Buying freedom

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West Germany has been buying political prisoners out of the GDR since 1962. In 1975, GDR citizens file 16,000 applications for exit visas - more than ever before. The same year, West Germany breaks its own record by spending more than 100 million Deutsche marks on freeing detainees.

Although the GDR has signed the Helsinki Final Act, it is still putting people on trial for political reasons. West Berlin lawyer Reymar von Wedel helps the prisoners on behalf of the protestant church.

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Untersuchungshaftanstalt Hohenschönhausen, Genslerstraße 66, 13055 Berlin

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53

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52.541901

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13.500185

date

November 01, 1974
Tegel Airport opens

A new, modern airport opens in West Berlin. Tegel is designed to take over from Tempelhof as West Berlin's “beachhead” to the Federal Republic. But in its first few months in operation, its modern jet bridges barely dock with a single aircraft. The allied airlines are reluctant to leave Tempelhof because of the high costs involved. Many West Berliners continue to fly from Schönefeld. Robert Grosch, the director of Tegel Airport at the time, describes the difficulties the airport faced in its first years in operation.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West, East

02:23
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October 07, 1974
The GDR's 25th anniversary

The GDR is turning 25. In October 1974, the Republic's birthday is marked in a fitting manner: a military parade through the centre of East Berlin. State-owned enterprises have exceeded their targets.

Politics, East

00:32
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August 13, 1974
Rubbish from the West in the East

During the time the Wall split East from West, rubbish became a lucrative business: Between 1974 and 1994 five million tonnes of rubbish from West Berlin ended up at Schöneiche landfill site in the GDR. 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, Everyday Life, Politics, West, East

03:08
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June 01, 1974
Football World Cup

In June 1974, the Federal Republic organises the Football World Cup. West Berliners are not limited to television viewing: games will also be held at the Olympic Stadium. The fact that both German teams will play group matches here is a particularly sensitive point. However, they will not face each other in Berlin.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:57
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May 1974
Willy Brandt steps down

Günter Guillaume, a close aide of Willy Brandt, is exposed as a Stasi agent, prompting Brandt to step down as Federal Chancellor on 6 May 1974. Berliners are dismayed: Brandt symbolises the policy of easing tensions which has led to significant improvements to everyday life in the divided city. The day of his resignation, they come out onto the streets to demonstrate their support.

Politics, West

00:39
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1975
Schöneberg's last cowshed

The last courtyard cowshed in Schöneberg, West Berlin, has to close. Berliners must say goodbye to the days when they could get farm-fresh milk just by walking down the street.

Everyday Life, West

00:40
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1975
Turkey comes to Kreuzberg

Numerous foreign workers from Southern Europe and Turkey come to West Berlin, attracted by the prospect of jobs and the extra pay that comes with living in the city. Many of them move into cheap flats in pre-war buildings in Kreuzberg. Eva Sarioglu talks about how the buildings were often in very poor condition. Over time, Kreuzberg becomes known as Little Istanbul and develops its own unique identity: “The air was different there,” says Eva.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West

01:31
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February 27, 1975
Peter Lorenz kidnapped

In the run-up to the 1975 West Berlin elections, Peter Lorenz, a CDU politician standing for the second time as the party’s leading candidate for Mayor of Berlin, is kidnapped by a group called Bewegung Zweiter Juni. On 27 February 1975, three days before the election, the terrorists use a truck to block the road. Lorenz’s driver has to stop, and Lorenz is taken. The group say they will release him if six prisoners are freed and allowed to leave the country. The German government decides to agree to the kidnappers’ demands, and Lorenz is released on 4 March.

Politics, West

02:05
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May 11, 1975
Boy drowns in the Spree

Cetin Mert was born on 11 May 1970. He lives with his Turkish parents and two brothers in the West Berlin district of Kreuzberg. The day of his fifth birthday is a sunny one. Cetin goes outside to play with a ball, but ends up falling into the river Spree. Rescuers arrive quickly, but they aren’t allowed to intervene because they are from West Berlin and this stretch of the river is under GDR control. All they can do is watch as Cetin drowns. He is the youngest person to die at the Wall.

Border, West, East

01:35
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1975
Jacob the Liar competes at the Berlinale

This is the first year that filmmakers from East Berlin have participated in the Berlinale, West Berlin’s international film festival. Director Frank Beyer and writer Jurek Becker enter their film, Jacob the Liar, in the competition section.

Culture, West, East

00:44
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1977
East Berlin struck by coffee crisis

In an effort to save Western currency, the GDR creates a new brand of coffee. Kaffee-MIX is ground coffee combined with roasted peas, rye, barley and sugar beet. It quickly earns itself a nickname: Instant Erich. Peter Pragal, then a correspondent for the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, was living in East Berlin with his family at the time of the coffee crisis.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

01:42
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May 1989
Local elections in the GDR

The GDR holds local elections in May 1989. A group of young civil rights activists monitor the vote counting. When the official figures show that 98.85 percent of the population voted for the candidates put forward by the SED, the activists accuse the party of ballot rigging. As a member of the peace group in Weisensee that organised the monitoring, Mario Schatta experienced the events first hand.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

02:23
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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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January 15, 1990
Dissolving the Stasi

The GDR’s secret service (Stasi) is being dissolved. Protestors storm its headquarters in East Berlin. For decades the Stasi spied on its own citizens and hounded political opponents. Its staff included numerous full-time spies as well as so-called “unofficial collaborators”. After the Wall fell, the GDR government initially had no plans to dissolve the Stasi. It is largely thanks to the Central Round Table and the citizens’ committees that the Stasi (which by then had been renamed the Office for National Security) was eventually abolished. Carlo Jordan represented the Greens at the Round Table.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

01:44
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1982
Blues Masses in East Berlin

A church in East Berlin starts holding what will become known as Blues Masses. The events attract those who are unhappy with the regime. Dirk Moldt, an 18-year-old watchmaker’s apprentice, is among them. The young people who gather here feel protected by the church and safe from the repression of the state. Father Rainer Eppelmann and Robert Havemann, a staunch critic of the government, publish their "Berlin Appeal", in which they call for disarmament and freedom of speech.

Contemporary Witnesses, Opposition, East

01:37
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1978
Sigmund Jähn honoured

Cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn opens the Allee der Kosmonauten, a new thoroughfare in East Berlin. He is also made an honorary citizen of Berlin for becoming the first German in space after taking part in a Russian mission aboard Soyuz 31.

Politics, East

00:46
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1966
Shopping centre opens in Lichtenberg

In April 1966, the GDR's most modern shopping centre opens in the East Berlin district of Lichtenberg. Manfred Lauchardt recalls how the GDR's popular WM66 washing machine was not only used in East German households, but also came in handy on Berlin's Alexanderplatz to keep sausages warm.

Everyday Life, East

01:08
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January 1978
Honecker the estate agent

Work on a huge new housing estate in Marzahn has been underway for a year now. The 11-storey prefab blocks are assembled from large panels and take about 110 days to put up. Housing construction is still a high priority for the GDR, which is why Erich Honecker personally hands over the keys to the family moving into the millionth flat.

Everyday Life, East

00:33
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March 20, 1981
SEZ complex opens in East Berlin

The SEZ sports and leisure complex opens in Friedrichshain, East Berlin. It attracts 16 million visitors in the first five years alone. The complex, which had swimming pools, sports halls, an ice rink and several restaurants, was designed to welcome up to 22,000 visitors a day. Heide-Maria Heyde used to work there and recalls the long queues that were a daily sight outside the complex.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

01:56
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August 13, 1961
A Sunday outing that was not to be

Each time Ursula Rahn visits the Brandenburg Gate, it brings back memories of her personal story 50 years ago. On 13 August 1961 she has organised a Sunday outing. That morning Ursula and her friend meet in front of the Brandenburg Gate, planning to go for a cycle ride. 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

04:54
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