Berlin and the Molecule Men

Berlin is a global city with its very own kind of charm. There's something fresh about it that makes discovering the city a never-ending adventure for both citizens and visitors to the city. The new Berlin is a feeling that has developed over the 20 years since reunification. It's a feeling that's impossible to explain, it simply has to be experienced. For a long time, Berlin was famous around the world for its history as a divided city, as a symbol of the Cold War. It was famous for the landmarks in the divided parts of the city: the Brandenburg Gate in East Berlin, the Reichstag building in West Berlin. But the most famous of all was the Wall.

All of this has now become part of the city's living history, but in the space of 20 years, Berlin has become a symbol of something new. The city is a magnet for all those wanting to participate in shaping a new global metropolis. New spaces are being created. This is meant literally, for example, Potsdamer Platz or Prenzlauer Berg. But intellectual space is also emerging from an art, music and creative scene that is making a name for itself all over the world. What makes Berlin so special today is that it is both interesting and innovative.

The new Berlin is a global city. It has given itself places and landmarks that do not compete with the long-standing icons but which supplement them, renewing the city.

The 30m-high Molecule Men which have been standing in the river Spree near Oberbaum Bridge for a good 10 years uniquely symbolise this. Three figures made of aluminium and designed by American artist Jonathan Borowsky stand erect here at the point where the districts of Treptow, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg meet. The bodies of the three perforated figures symbolise the molecular composition of man, and the existence of man who is created through the interaction of all life. At the same time, they point to the border between former East and West Berlin, at the point where three districts of the new Berlin meet, showing that the city defines itself through people, who develop ideas and thus transform the city into a living object that results from interaction on all sides.