The idea tO write this essay on contemporary Germany first occurred tO<br > meI believewhile looking out of the Reichstag building in Berlin on a<br > January morning fifty yearsalmost tO the dayafter Hitler had taken<br > power1 was photographingand the East German border guardon his<br > watchtower nearbytook an evident interest in me"perhaps he was jUSt<br > boredperhaps he thought 1 was engaging in a bit of strategic<br > photographyBerlin and Germany had always been divided for this<br > young man from Eberswalde perhapsor Cottbussurely there were<br > more fascinating objects for a bona fide tourist tO photograph than a<br > wall and some barbed wire entanglements?<br > It was a perfectly natural reaction on his partbut my recollections<br > went back a little furtherand 1 was bound tO be struck by the changes 1<br > was seeing from my vantage pointI had been born in Silesia which was<br > then Germany(but iS no longer)and I have revisited the country many<br > times since the early 1950sI have written on modern German history<br > but never thought ofmyselfas a German specialistmy main interests as<br > a student of politics and history have been elsewhere<br > 1 Oecame again intrigued by events in Germany in recent yearspartly<br > because of the crucial importance of that country in Europe1 was also<br > fascinated by the young generationSimilar manifestations of youth<br > revolt and of the emergence of the SOcallednew social movements<br > could be watched elsewhereBut nowhere had this process gone SO far<br > lasted SO long and been taken SO seriouslyLastly1 was surprised by<br > some of what I had heard and read in America and Europe about<br > tJermanyIt was often at variance with my own impressions<br > It IS no easy task tO measure the pulse of any countrylet alone tO<br > predict itS futureTruethe observer now has at his disposal<br >