Four Power talks begin

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Many Berliners have pinned their hopes on Willy Brandt, who has been Federal Chancellor since 1969. Will he help ease tensions between the two Germanies?

After a ten-year hiatus, the Western allies and the Soviet Union go back to the negotiating table and begin the Four Power talks on Berlin. They aim to improve conditions for Berliners by securing permanent visiting arrangements and introducing new regulations for transit traffic.

Klaus Schütz, SPD, was mayor of Berlin (West) and looks back at this period.

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Berlin-West, Zollpunkt Dreilinden

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72

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52.41714444

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13.19676876
Berlin-West, Rathaus Schöneberg

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5

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52.4831069

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13.3416724

date

December 1969
Christmas in Steinstücken

Santa Claus flies into the exclave of Steinstücken by helicopter. An exclave was a plot of land belonging to West Berlin but surrounded by GDR territory and therefore cut off from the West. During the Cold War, there were ten such exclaves in Berlin (West).

Border, Everyday Life, West

00:24
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October 21, 1969
Willy Brandt becomes Federal Chancellor

In October 1969, the new Bundestag elects Willy Brandt as Federal Chancellor. His policy of Ostpolitik is based on the principle of "change through rapprochement".

Politics, West

00:43
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1969
The GDR's 20th anniversary

Presents to celebrate the Republic's birthday: the World Time Clock and the TV Tower on Alexanderplatz – at 368 metres, it is still Germany's tallest building today.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

01:36
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March 05, 1969
Election of President of the Federal Republic, Gustav Heinemann

On 5 March 1969, the West German Federal Assembly elects Gustav Heinemann to the post of Federal President in West Berlin. His election is taken as a sign of the political reorientation in Bonn: in autumn 1969 a social-liberal coalition comes to power in the Federal Republic, led by Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt. East Berlin accuses the West Germans of violating the city’s special status by holding the presidential election in West Berlin and seals off transit routes. GDR chief commentator Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler lashes out on East German television, remarking that there is a village in the West German state of Schleswig-Holstein called Berlin. He suggests the Federal Assembly go and elect its Federal President there.

Politics, West

01:04
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1969
GDR dissident Florian Havemann

The GDR is preparing for its 20th birthday. Alexanderplatz is being redeveloped and the new centre is gradually taking shape. Everything must be finished in time for grand celebrations in October. Not all young GDR citizens are in the mood for celebrating. Florian Havemann, the son of dissident Robert Havemann, has just been released from prison, where he was sent for his involvement in protests against the invasion in Prague. Florian Havemann is among a group of dissidents who are fighting for "socialism with a human face".

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

01:53
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January 1970
The socialist metropolis of East Berlin

East Berlin is flourishing. The “capital” is evolving into a socialist metropolis. The construction of 14-storey tower blocks next to the Wall aims to send a clear signal to the West. The first foundation stones are laid here in January 1970. In East Berlin city centre, meanwhile, city planners are creating a cult of the personality: a 19-metre-high statue of Lenin forms the centrepiece of the square named after the revolutionary leader. It was inaugurated by head of state, Walter Ulbricht.

Everyday Life, East

00:30
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1970
Everyday life in East and West

The West Berlin Senate is trying to attract young skilled workers from the Federal Republic to address the rising average age of the city's residents. In 1970 one fifth of West Berliners are already over 65. A Berlin Bonus aims to attract young people to the city. East Berlin, on the other hand, is a popular destination for young people. Those who study here try to stay if they can.

Everyday Life, West, East

02:32
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1970
Freeing of Andreas Baader

Berlin Free University has been badly affected by the student protests of recent years: slogans have been scrawled on the walls and facilities vandalised. The former troublemakers will not be charged – thanks to an amnesty for those who committed offences during the protests. But not everyone is interested in reconciliation. Left-wing radical Andreas Baader has been serving time in West Berlin since April 1970. He receives a high-profile visitor: the journalist Ulrike Meinhof claims to be planning to write a book with Baader. Lawyer Horst Mahler arranges a meeting for them at a location outside the prison to discuss the project. In fact, he and Ulrike are preparing to free Baader. After helping him escape, all three of them go underground, marking the birth of the Red Army Faction (RAF). Andreas Eschen, then a member of the Socialist Lawyer Collective, recalls these dramatic events.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West

03:40
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1970
Leisure time in East and West

They may enjoy similar leisure activities, but everyday life in East and West Berlin is as different as it ever was. In 1970 the average income in the East rises to 762 GDR marks. West Berliners, on the other hand, earn an average of 1,100 Deutsche marks. There is no shortage of goods here. GDR products are also on sale, but many Berliners object to buying them on ideological grounds.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:40
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August 1970
Reopening of Dreilinden Customs Checkpoint

The border is being constantly expanded and has long been the most expensive structure in the East. Western border facilities are also no longer merely makeshift solutions: the newly reopened Dreilinden Checkpoint is a sluice gate to and from West Germany.

Border, West, East

00:37
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location

August 1970
Reopening of Dreilinden Customs Checkpoint

The border is being constantly expanded and has long been the most expensive structure in the East. Western border facilities are also no longer merely makeshift solutions: the newly reopened Dreilinden Checkpoint is a sluice gate to and from West Germany.

Border, West, East

00:37
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1973
Escaping via transit routes

As a result of the 1971 Basic Treaty between the Federal Republic and the GDR, thorough vehicle checks on transit routes are few and far between. This turns the transit motorway into a loophole for would-be escapees. Anyone slipping into a car boot or a truck trailer has a good chance of getting to West Berlin unnoticed.

Border, Escaping, West, East

00:35
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1983
Death at a border crossing

Within the space of just a few weeks, two people die of heart failure during border checks as they drive the road between West Germany and West Berlin. One of them is 45-year-old Rudolf Burkert from Bremen, who is on his way to watch a boxing match in West Berlin with a friend. When he is stopped and questioned at Checkpoint Bravo, Burkert suffers a heart attack and dies.

Border, West, East

01:24
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1971
Telephone connections between East and West Berlin

Lengthy checks at border crossings are a source of great inconvenience to travellers, but there are also signs of reconciliation. After 19 years of radio silence, East and West Berliners are able to talk on the phone again. The “switchboard girl” manually connects callers, using pre-war technology. The exchange only has access to ten old telephone lines, providing just a tiny fraction of the service required.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:42
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1965
Escaping in a Cadillac

The Wall is becoming harder to cross by the day. Despite all the risks involved, there are still people who are desperate to flee to the West and people willing to help them escape. Burkhart Veigel, a medicine student at the time, has worked as an escape helper since 1961. Together with other helpers, he enables 650 people to get from East to West, making him one of the most successful helpers. As well as digging tunnels, he also converts cars into escape vehicles. The most well-known: the converted Cadillac, which allowed many people to escape, hidden behind the dashboard.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

01:31
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August 13, 1961
Inspecting trees in the border zone

During the days of the GDR, Georg Heinze was living in Kleinmachnow and working as a nature conservationist. He had a pass that allowed him to enter the border zone and assess the health of the trees there. But it wasn’t until October 1989 that he was allowed to go right up to the border fortifications. 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

02:52
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1981
Daily life in the divided city

The Wall has been part of Berlin life for 20 years now. People on both sides have done their best to get used to it, and the death strip and hostile barriers on either side have become almost normal. In fact, a lot of people in the West no longer find the Wall much of a threat.

Border, Everyday Life, West, East

00:53
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June 15, 1965
A boat trip with a fatal outcome

Forty-two-year-old West Berliner Hermann Döbler sets out on a boat trip and is shot when he accidentally crosses into GDR territory. His boat enters GDR waters on Teltow Canal near Dreilinden border crossing point. After firing warning shots from their watchtower, the GDR border guards aim directly at Hermann and his companion – even though they have already turned around their boat. Hermann Döbler dies. Large numbers of Berliners attend his funeral a few days later. In 1993 the guard who fired the fatal shots was convicted of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison. His superior, who had issued the order to fire, was sentenced to two years on probation.

Border, Politics, West, East

01:36
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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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