BERLIN: Capital City of the German Democratic Republic - these words could be seen everywhere and were repeated like a mantra by border guards, ticket inspectors and anyone at all in a position of authority. The word 'East' was omitted as though only the one half of Berlin existed - theirs.
We travelled several times through the city from east to west over the Berlin wall - every experience of it shocking and intimidating, something we would have wished to avoid had we been able. This city epitomised everything that people who had never been to a communist country imagined: an impenetrable border, armed guards, barbed wire and electric fences, mines, families separated, people wary of speaking to foreigners and a tangible pall of grey gloom.
Though always referred to as 'the communist bloc', the countries comprising the part of Europe "behind the iron curtain" were almost as dissimilar from each other as those in the E.U. (then EEC). Perhaps the fact that a nation had built a wall separating German from fellow German demanded a more severe regime. Certainly, the atmosphere and reality of life in the GDR (or DDR) were far removed from those in the infinitely easier-going Hungary.
Below are some photographs that illustrate some short quotations from my book related to travelling to East Berlin, crossing the Berlin wall and perceptions of the city....
We travelled several times through the city from east to west over the Berlin wall - every experience of it shocking and intimidating, something we would have wished to avoid had we been able. This city epitomised everything that people who had never been to a communist country imagined: an impenetrable border, armed guards, barbed wire and electric fences, mines, families separated, people wary of speaking to foreigners and a tangible pall of grey gloom.
Though always referred to as 'the communist bloc', the countries comprising the part of Europe "behind the iron curtain" were almost as dissimilar from each other as those in the E.U. (then EEC). Perhaps the fact that a nation had built a wall separating German from fellow German demanded a more severe regime. Certainly, the atmosphere and reality of life in the GDR (or DDR) were far removed from those in the infinitely easier-going Hungary.
Below are some photographs that illustrate some short quotations from my book related to travelling to East Berlin, crossing the Berlin wall and perceptions of the city....
1. " Our train, the Meridian Express, was due to leave at two o'clock in the afternoon.
‘Tickets, passports, visas, money?’ János asked. We smiled, and Paul slipped off one of his boots. ‘Have a look,’ he said, stretching the top of his socks to reveal a second one underneath, and just discernible near the heel, some pound notes between two layers. As 'Hungarians' we were not permitted to have more than a minimal amount of western currency, yet we would have to pay for our ticket from East Berlin to Braunschweig in West German marks." |
2. "At six we awoke to a view of grey, snow-covered houses as we slowly approached East Berlin."
"We... bought tickets for the overground city train and made for Friedrichstrasse, the cross-over point to the west."
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More Images of East Berlin
More about the wall...
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There are countless documentaries about the wall. In today's Berlin, a line of cobble stones marks the position of where the wall ran through the city. It is also possible to visit some of the infamous crossing points such as Friedrichstrasse and Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, and Marienborn - a main crossing point for both trains and road traffic from East Germany to West Germany.
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