Church of Reconciliation demolished

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The Church of Reconciliation on Bernauer Strasse in Wedding stands right in the middle of the death strip. No thorn that big can stay in the SED’s side for long, and the building is demolished in January 1985.

Johannes Hildebrandt, whose father had been the church vicar there for years, talks about how he experienced the demolition.

The Berlin Wall Memorial is an imporant place of remembrance that commemorates the division of Germany. Located on Bernauer Strasse, the site stretches 1.4 km along the former border zone. Today, the Chapel of Reconciliation stands on the site of the old church, as a memorial to this historic building. www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de

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Bernauer Straße 111, 13355 Berlin

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1

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52.535833

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13.391944

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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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1985
Princess Diana visits Berlin

Diana, Princess of Wales, visits West Berlin. She is the honorary colonel-in-chief of the Royal Hampshire Regiment.

Politics, West

00:34
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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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March 24, 1985
American GI shot dead

Arthur Nicholson, a US soldier, is shot dead by a Soviet guard during a reconnaissance mission in the GDR. Nicholson strayed too close to a Soviet military site near Ludwigslust, and paid for his mistake with his life. His body is returned to the West on Glienicke Bridge, which connects Potsdam (GDR) with West Berlin. The bridge, which the GDR called the Bridge of Unity, was often used for exchanging spies during the Cold War.

Border, Politics, West, East

01:23
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1986
An unusual art gallery

Artists in West Berlin are using the Wall as a canvas for their paintings. Thierry Noir, a young Frenchman, moves to the city from Lyon in the 80s and settles in Kreuzberg. He starts painting the Wall in bright colours. Perhaps his most famous works are those featuring giant, colourful heads. Their creative endeavours often brought the artists into risky situations, since even the West side of the Wall stood on East Berlin territory. Thierry talks about his experiences of the time.

Border, Culture, West

02:03
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1986
Schiller statue heads East

East and West Berlin sign a cultural agreement in May 1986. It paves the way for the two sides to exchange works of art. A statue of Schiller is returned to its original location on Gendarmenmarkt square in East Berlin. When the Nazis came to power they wanted to use the square as a parade ground, so in 1936 they removed the statue and put it into storage. In 1951, it moved to Lietzensee park in Charlottenburg, which meant Schiller then belonged to West Berlin. Thanks to the cultural agreement, Schiller was returned to his rightful home outside the Konzerthaus (then the Schauspielhaus) in the middle of Gendarmenmarkt square.

Culture, West, East

00:34
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February 11, 1986
The Bridge of Spies

The last exchange of spies to take place on Glienicke Bridge is also the first to happen in public. Interpreted as a sign of thawing relations between East and West, the event on what will now forever be known as the Bridge of Spies plays out in front of the world’s press. The most famous name on the list this time is Anatoly Shcharansky, a civil rights activist who was held for years in a gulag. He had campaigned for human rights and had applied for an exit visa to Israel while in the USSR. He is allowed to cross over to West Berlin in exchange for six agents from the East.

Border, Politics, West, East

01:06
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April 05, 1986
Attack on La Belle nightclub

A bomb attack on the American nightclub La Belle in West Berlin leaves three people dead and over 200 injured. It is the worst attack Berlin has suffered in recent years. The US believe Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi, is behind the bombing, so on 15 April it retaliates with airstrikes on the capital, Tripoli. Katja Bahadori is in the nightclub when the bomb goes off. She is taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West

02:31
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location

1967
Church of Reconciliation in the death strip

The Federal Republic of Germany does not recognise GDR citizenship, meaning refugees from the East still have the right to a West German passport. To stop its citizens escaping to West Berlin, the GDR regime continuously reinforces and expands its border fortifications. The Church of Reconciliation on Bernauer Strasse now stands in the middle of the death strip. By 1967 more than 80 people have died trying to escape over the Wall. The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central memorial site documenting Germany's partition, located at the historic site of Bernauer Strasse: http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de

Border, Escaping, West, East

01:19
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October 05, 1964
Mass escape tunnel at Bernauer Straße

October 1964: A spectacular mass escape. West Berlin students have dug a tunnel to East Berlin at Bernauer Strasse. It is one hundred and forty-five metres long and goes as deep as 12 metres below the earth. It has taken half a year to dig this escape tunnel and it is the longest, deepest and most successful to date, enabling 57 people to escape from East to West. Peter Schulenburg, who was a law student at that time, is one of the escape helpers. Driven by idealism, he practically leads a double life to ensure no one finds out about his secret activities. Not even his girlfriend. During one escape attempt, shots are fired and GDR border guard Egon Schulz dies. Peter Schulenburg only finds out what really happened that night decades later when he gains access to Stasi files. The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central memorial site documenting Germany's partition, located at the historic site of Bernauer Strasse: http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

03:30
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August 13, 1961
Burying tips in Tiergarten

Working as a waiter on the Ku'damm and living in Hohenschönhausen, Peter Hohmann commuted between East and West Berlin - until the events of 13 August 1961. His first attempt to escape over a cemetery wall was unsuccessful, but Peter was not discouraged. After all, he had to retrieve the tips he had buried in Tiergarten... For more information, go to: www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de 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, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, East

05:09
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August 15, 1961
A family reunified

When the Wall goes up, Renate Reich is in East Berlin. Her father, a businessman with a printing works in the West Berlin district of Gesundbrunnen, promises to get her over, whatever it takes. As a West Berliner, he can still go to East Berlin and plans to smuggle Renate over in his car. But two days after the Wall goes up, cars are no longer allowed across the border. The last gaps are gradually closing and time is running out. 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, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, East

04:36
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August 13, 1961
A daredevil escape

After the Wall goes up on 13 August 1961, Peter Hertel gets a job at the electric company BEWAG-OST in the new technologies division. Dissatisfied with life in the East, he comes up with a daredevil escape plan. Armed with a forged BEWAG contract and a rope in his briefcase, he sets off in the direction of Bernauer Strasse. For more information, go to: www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de 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, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, East

04:57
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1969
The Wall: video surveillance and tourist attraction

West Berlin customs officials have started to document events at the Wall. The Wall has also long been a tourist attraction. The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central memorial site documenting Germany's partition, located at the historic site of Bernauer Strasse: http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de

Border, Escaping, West, East

00:38
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September 1989
Exit through Hungary

With Hungary’s borders now open, more and more people are using them to flee the GDR. The refugees all arrive at Tegel airport. For the first time since 1961, the refugee centre in Marienfelde is full to overflowing. New arrivals are housed in a disused furniture warehouse in the district of Wedding. From their windows they can see the TV tower in East Berlin.

Escaping, Opposition, West, East

00:38
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August 1961
Escaping on Bernauer Strasse

Bernauer Strasse is the scene of dramatic events in the days after the Wall goes up. The houses are in the East, the pavement in front of the buildings, in the West. People abseil down to the street from the windows of their flats. Others jump into the rescue nets of firemen waiting below. Residents are still throwing their belongings down onto the street as East German border police break into the buildings to try and stop them from escaping. In the autumn of 1961, the last tenants are forcibly evicted from houses on Bernauer Strasse. Nevertheless, in the years that follow, numerous escape tunnels are dug from the basements of houses on Bernauer Strasse. On 15 August 1961 non-commissioned officer Conrad Schumann is captured on film as he leaps across the rolls of barbed wire in the French sector throwing his weapon aside. This photograph will become an emblematic image of the city's division the world over. The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central memorial site documenting Germany's partition, located at the historic site of Bernauer Strasse: http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

02:37
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August 13, 1961
Troublespot, Bernauer Strasse

After the Wall cut Berlin in two, Bernauer Strasse became a particular troublespot. On 13 August 1961 Ursula Behrendt lived on the fifth floor of an apartment block on the street – too high to climb out of the window and abseil down. A few neighbours managed to escape, but her family stayed in their flat until the last few windows were bricked up. For more information, go to: www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de 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, East

04:15
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1983
Youth brigades in action

Youth brigades, part of the Free German Youth organisation, are put to work sprucing up new estates in East Berlin. The unpaid workers, nicknamed “subbotniks”, are also in high demand in the old neighbourhoods around the Eastern portion of the city centre.

Everyday Life, East

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