A family reunified

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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.

locations

Berlin, Bernauer Straße

showtime
1

latitude
52.538156

longitude
13.395482
Berlin-Gesundbrunnen

showtime
17

latitude
52.5486

longitude
13.3903
Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, Husemannstraße

showtime
67

latitude
52.538461

longitude
13.4176521
Berlin, Bahnhof Friedrichstraße

showtime
77

latitude
52.5196615

longitude
13.3881497
Berlin, Heinrich-Heine-Straße

showtime
213

latitude
52.5103079

longitude
13.41578293
Berlin-Neukölln, Harzer Straße

showtime
222

latitude
52.4857358

longitude
13.4476026

date

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
The Wall goes up

On 13 August 1961 work begins to construct the Wall. The division of East and West shocks Berliners and the Western world. They are left stunned as barbed wire and barricades carve the city in half and tear families apart. The mayor of Berlin is also shaken by events and makes the following statement: "The wall to a concentration camp is now cutting through the heart of Berlin." The number of refugees soared in the week before the Wall went up. In July 1961, 30,415 people applied for emergency accommodation. Over Easter alone, 4,000 people entered the transit camp – the first port of call for those who have no relatives in the West. The powers-that-be in the GDR have decided to put a stop to the mass exodus of its citizens. At first, the Western allies do not react to the closing of the border, as the barricades do not infringe their rights.

Border, Escaping, Politics, West, East

01:48
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August 13, 1961
The end of the line at the Wall

On 13 August 1961 S-bahn trains reached the end of the line at the Wall. Manfred Doro worked at Falkensee train station for 47 years and was station master from 1961. He has kept a historic document from that time: the GDR Transport Ministry's order the day the Wall went up to terminate all S-bahn trains heading to Berlin. 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

03:04
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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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August 13, 1961
Secret sand

In March 1963, 11-year-old Detlef Aagard, his parents and ten other people flee from Glienicke/Nordbahn in the GDR to West Berlin. They escape through a tunnel that starts in the living room of his parents’ house, which at the time stood right next to the border. As they dug the tunnel, Detlef’s family had to work out how to conceal several tonnes of sand around the house. 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, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, East

03:37
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August 16, 1961
Brandt and Adenauer's reaction to the Wall

West Berlin's mayor Willy Brandt gives a speech at a protest rally at Schöneberg Town Hall. Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, however, does not arrive in Berlin until days later.

Border, Politics, West

00:54
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October 1961
Stand-off at Checkpoint Charlie

"The world holds its breath: at the end of October, American and Soviet tanks stand face-to-face at the US Checkpoint Charlie on Berlin Friedrichstrasse. The GDR authorities are trying to restrict the allies' freedom of movement. For several months, the young US president John F. Kennedy has been negotiating with USSR First Secretary Khrushchev, the strongman of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev wants to make Berlin a free city and release it from the joint responsibility of the Second World War's victorious powers, but Kennedy takes a stand. The Berlin Wall goes up and a few months later the situation escalates even further when the GDR tries to impose border controls on foreign diplomats and the military at Checkpoint Charlie. US Special Emissary Lucius D. Clay responds by sending in tanks. Khrushchev then orders Soviet tanks to drive to the border, leading to a stand-off between the two superpowers that lasts 16 hours. "

Border, Politics, West, East

01:02
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March 01, 1962
Escaping at the dead of night

The sector border between Rosenthal and Wittenau: Annemarie Salzmann and her boyfriend slip on overalls to camouflage themselves as they crawl across the open ground near the border. Leather gloves will help protect their hands as they climb over the barbed wire. In March 1962 they escape under cover of darkness and fog, risking their lives in the death strip. 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

04:43
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May 01, 1962
The first of May in East and West

1 May celebrations a year after the Wall goes up: A military parade is held in East Berlin to mark Labour Day, which falls on a Tuesday that year. Over in West Berlin, Federal President Heinrich Lübke gives a speech at the Reichstag.

Politics, West, East

00:42
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June 18, 1962
GDR border guard Reinhold Huhn is shot

Ten months after the Wall goes up, the death strip winds through the city, cutting Berlin in half. West Berlin is sealed off. Windows have been bricked up, people separated by barbed wire, roads blocked by tank traps. Families have been torn apart. Escape helper Rudolf Müller has dug his way under the Wall from the West. However, GDR border guards discover the escape tunnel and one of them is shot and killed, sparking a propaganda war. The dead man, Reinhold Huhn, becomes a martyr and streets and schools are named after him.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

01:23
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location

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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August 13, 1961
A last trip to the cinema

Film lover Jürgen Franke from Prenzlauer Berg often goes to the pictures in West Berlin with his friends. The 12 August 1961 is no exception: they go to a late-night screening in the Western district of Gesundbrunnen. As they near the border crossing at Bernauer Strasse in the early hours of 13 August, they can already see the floodlights and construction trucks. 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

03:56
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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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