently artificial capital of Bonn 8212; as ersatz as Brasilia 8212; shows a determination to go back to the roots of old Germany, back beyond the Beer Hall Putsch. Christopher Isherwood8217;s Berlin lives on, long after his long goodbye. So does Marlene Dietrich8217;s, somewhere on the Unter den Linden. It will be argued that Germany8217;s obvious intention to forget the nightmare of the Hitler years is dishonest. Butthen, Germany has got over it. Time the rest of the world did, too.