Evictions trigger riots

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On 13 February 1990 a group of squatters occupy a former department store to save it from being demolished. The building stands on Oranienburger Strasse and dates back to the early 20th century. The new residents rename it Kunsthaus Tacheles and turn it into an art centre that becomes a popular tourist attraction.

Members of the alternative scene occupy other buildings throughout the city. A lot of squatters from Kreuzberg move East after reunification. When police clear a number of squats in Mainzer Strasse, riots break out and last for days. The clearance is one of the largest police operations in Berlin’s post-war history.

locations

Kunsthaus "Tacheles", Oranienburger Straße 54, 10117 Berlin

showtime
14

latitude
52.525753

longitude
13.388839
Mainzer Straße, 10247 Berlin

showtime
44

latitude
52.512778

longitude
13.462222

date

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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1990
West Berliners head East

In 1990, West Berliners surprise everyone by queuing up to change their money into Eastern marks. They’re using them to go bargain hunting in East Berlin. The most popular destination is the department store on Alexanderplatz.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:49
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1990
Chipping away at the Wall

The Eastern Block is gradually disintegrating. One of the most obvious signs of the change is the roaring trade going on at the Wall. People are chipping away at the concrete and selling the chunks, often with a certificate of authenticity. The Berlin Wall has become one big souvenir. Alwin Nachtweh was one of the entrepreneurs keeping souvenir hunters supplied with pieces of the Wall. He talks about how illegal traders avoided the authorities, and how East Berliners would try to sell him their old uniforms. Some of them, he says, had their whole lives in a plastic bag.

Everyday Life, West, East

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December 31, 1989
New Year at the Brandenburg Gate

By the time 1989 draws to a close, Berlin has changed beyond all recognition. The Wall is no longer the fearful thing it once was. The Brandenburg Gate, once a symbol of the divided city, opens up to pedestrians. After 28 years of separation, Berliners from both sides of the city see in the New Year together at the Brandenburg Gate.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:26
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November 10, 1989
Willy Brandt at Schöneberg town hall

On 10 November 1989, the day after the border opens, Willy Brandt is in West Berlin. The former chancellor served as Mayor of Berlin between 1957 and 1966, which means he was in power during the early years of the Wall. Brandt joins Chancellor Kohl in speaking at a rally outside Schöneberg town hall, where a crowd of Berliners have gathered. In his speech, he says: “From the war, and from the discord between the allied powers, grew the line that eventually divided Europe and Germany. Berlin reproduced this line in numerous ways. But now here we are, and I thank God that it has happened in my lifetime, watching as the two halves of Europe begin finding their way back to each other.” His famous words, “What belongs together can now grow together”, were not actually part of this speech. Also present at Schöneberg town hall are Walter Momper (Mayor of Berlin) and Hans-Dietrich Genscher (West Germany’s foreign minister).

Politics, West, East

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November 10, 1989
Helmut Kohl at Schöneberg town hall

On 10 November 1989, the day after the border opens, Chancellor Kohl gives a speech at a rally in West Berlin in front of Schöneberg town hall. The building was the seat of the Mayor of Berlin from 1949 to 1991. Also present at Schöneberg town hall are Walter Momper (Mayor of Berlin), Hans-Dietrich Genscher (West Germany’s foreign minister) and Willy Brandt (former chancellor). Chancellor Kohl has to try and make himself heard above the noise of the crowd. In his speech, he underlines the importance of German unity, talks about a united Germany in Europe and takes time to remember all those who lost their lives at the Wall. He calls for the country to reject radical ideas and voices, and to remain calm and act wisely in the days and weeks to come.

Politics, West, East

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March 18, 1990
The GDR holds its first free election

The GDR holds its first free and democratic parliamentary elections on 18 March 1990. Alliance for Germany, which supports Germany being reunified within the scope of the Basic Law, wins the most votes (48 percent). The alliance was a coalition of opposition parties: the CDU (a former bloc party whose leading candidate was Lothar de Maizière), the German Social Union and the Democratic Awakening. The newly founded Social Democratic Party in the GDR (SDP, though it has changed its abbreviation to SPD by the time of the election) wins 21.9 percent of the vote. Lothar de Maizière becomes prime minister of the GDR.

Politics, East

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July 01, 1990
Monetary union: Western marks for all

The economic, monetary and social union of West Germany and the GDR comes into force on 1 July 1990. The changes spell the end of the Eastern mark. GDR citizens finally have access to the Western mark, a long-time symbol of West German prosperity. Adults can change up to 4,000 Eastern marks at a rate of 1:1. For pensioners the maximum is 6,000. Savings in excess of those limits will be changed at a rate of 2:1. Wages and pensions are converted 1:1, and debts are halved. Brigitte Wnuck von Lipinski, landlady of Gittis Bierbar in Mitte, talks about the night before GDR money went out of circulation.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

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October 02, 1990
Allied control ends

Allied control in Berlin has been governing relations between the occupying powers and West Germany since 1949. This control, along with Berlin’s special status, comes to an end in early October 1990, when the GDR becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Two plus Four treaty is signed on 12 September 1990. It returns full sovereignty to Germany, giving the country sole control over its domestic and foreign affairs.

Politics, West

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October 03, 1990
Germany reunited

On 3 October 1990, just 329 days after the Wall fell, the GDR officially becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany. The country has been reunited and Berlin is once again Berlin. The GDR actually began assuming large parts of West Germany’s economic and legal systems on 1 July 1990. When the Deutsche mark became the sole currency in the GDR, East Germany was as good as part of the Federal Republic. On 23 August, a special meeting of the People’s Chamber (the GDR’s parliament) agreed to the GDR joining West Germany under Article 23 of the Basic Law.

Politics, West, East

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location

January 29, 1972
Premiere of Ein Kessel Buntes

A Kettle of Colour premieres on GDR TV. The "Kessel" was the most glamorous and successful evening show ever broadcast on GDR television, fronted by “the three dialecticians”. Lutz Stückrath was one of the presenters. He recalls the programme's success and the initial freedoms the three satirists enjoyed when the show was launched.

Culture, East

03:13
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April 06, 1965
Louis Armstrong in East Berlin

The guest performance of the year in East Berlin: legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong performs at the Friedrichstadtpalast. Armstrong does not comment on the political situation, saying that he is interested in his audiences and not in the Wall.

Culture, East

00:46
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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

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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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1974
West Germany's Permanent Mission in East Berlin

The two German states establish official relations. Although the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR did not open embassies in Bonn/East Berlin – the Federal Republic did not recognise the GDR as a foreign country under international law – they did establish Permanent Missions on 2 May 1974. The Basic Treaty signed in 1972 paved the way for this step. The staff of West Germany's Permanent Mission lived and worked in East Berlin. However, their children went to school in West Berlin. A life divided between two very different worlds. Ministry official Hans-Otto Bräutigam vividly recalls this time.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

02:37
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August 13, 1961
A career setback at the theatre

In 1961 West Berliner Karola Ebeling is starring in "Love and Intrigue" at the Deutsches Theater in the East of the city. She is in Basel with the ensemble giving a guest performance when news of the Wall going up takes her by surprise on 13 August. Her first question is: how will they return to West Berlin? With some difficulty, she eventually makes it back but her career at the Deutsches Theater is now over. By chance she finds a new role at the Theater des Westens, where she stands in for Karin Hüber in "My Fair Lady" when the lead actress falls ill. The role of Eliza Doolittle helps launch her career on the stage and she finds a new artistic home in West Berlin. 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, West

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December 17, 1963
First border pass agreement

For the first time since 1961, small gaps start to appear in the Wall. The border pass agreement is signed on 17 December 1963, 28 months after the Wall goes up, allowing West Berliners to visit their relatives in the other part of the city over Christmas. More than 700,000 West Berliners take advantage of this long-awaited chance to see their loved ones on the other side of the Wall. Some 1.2 million cross over to the East between 19 December and 5 January. GDR post office workers are responsible for processing the permit applications. Although they are state employees, they do not represent East German public authorities like police or customs officials. As a result, the Federal Republic views the border pass agreement as an administrative agreement which does not signify recognition of the GDR. The SED regime, on the other hand, does everything it can to give the agreement the character of an international treaty. A total of four border pass agreements are negotiated up until 1966.

Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

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1974
Intershops open

In 1974 GDR citizens are allowed to purchase Western goods in foreign-currency shops - known as Intershops - for the first time. The product lines in these stores featured a small selection of high-quality GDR merchandise and a large range of goods produced in the FRG or other countries in the non-Socialist economic area. Shoppers could pay in Deutsche marks (Western marks) or in other currencies, such as the US dollar or the Austrian shilling. Prices were marked in Deutsche marks and set by the GDR authorities. Special conversion tables were provided to convert West German marks into other currencies, but they had little relation to the actual rates. The Intershops, a source of tax-free goods, were very popular among West Berliners. Smuggling goods for personal use virtually became a national sport.

Everyday Life, West, East

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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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November 02, 1964
Travel permits for East German pensioners

The Wall opens to East Berliners for the first time. The GDR Council of Ministers has decided that pensioners from the GDR will be allowed to travel to the West. The pensioners are allowed to visit relatives in the Federal Republic of Germany or West Berlin once a year for up to four weeks. When they return via border crossings in West Berlin, their bags are packed full of Western goods. The GDR authorities see this as a minimal risk: the economy has little need for elderly East Berliners. As it is, only one in a thousand stay in the West anyway.

Border, Everyday Life, Politics, East

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