West Berlin employs builders from across the border

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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.

locations

Hildburghauser Straße 8, 12279 Berlin

showtime
38

latitude
52.413388

longitude
13.359715

date

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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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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June 1984
Maglev train

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.

Everyday Life, West

00:29
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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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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
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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January 22, 1985
Church of Reconciliation demolished

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

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, East

02:20
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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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location

1961
Marienfelde refugee transit camp

Hundreds of thousands of refugees leave the GDR. By 1960, 2.97 million people have already left East Germany. Marienfelde refugee transit camp in West Berlin is often their first port of call. Ursula Hagemann worked as a nurse at the camp and talks about her experiences there in 1961. She remembers how many a refugee from ""the other side"" was disappointed by the camp's simple facilities and cramped conditions. After the Wall is built, the flood of refugees dries up. There will not be another influx from the East until the mid 1980s.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West

01:26
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August 13, 1961
Farming in the border zone

Uwe Damm and Horst Gäbert used to work on Großbeeren state-owned farm, which owned arable land by the Wall. A quarter of the land belonging to the Agricultural Production Cooperative (LPG) was located in the border zone. As a result, employees required special permits and armed border guards sometimes sat with them on their tractors as they worked. The border in Berlin ran for a total of 155 kilometres; the section stretching around the outer edge of West Berlin (separating the city from Brandenburg in East Germany) measured 112 kilometres. This film looks at how people living in Brandenburg experienced the Wall going up and what it was like to live in its shadow.

Border, Contemporary Witnesses, East

03:19
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West Berlin employs builders from across the border

locations

information

locations

Gasometer demolished

Refugees in the permanent mission

Maglev train

Friedrichstadtpalast opens

BVG takes over S-Bahn

Queuing up for the West

Natural gas and senate stockpiles

Princess Diana visits Berlin

Church of Reconciliation demolished

American GI shot dead

Commuting between East and West

Berlin before the Wall

House-keeping day and men ironing

Supply of goods in East and West

Bowling, the new trend

Marienfelde refugee transit camp

Farming in the border zone