3 ms·

Just a reminder of historical milestones for Paris: - 1789 The revolution, which lasted a decade, Louis XVI being guillotined in 1793, and the entire 1800 bein

Just a reminder of historical milestones for Paris: - 1789 The revolution, which lasted a decade, Louis XVI being guillotined in 1793, and the entire 1800 being busy with Napoleon, Restauration of monarchy, then Napoleon III, - 1880 Haussmann refurbishes Paris. Think of the writings of Zola and Victor Hugo. Every grandiose avenue, every beautiful building, every train station comes from that period. Gare d’Orsay (now a museum) with 15 tracks and its magnificent glass ceiling is built in just 2 years, along with a dozen kilometers of rails under the river’s level. Yeah imagine that today, they can’t even build a cycle lane in 2 years. Orsay was just built for Exposition Universelle then shut down like 10 years later. - 1889 Exposition universelle where the Eiffel tower is built. Paris is truly the capital of the world, everyone comes to see it, Paris and France are able to execute grand plans in just a few years. The Russian cour of the tsar speaks French because it’s classy, President Poincare forms an alliance with Russia and visits Saint Pétersbourg in 1913. - XXth century: Nothing really happened in Paris (with the exception of May 1968, the local version of the worldwide cultural changes about freedom of the youths of the 1970ies, feminism, anticonservatism, etc). The entire history of the world happened in Berlin, the gay bars in 1934, the Nazis, the Russian rapes after the occupation, the 40-year wall, the Weidervereinigung in 1989, the EU in the 2000s… Berlin truely was the capital of the world’s events for an entire century. - 2024 The Olympic Games in Paris. Pay close attention to the events, it will tell you what Paris wants to be. What would you say will be the capital of the world for the next 50 years? I’d say San Francisco, because so much of our world is dictated by our startups’ community policies. Or maybe Beijin?

mihaic 2y ago
Not sure about Berlin. As a European, I'd be pretty sure the capital if the world in 1980 was New York for instance.
- toyg 2y ago
  This. The XX century belonged to the US, with New York and Los Angeles attracting people and dictating the cultural and economic agenda. (West) Berlin's cultural life was undoubtedly lively but hardly dominant, even just getting there was difficult. Even just in Europe, London, Paris, Roma, Milano, Amsterdam - they were all much more relevant than Berlin at any one time after WWII. A few gay bars and Bowie albums doth not a cultural hegemony make.
kergonath 2y ago
That’s ignoring an important period before WW1 and between both world wars, where Paris was a magnet for American artists and enjoyed a minor golden age. OTOH Berlin never really had the cultural importance that Paris, London or New York had. The counter-culture was much broader than gay bars and both England and the UK were much more influent. I’m not denigrating Berlin because I love the city, but it just is not in the same league. And it certainly was not prominent for a century.

mihaic 2y ago

Not sure about Berlin. As a European, I'd be pretty sure the capital if the world in 1980 was New York for instance.

toyg 2y ago
This. The XX century belonged to the US, with New York and Los Angeles attracting people and dictating the cultural and economic agenda. (West) Berlin's cultural life was undoubtedly lively but hardly dominant, even just getting there was difficult. Even just in Europe, London, Paris, Roma, Milano, Amsterdam - they were all much more relevant than Berlin at any one time after WWII. A few gay bars and Bowie albums doth not a cultural hegemony make.

kergonath 2y ago

That’s ignoring an important period before WW1 and between both world wars, where Paris was a magnet for American artists and enjoyed a minor golden age. OTOH Berlin never really had the cultural importance that Paris, London or New York had. The counter-culture was much broader than gay bars and both England and the UK were much more influent. I’m not denigrating Berlin because I love the city, but it just is not in the same league. And it certainly was not prominent for a century.