A chorus line of 32 stunning girls, high-kicking with military precision on a vast Berlin stage, prove to me that the city’s 1920s theatrical traditions are still alive and blooming.

I’m watching the multi-million pound revue Show Me, which opened last year at the enormous Friedrichstadt Palast in Berlin’s East End theatre district, during celebrations of the city’s 775th anniversary.

It is an amazing show, part Las Vegas and part Cirque du Soleil. Heavily influenced by America’s Ziegfeld Follies, it follows the tradition of German directors such as the great Max Reinhardt.

He staged similar productions in Berlin during the Golden Twenties, a period with which the city will always be associated.

Now 20s fever appears to be gripping London, thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s decadent adaptation of The Great Gatsby. So it seemed fitting that I should revisit the real home of early 20th century razzmatazz, Berlin.

This buzzing city was one of the most exciting places in the world. Today, much of that vibrancy and excitement appears to be resurfacing. Nightclubs may have taken the place of cabaret halls and cloche hats may have been replaced by an array of gravity-defying hairstyles, but that same spirit of carefree decadence is still very much alive.

Standing at the Brandenburg Gate, looking down the Unter den Linden, I’m struck by how much rebuilding has taken place since 1966 and how the city is recovering, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

  • Anthony Looch was a guest of Motel One who offer eight budget design hotels in Berlin, with rooms from 49 Euros (£41) and breakfast £7.50. Visit www.motel-one.com. Easyjet.com offer return flights to Berlin from £51 return. www.easyjet.com