Walking to a spätkauf, one of Berlin’s late-night convenience stores, a friend points out plaques that have been laid into the cobblestone sidewalks.
Those are stolpersteine, she tells me. All throughout Germany, artist Gunter Demnig has installed them in front of houses lived in by victims of the Nazi regime.
They list the deceased’s name, birth date and place of death.
Constant reminders of Germany’s past are part of what makes Berlin an open city that revolves around public discussion, said Peter Tokofsky, head of academic programs at the J. Paul Getty Museum and adjunct professor of Germanic languages.
“Postwar Germany has developed a culture … where people are very much interested in engaging with each other and confronting their own society,” said Tokofsky.
This is a contrast to Los Angeles, where the typical Angeleno seems to lack the same driving desire for conversation and community, he continued.
Tokofsky, who co-directs the UCLA Travel Study Germany program, has lived in Los Angeles for most of his life, but has visited Berlin almost every year for the last decade and a half.
Los Angeles became Berlin’s first sister city in 1967. A committee established the connection to advance and encourage cultural exchange between the two urban centers.
Both are home to thriving music and film communities and divided into culturally distinct districts.
“A lot of different parts of (Berlin) started out separately and grew together,” said Tokofsky. “This same sort of geo-identity and regionalism within the city lends to the dynamics of both (Berlin and Los Angeles).”
Of course, day-to-day life in the two cities can differ dramatically.
With the sheer number of places to stop and talk in Berlin, there is a greater opportunity for community conversations.
Streets are lined with family-owned bakeries and cafes that spill out onto the sidewalk, where residents or tourists stop to enjoy a coffee or catch up.
Older German men actually do drink together every night at neighborhood kneipes, or bars. There is even a popular bridge in the neighborhood Kreuzberg, called Admiralbrücke, where the young and old alike go to share a beer and watch the sun set.
“For me, (the difference) boils down to the kneipe-culture, and how (willing) people are to come together … to talk about things and respect each other as neighbors,” Tokofsky said.
One of the reasons for this could be the integration of East Berlin culture. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, people often didn’t have telephones, so they would hop on a bus and go to friends’ houses without making plans beforehand, said Tokofsky.
In Los Angeles, because of the commute time, you really have to “plan your spontaneity,” said Caroline Chamberlain, a fourth-year history student.
Angelenos in Berlin also notice the differences in public transportation. Fewer than half of Berliners own cars; Los Angeles, on the other hand, has the highest per-capita car population in the world.
“I think if people in L.A. saw what a city like Berlin could do with public transportation they would be a lot more open to it,” Tokofsky said.
In Berlin, people from all walks of life take the train, bus or trams to commute to work, find the next big party or even make ends meet. Musicians down on their luck often board subway cars in the hopes their songs will earn them a few euros.
Los Angeles public transportation is less accessible and used less often. According to the City of Los Angeles, only 10 percent of commuters use it to get to work.
“I’ve taken the bus maybe once to Hollywood,” said Sonia Flamberg, a fourth-year architecture and economics student.
She traveled with Tokofsky on his program in 2010. The group spent two weeks in Berlin, staying in the northern suburban neighborhood of Pankow.
“Even though we were in a quieter neighborhood, we all just walked to the train and could get into the city that way,” Flamberg said. “Here (in L.A.) you have to take a cab, get a ride or stay in your neighborhood.”
But Chamberlain and Tokofsky both said Berlin does not offer the same level of diversity that has developed in Los Angeles.
“L.A. is an amazing city in the people who are here,” Tokofsky said. “You can’t go a day without meeting people from around the world.”
Bruin reporter Elizabeth Case is living in Berlin, Germany, reporting on life abroad while taking classes at Humboldt-Universität. This biweekly column is a collection of tips and insights from a student traveler. Email Case at ecase@media.ucla.edu and follow her on Twitter, @elizabeth_case.