To understand Berlin, it is necessary to go on a journey to its origins, the nineties: the scars of war were everywhere, coal stoves, dilapidated buildings, basic supermarkets. Today, however, the search for abandoned ruins, the hunt for heirlooms in markets and illegal parties in basements no longer exist. That era of urban archaeology is over: almost all the old buildings have been renovated, houses cleared of squatters and typical DDR style shops closed. Without the wounds of the past the city may be less dramatic but it is stronger and healthier. Even the inhabitants have lost something of that yearning, of that romantic and self-destructive streak that defined the Berlin of the past. But Berlin remains a young city. Indeed, to cite one who knows it well, Berlin is, and always will be 'pure potential'.