Smog alert

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West Berlin issues its first Level 1 smog alert of the year. Drivers are banned from using their cars, unless they are traveling between West Berlin and West Germany. It’s a fairly easy loophole to exploit...

According to GDR officials, there is no smog. But whatever the politicians say, everyone knows that the problem is being caused by the lignite power plants located in Lusatia, a part of the GDR less than 100 kilometres outside Berlin.

Martin Lutz, a meteorologist at Freie Universität Berlin (West), talks about the events of that February.

locations

Lausitzer Braunkohlerevier, 03116 Drebkau

showtime
113

latitude
51.661482

longitude
14.179516
Berlin

showtime
1

latitude
52.519171

longitude
13.4060912

date

1987
One birthday, two parties

East and West Berlin hold separate celebrations to mark the city’s 750th birthday. East Berlin spruces itself up and completely renovates the historic Nikolai Quarter. Chancellor Kohl attends the celebrations in West Berlin. Erich Honecker has been invited, but doesn’t show up. When it becomes clear that the two sides still disagree over Berlin’s divided status, the East feels cheated and promptly retracts the invitation it had extended to Mayor Diepgen.

Politics, West, East

00:54
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1987
Renovating East Berlin

As part of the preparations for the city's 750th anniversary, East Berlin decides to thoroughly renovate some of its most important buildings, including the Friedrichswerde Church and the French Cathedral on Gendarmenmarkt square. It also gets to work on the Nikolai Quarter and Sophienstrasse, a street filled with historic workshops. Kristina Laduch was an architect for the city at the time. She talks about what it was like working on the Sophienstrasse project.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

02:10
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September 01, 1986
Environmental library in Zion Church

Greenpeace activists stage a protest outside the GDR’s environment ministry. They are trying to raise awareness of how East Germany is damaging the environment. Christian Halbrock was part of the group. In this film he talks about how he and his friends also wanted to bring about political reforms. They have the idea to set up an environmental library, which opens in the parish hall of the Zion Church in East Berlin. Filled with books and information smuggled in from the West, the library becomes a focal point of East Berlin’s opposition movement.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

01:45
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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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April 30, 1986
Linie 1 premieres in Berlin

A musical about the U1 U-Bahn line, which would go on to become world famous, premieres in the Grips Theatre in 1986. The play is all about life in West Berlin. At the time, the U1 line ran from Ruhleben in Spandau to Schlesisches Tor in Kreuzberg. That meant it traversed the whole of West Berlin and cut a cross-section through the many layers of the city’s society. The show turned out to be a huge success for the Grips Theatre.

Culture, West

00:38
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May 01, 1987
Rioting in Kreuzberg

Kreuzberg stages an alternative celebration marking International Workers’ Day on 1 May 1987. What begins as a peaceful event during the day descends into rioting that night. A supermarket burns to the ground, whole streets are set on fire and 250 police officers are injured. The next morning, parts of Kreuzberg lie almost in ruins. It is the start of a cycle that will see the district erupt into violence on 1 May for many years to come. Helmut Sarwas describes what it was like being a police officer on duty that night.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West

02:04
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June 1987
David Bowie plays Berlin

The Eurythmics, Genesis and David Bowie are all on the line-up for a three-day festival outside the Reichstag building in West Berlin. East Berliners gather close to the Wall to try and hear the performances. Protests break out among the crowd, with people chanting things like “the Wall must go”. David Bowie talks about his visit to East Berlin.

Culture, West

00:49
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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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January 1988
Opposition to the GDR

Mid-January sees the GDR’s leaders gather for the annual Luxemburg-Liebknecht demonstration. The politicians visit Friedrichsfelde in East Berlin, where they pay their respects at the memorial to labour leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. While this is going on, the voices of those who oppose the regime are getting louder. People take to the streets and unfurl banners bearing quotes by Rosa Luxemburg. Over 100 protestors are arrested, among them Stephan Krawczyk, Bärbel Bohley, Wolfgang Templin, Vera Wollenberger and Freya Klier.

Politics, Opposition, East

03:20
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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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