Maglev train

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West Berlin opens a test track for a new maglev train. It runs from Gleisdreieck to Kemperplatz via Bernburger Strasse.

But when the Wall falls, all dreams of an M-Bahn network fade. Because the test route lies on a U-Bahn line that is due to reopen, the maglev has to stop operating in 1990.

locations

Berlin-West, Kemperplatz

showtime
23

latitude
52.5111771

longitude
13.37143
Berlin-West, Gleisdreieck

showtime
1

latitude
52.4991053

longitude
13.3752644
Berlin-West, Bernburger Straße

showtime
18

latitude
52.5052058

longitude
13.3787443

date

April 1984
Friedrichstadtpalast opens

The Friedrichstadtpalast opens in East Berlin. It has the largest stage in the world and can seat 2,000 theatregoers. Jürgen Nass, who was the assistant director at the time, talks about how the West actually inspired the performances that were presented as examples of good, socialist entertainment.

Contemporary Witnesses, Culture, East

02:01
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January 09, 1984
BVG takes over S-Bahn

In January 1984, the senate commissions the BVG transport authority with running the S-Bahn in West Berlin. Because the network has fallen heavily into disrepair over the years, the service initially only covers 21 kilometres of the city. East and West Berlin agree that Reichsbahn staff will continue to drive the trains between Lehrter station in the West and Friedrichstrasse in the East. East Berliner Dieter Müller was one of the drivers to operate that stretch.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

02:38
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1984
Drive-through opens

McDonald’s opens its first drive-through restaurant in Dahlem, West Berlin.

Everyday Life, West

00:40
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1984
The bizarre side of the Wall

While the GDR is busy removing anti-tank obstacles from the death strip, the Wall drives artists to stage bizarre performances, and residents to make comments that are equally peculiar...

Border, Politics, Culture, West

01:29
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1983
Udo Lindenberg plays East Berlin

Rock singer Udo Lindenberg receives permission to give a concert in East Berlin in October 1983. He and his Panikorchester perform in the Palace of the Republic to an audience of carefully selected young East Germans. Egon Krenz, head of the Free German Youth organisation, is also in attendance. While the concert is going on inside, police are mistreating and brutally arresting fans who have gathered outside on the street. Nikolaus Becker witnessed the events and talks about what it was like.

Contemporary Witnesses, Culture, West, East

03:24
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June 1984
Refugees in the permanent mission

Fifty-five GDR citizens flee to West Germany’s permanent mission on Hannoversche Strasse in East Berlin. Hans-Otto Bräutigam is head of the mission at the time. He talks about the unbearable conditions that lasted several weeks and how, on 26 June, he was forced to go against the mission’s open-door policy and close it to the public. East and West reach an agreement at the end of July, when the GDR authorities agree not to punish the refugees and guarantee that they will soon be allowed to leave for the West. Inge Albrecht was 20 when she and her friend took refuge in the mission. She speaks about what it was like.

Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, Opposition, West, East

03:12
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July 28, 1984
Gasometer demolished

The gasometer in the East Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg is demolished. A new showcase estate honouring revered labour leader Ernst Thälmann is put up in its place. General Secretary Erich Honecker pays a personal visit to Ernst Thälmann Park to see how the project is progressing.

Everyday Life, East

01:10
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1985
Queuing up for the West

Many East Berliners have submitted applications to leave the GDR, but no one knows when or if they will be granted. Most people have to wait a long time before they find out. Author Bernd Wagner is among those who want to get out. When his application is finally approved, he leaves Prenzlauer Berg and settles in Kreuzberg in West Berlin.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

03:22
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1985
Natural gas and senate stockpiles

Natural gas from the Soviet Union begins flowing to West Berlin in early October 1985. But because the allies are worried that the Soviets could cut the supply at any moment, they build a massive gas storage facility underneath Stössensee lake. West Berlin is preparing for disasters in other ways too. The senate has built up huge stockpiles of essentials so that the city can still retain its freedom even if things take a turn for the worse.

Everyday Life, West

00:56
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1985
West Berlin employs builders from across the border

West Berlin begins importing beer from East Germany in 1985. That same year, construction workers from East Berlin start appearing on West Berlin building sites. Their employers are happy because they can pay them less than their Western counterparts, and the GDR is happy to have the foreign currency flowing into its coffers.

Everyday Life, West, East

01:17
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location

October 15, 1963
The Philharmonic Concert Hall opens

A new landmark emerges in West Berlin. The Philharmonic Concert Hall opens its doors in October 1963. Berliners are soon referring to the tent-like structure as Karajan’s Circus after the much-loved conductor. The hall was designed by architect Hans Scharoun and boasts a unique feature: the audience can see the orchestra from all angles.

Culture, West

00:41
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January 1989
Karajan retires

Herbert von Karajan leaves the Berlin Philharmonic after 35 years as its principal conductor.

Culture, West

00:22
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March 1988
Lenné Triangle occupied

In 1988, a group of young people occupy the Lenné Triangle, a plot of land that lies right by the Wall, in an attempt to stop a motorway being built there. Although the site is in West Berlin, it is actually the property of East Berlin. The occupation makes a tourist attraction of what was once just a wasteland. Not long after the young people arrive, the Lenné Triangle is handed back to the West and several hundred police officers begin clearing the site. They fire teargas and use water cannons, and the squatters retaliate by throwing paving stones. A lot of the protestors manage to flee across the Wall to East Berlin, where they are given breakfast and later allowed to take the U-Bahn back to the West. Today the site is home to the Beisheim Center.

Politics, West, East

02:47
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1980
Musicians dig Berlin

In May 1980 the Tempodrom on Potsdamer Platz begins staging offbeat shows in a circus tent. Numerous West Berlin artists appear on the programme, including Annette Humpe and her group, Ideal. Their song, Ich steh auf Berlin (I dig Berlin), is an anthem to the city. Ideal were an important part of the Neue Deutsche Welle and played a crucial role in shaping the genre.

Culture, West

00:59
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1976
The Wall turns white

Work on the Wall never seems to end. Money keeps getting ploughed into what was already a very expensive structure. The fourth-generation Wall, as its latest incarnation is known, is designed to last longer and make it harder for people to escape. But the rows of gleaming white slabs turn out to have an unwanted side effect: they are the perfect blank canvas. Artists from all over the world come to unleash their creativity on the West Berlin side of the Wall.

Border, West, East

00:24
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August 13, 1971
Ten years of living with the Wall

On 13 August 1971 Berlin has been divided for ten years. The Wall has become a tourist attraction and popular backdrop for films, with its freshly raked death strip, signal fences, guard dogs, carpets of spikes and watchtowers. Almost 100 people have perished trying to get over to the other side. East Germans try to adjust to life with the Wall. Gert Roth talks about life in the GDR. A huge propaganda campaign is launched to mark the Wall's 10th anniversary and justify its existence.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

01:25
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August 13, 1986
25 years of the Wall

East Berlin celebrates the 25th anniversary of the closing of the border. On the Western side, 68-year-old Canadian John Runnings, whose campaigns earned him the nickname “Wall Walker”, climbs onto the Wall and takes a sledgehammer to it. GDR border guards eventually force him down and the authorities sentence him to 18 months in prison. He is released three months later and leaves Berlin.

Border, Everyday Life, West, East

01:15
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June 12, 1987
Reagan visits West Berlin

President Reagan’s visit to West Berlin in June 1987 sparks rioting in the streets and anti-American demonstrations. To mark the 750th anniversary of Berlin, Reagan gives a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Two short sentences will be remembered forever: “General Secretary Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Politics, West

00:57
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August 13, 1961
Dismay as the Wall goes up

Sixteen-year-old Wilfried Mommert has just finished school and is about to start an apprenticeship. He and his friends go to the Brandenburg Gate on 13 August 1961 to express their outrage after the Western part of the city is sealed off. The West Berlin police have blocked access to East Berlin at the Soviet War Memorial and have sent in water cannons. In 2011, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wall going up, the rbb interviewed Berliners to find out what the division of the city meant to them. The Wall had a profound impact on the way each person went about their daily lives - no matter what side they found themselves on. Overnight people were cut off from their friends and relatives, from their offices, factories and schools, and from places where they enjoyed spending their leisure time. The division of the city tore families apart, ruptured biographies and claimed many lives.

Border, Contemporary Witnesses, West

04:46
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1980
State visit to the Brandenburg Gate

On a state visit to East Berlin, the leader of Nicaragua is taken to see the “antifascist protection wall”, now a permanent feature of all state visits to the GDR. The ritual involves climbing the platform at the Brandenburg Gate and looking out over the class enemies in the West.

Politics, East

00:23
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