"I am a Bucher"

...one of my most incredible and unforgettable weekends ever.

I am a Wessi and grew up without any connection to the former GDR. Only my history and politics teacher in senior high school had fled the GDR and was very critical.

August 1989: I had just finished a two year postdoc at University of California, San Diego and had moved to Munich. At the same time, my brother Achim had received a master degree at MIT in Boston and had changed to the TU Berlin for a PhD thesis.

August 30th 1989, on the phone: “Achim, we should meet before Christmas to chat and to buy gifts for mom and dad.” “OK, how about Berlin, 2nd weekend of November?” And that´s where we went! My then long-booked flight from Munich to Berlin on early Friday, November 10th beamed me into one of my most incredible and unforgettable weekends ever.

10 years later, April 1999: Married, mother of two little ones, a husband who wanted to move – from Munich to Berlin! Careful steps in this unknown city – for me I restricted myself to the former West, and professionally to the Charité Campus Virchow.

20 years later, July 2009: Two wonderful, coordinated programs, granted to me by the DFG (KFO192 and IGK1631 MyoGrad) at the same time forced me to move to Berlin-Buch, to the ECRC, a worn-down GDR-building with translational ambitions and a high level of secret politics that all were unknown to me. Years of trying to create “blooming landscapes” for my muscle team included disappointments but also visible steps forward.

30 years later, September 2019: Ossis think before they speak. Wessis move along even if not always right. Sense of humor is essential. A lot is fine. “I am a Bucher”.