Berlin exists on the border of freedom and chaos – it’s why I keep coming back

War, reunification and a never-ending migration story have shaped Berlin into one of the most unconventional cities in Europe. But it’s this constant evolution – and the locals’ thrilling pursuit of abandon – that makes it so alluring, argues John Kampfner, in an exclusive extract from his new book

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In October 1990, when the two Germanies became one again, when the two Berlins became one again, the impetus was towards a fresh start. Throw caution to the wind. Tear down that wall once and for all. Erase history. Put up monuments to “progress”.

Could Berlin, finally, be described as normal? The fall of the Wall precipitated another of its migration waves. Many from the former GDR (German Democratic Republic or East Germany) moved west, not so much to old West Berlin as to the smaller, more orderly small towns of the Federal Republic. Into their place came waves of foreigners and West Germans, snapping up cheap properties and wanting to savour what was left of the “original” Berlin. The city is now home to 3.5 million people, a third of whom did not live there when the city was brought back together.

In the 1990s, the chaos of the physical space gave it an immediate and unique selling point. Roughly a third of the buildings in the East had become vacant. DJs and musicians, the anarchic and entrepreneurial, set up clubs in abandoned warehouses and basements; artists set up studios. Nobody knew how long a venue would last, adding to the frisson of the new discovery. The music scene remains one of its biggest draws. Tomes have been written about the best-known venue, Berghain, its history as a former heating plant, its drugs scene, the sex, the music and the big names who tried, and sometimes failed, to get past the bouncers.