Discarded cars lie beside the tracks, hills of old metal roll past: dented, worn out, cast off. The Amtrak train left the underground Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, traveled under the waters of Hudson River, and resurfaced in New Jersey. Penn Station to Pennsylvania. Beneath reinforced concrete pillars, beneath flowing water, beneath coveted earth, on rails that are no worse than the ones in Germany. A lot of rust all at once here. The seats in the carriage are comfortable, cushioned, wide. Outside, there’s not much to see, just the American industry, either in decline or on the rise. Decay is as visible as potential for innovation. A market-liberal dream for many, a late-capitalist nightmare for just as many, those who lack financial means, or fear they soon will.
Infrastructure is fragile in the so-called land of so-called freedom. Boom and bust are as close as siblings. And of course, there are stories of estrangement, as in many families. Leipzig, where I study at the German Literature Institute, was once described to me as the brother of Berlin, where I live. But I already have a brother, and he’s younger than me, though not smaller or only a little. Hannah Arendt once described New York City in a letter to Karl Jaspers as a “big Berlin,” and Leipzig really has nothing to do with New York, but it does with Berlin. That’s how it is with family ties: eventually, it gets confusing. Families are complicated and beautiful. But it’s best when you choose them yourself. I chose Berlin, but I want to visit New York at least once a year from now on. You have to visit family while you still can. We’re all getting older.
We’re heading to Philadelphia, a relative of New York, as many will tell me later when we arrive, speaking fast after slow trains. At the bar after Sonali´s and my reading, someone will say: Philadelphia is a bit like Berlin. But Philadelphia has a complex, because of New York, the older brother and it’s true: people have been living in the area that is now New York for over 400 years, and Philadelphia was founded in 1682.
The views expressed in this text are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Goethe-Institut.
