On May 2nd, 1945, Berlin looked like this:
Soviet soldiers raise the hammer and sickle over the Reichstag during the Battle of Berlin on May 2nd, 1945. Photo credit: creative commons.
On May 2, 1987, Berlin looked like this:
A burned-out car on the streets of Berlin on the morning of May 2, 1987. The photo was taken in the Kreuzberg district at the intersection of Skalitzerstraße and Mariannenstraße. The train station in the background is Görlitzer bahnhof, today a stop on the U-1 line. Photo credit: creative commons.
On May 1, 2001, Berlin looked like this:
A still-burning car after riots in Berlin. The stairs on the left of the photo lead to Mariannenplatz. Photo credit: creative commons.
And on May 1, 2019, Berlin looked like this:
The 2019 MyFest in Kreuzberg. Picnic benches, families, and a few political pamphlets on Mariannenplatz.
I’m happy that things seem to be getting better. I prefer family picnics to burned-out cars.