Musicians dig Berlin

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In May 1980 the Tempodrom on Potsdamer Platz begins staging offbeat shows in a circus tent.

Numerous West Berlin artists appear on the programme, including Annette Humpe and her group, Ideal. Their song, Ich steh auf Berlin (I dig Berlin), is an anthem to the city.

Ideal were an important part of the Neue Deutsche Welle and played a crucial role in shaping the genre.

locations

Tempodrom (damals am Potsdamer Platz), West-Berlin

showtime
1

latitude
52.5096126

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13.3767055

date

February 1980
Solo Sunny

East and West both participate in the Berlin International Film Festival. The GDR has entered the DEFA film Solo Sunny in the competition section. East Berlin actress Renate Krössner surprises everyone by winning the Silver Bear for her performance in the title role. Renate has director Konrad Wolff to thank for being able to collect her award in person. She talks about the trip and how she never expected to be able to travel to West Berlin.

Contemporary Witnesses, Culture, West, East

02:06
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1980
State visit to the Brandenburg Gate

On a state visit to East Berlin, the leader of Nicaragua is taken to see the “antifascist protection wall”, now a permanent feature of all state visits to the GDR. The ritual involves climbing the platform at the Brandenburg Gate and looking out over the class enemies in the West.

Politics, East

00:23
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1980
Life in Kreuzberg

1980 becomes the year of the citizens’ initiative in West Berlin. Squatters in Kreuzberg are demanding rental contracts for the nineteenth-century buildings that they have occupied in an effort to stop the senate from tearing them down. Affordable housing is hard to come by, and investment in Kreuzberg stopped a long time ago. As immigrants, artists and old-timers gather among the crumbling buildings, a colourful, vibrant community comes alive in the shadow of the Wall.

Everyday Life, West

01:09
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1980
Life in Prenzlauer Berg

Finding a place to live in East Berlin is hard, despite the fact that the authorities control the housing situation. Even after waiting a long time, many young people still can’t get a flat. They decide to bypass the official route and break the rules by moving into empty pre-war buildings. The GDR calls this “rent dodging”. The building at Fehrbelliner Strasse 7 was the first block of flats in Prenzlauer Berg to be fully occupied. Carlo Jordan was one of the squatters who moved in.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

02:10
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January 01, 1980
Teen fashion

The choice between being a popper or a punker can be a highly divisive issue in 1980s West Berlin, where fashion is a huge part of young people’s lives. Poppers haven’t really caught on in East Berlin, but clothes from the West are extremely popular. The GDR’s “teen fashion” doesn’t stand a chance against the much hipper alternatives from across the Wall.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:47
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May 21, 1980
Congress Hall collapses

The roof of the Congress Hall in West Berlin collapses. Faulty construction work is to blame. The accident leaves one person dead and a number of others injured.

Everyday Life, West

00:31
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September 1980
S-Bahn strike

East Berlin’s Reichsbahn operates West Berlin’s S-Bahn network. That means Reichsbahn owns all tracks and stations in the West, and employs all S-Bahn staff regardless of which side of the Wall they work on. West Berlin Reichsbahn employees go on strike in September 1980. They want better wages and working conditions. The Reichsbahn management won’t negotiate, so freight trains and the S-Bahn come to a halt and workers occupy signal boxes. Elfriede Dube is working the day this happens. She decides to side with her colleagues and becomes one of over 200 strikers to lose their jobs in the aftermath.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, Politics, West, East

02:10
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October 1980
Cost of visiting the East rises

The GDR raises the amount of money that Westerners have to change when they visit East Berlin. It now stands at 25 Deutsche marks per day. That makes the trip too expensive for many West Berliners who, until now, have regularly visited friends and relatives in the East.

Border, Politics, West, East

01:08
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November 1980
New pandas for the zoo

The Chinese government gives the West German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, two pandas. Bao-Bao and Tien-Tien take up residence in the zoo in West Berlin, and soon win hearts throughout the city.

Everyday Life, West

00:28
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1981
Squatting in Kreuzberg

Housing in West Berlin is scarce, but whole streets in Kreuzberg and Schöneberg are being cleared of tenants. Once empty, the old buildings are to be torn down and new ones put up in their place. This destructive approach to urban development makes sense because the projects qualify for government subsidies. Young families, unemployed people, non-conformists and students are hit especially hard by the lack of housing. Some decide to fight back by occupying empty buildings. Anette Schill was one of them. In 1981 she and some friends occupy an old chemicals factory in Kreuzberg. She tells us about the early days of what would become known as the Rainbow Factory.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, Politics, West

02:16
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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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June 1984
Maglev train

West Berlin opens a test track for a new maglev train. It runs from Gleisdreieck to Kemperplatz via Bernburger Strasse. But when the Wall falls, all dreams of an M-Bahn network fade. Because the test route lies on a U-Bahn line that is due to reopen, the maglev has to stop operating in 1990.

Everyday Life, West

00:29
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October 15, 1963
The Philharmonic Concert Hall opens

A new landmark emerges in West Berlin. The Philharmonic Concert Hall opens its doors in October 1963. Berliners are soon referring to the tent-like structure as Karajan’s Circus after the much-loved conductor. The hall was designed by architect Hans Scharoun and boasts a unique feature: the audience can see the orchestra from all angles.

Culture, West

00:41
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January 1989
Karajan retires

Herbert von Karajan leaves the Berlin Philharmonic after 35 years as its principal conductor.

Culture, West

00:22
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1963
Bowling, the new trend

Berliners get on with their day-to-day life in the walled-in city. Despite the gloomy situation, they still find plenty of ways to enjoy their leisure time. A new sport is all the rage in 1963: bowling. Played by both East and West Berliners – albeit using slightly different technology.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:29
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1976
The Wall turns white

Work on the Wall never seems to end. Money keeps getting ploughed into what was already a very expensive structure. The fourth-generation Wall, as its latest incarnation is known, is designed to last longer and make it harder for people to escape. But the rows of gleaming white slabs turn out to have an unwanted side effect: they are the perfect blank canvas. Artists from all over the world come to unleash their creativity on the West Berlin side of the Wall.

Border, West, East

00:24
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August 13, 1961
Dismay as the Wall goes up

Sixteen-year-old Wilfried Mommert has just finished school and is about to start an apprenticeship. He and his friends go to the Brandenburg Gate on 13 August 1961 to express their outrage after the Western part of the city is sealed off. The West Berlin police have blocked access to East Berlin at the Soviet War Memorial and have sent in water cannons. 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, West

04:46
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August 13, 1971
Ten years of living with the Wall

On 13 August 1971 Berlin has been divided for ten years. The Wall has become a tourist attraction and popular backdrop for films, with its freshly raked death strip, signal fences, guard dogs, carpets of spikes and watchtowers. Almost 100 people have perished trying to get over to the other side. East Germans try to adjust to life with the Wall. Gert Roth talks about life in the GDR. A huge propaganda campaign is launched to mark the Wall's 10th anniversary and justify its existence.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

01:25
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1980
State visit to the Brandenburg Gate

On a state visit to East Berlin, the leader of Nicaragua is taken to see the “antifascist protection wall”, now a permanent feature of all state visits to the GDR. The ritual involves climbing the platform at the Brandenburg Gate and looking out over the class enemies in the West.

Politics, East

00:23
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August 13, 1961
Workers' combat groups secure the border

The reality of the situation in Berlin suddenly dawns on Lothar Werth on 13 August 1961. On the radio he hears the order for all forces to report to their designated positions - and this includes Lothar. The 22-year-old works in foreign trade. He is not a Party member, but he is in the workers' militia, known as combat groups. 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

03:57
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