Linie 1 premieres in Berlin

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A musical about the U1 U-Bahn line, which would go on to become world famous, premieres in the Grips Theatre in 1986. The play is all about life in West Berlin.

At the time, the U1 line ran from Ruhleben in Spandau to Schlesisches Tor in Kreuzberg. That meant it traversed the whole of West Berlin and cut a cross-section through the many layers of the city’s society.

The show turned out to be a huge success for the Grips Theatre.

locations

Grips-Theater, 10557 Berlin

showtime
11

latitude
52.518611

longitude
13.341944

date

April 17, 1986
Gorbachev visits East Berlin

Mikhail Gorbachev, head of state of the Soviet Union, visits East Berlin in April 1986 for the 11th party conference of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). At this stage, the party’s hardliners still have the upper hand in the GDR. Gorbachev, who has only been in office for a year, uses the occasion to speak about glasnost and perestroika. Right at the end of his visit, he gives an interview at Schönefeld airport. He jokes that in the Soviet Union everyone says “DDR” (the German initials for GDR) stands for “dawai, dawai, rabotai,” which translates roughly as “go on, go on, work”.

Politics, East

01:41
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April 05, 1986
Attack on La Belle nightclub

A bomb attack on the American nightclub La Belle in West Berlin leaves three people dead and over 200 injured. It is the worst attack Berlin has suffered in recent years. The US believe Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi, is behind the bombing, so on 15 April it retaliates with airstrikes on the capital, Tripoli. Katja Bahadori is in the nightclub when the bomb goes off. She is taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West

02:31
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February 11, 1986
The Bridge of Spies

The last exchange of spies to take place on Glienicke Bridge is also the first to happen in public. Interpreted as a sign of thawing relations between East and West, the event on what will now forever be known as the Bridge of Spies plays out in front of the world’s press. The most famous name on the list this time is Anatoly Shcharansky, a civil rights activist who was held for years in a gulag. He had campaigned for human rights and had applied for an exit visa to Israel while in the USSR. He is allowed to cross over to West Berlin in exchange for six agents from the East.

Border, Politics, West, East

01:06
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1986
An unusual art gallery

Artists in West Berlin are using the Wall as a canvas for their paintings. Thierry Noir, a young Frenchman, moves to the city from Lyon in the 80s and settles in Kreuzberg. He starts painting the Wall in bright colours. Perhaps his most famous works are those featuring giant, colourful heads. Their creative endeavours often brought the artists into risky situations, since even the West side of the Wall stood on East Berlin territory. Thierry talks about his experiences of the time.

Border, Culture, West

02:03
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1986
Schiller statue heads East

East and West Berlin sign a cultural agreement in May 1986. It paves the way for the two sides to exchange works of art. A statue of Schiller is returned to its original location on Gendarmenmarkt square in East Berlin. When the Nazis came to power they wanted to use the square as a parade ground, so in 1936 they removed the statue and put it into storage. In 1951, it moved to Lietzensee park in Charlottenburg, which meant Schiller then belonged to West Berlin. Thanks to the cultural agreement, Schiller was returned to his rightful home outside the Konzerthaus (then the Schauspielhaus) in the middle of Gendarmenmarkt square.

Culture, West, East

00:34
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August 13, 1986
25 years of the Wall

East Berlin celebrates the 25th anniversary of the closing of the border. On the Western side, 68-year-old Canadian John Runnings, whose campaigns earned him the nickname “Wall Walker”, climbs onto the Wall and takes a sledgehammer to it. GDR border guards eventually force him down and the authorities sentence him to 18 months in prison. He is released three months later and leaves Berlin.

Border, Everyday Life, West, East

01:15
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September 01, 1986
Environmental library in Zion Church

Greenpeace activists stage a protest outside the GDR’s environment ministry. They are trying to raise awareness of how East Germany is damaging the environment. Christian Halbrock was part of the group. In this film he talks about how he and his friends also wanted to bring about political reforms. They have the idea to set up an environmental library, which opens in the parish hall of the Zion Church in East Berlin. Filled with books and information smuggled in from the West, the library becomes a focal point of East Berlin’s opposition movement.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

01:45
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1987
One birthday, two parties

East and West Berlin hold separate celebrations to mark the city’s 750th birthday. East Berlin spruces itself up and completely renovates the historic Nikolai Quarter. Chancellor Kohl attends the celebrations in West Berlin. Erich Honecker has been invited, but doesn’t show up. When it becomes clear that the two sides still disagree over Berlin’s divided status, the East feels cheated and promptly retracts the invitation it had extended to Mayor Diepgen.

Politics, West, East

00:54
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1987
Renovating East Berlin

As part of the preparations for the city's 750th anniversary, East Berlin decides to thoroughly renovate some of its most important buildings, including the Friedrichswerde Church and the French Cathedral on Gendarmenmarkt square. It also gets to work on the Nikolai Quarter and Sophienstrasse, a street filled with historic workshops. Kristina Laduch was an architect for the city at the time. She talks about what it was like working on the Sophienstrasse project.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

02:10
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February 1987
Smog alert

West Berlin issues its first Level 1 smog alert of the year. Drivers are banned from using their cars, unless they are traveling between West Berlin and West Germany. It’s a fairly easy loophole to exploit... According to GDR officials, there is no smog. But whatever the politicians say, everyone knows that the problem is being caused by the lignite power plants located in Lusatia, a part of the GDR less than 100 kilometres outside Berlin. Martin Lutz, a meteorologist at Freie Universität Berlin (West), talks about the events of that February.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West, East

02:38
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location

1979
Allied troops on parade

Troops in West Berlin are out on parade for the annual Allied Forces Day. The allied soldiers have been ensuring the freedom of West Berlin since 1945, but their parade along the Strasse des 17. Juni is also a show of strength directed at the East.

Politics, West

00:27
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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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April 1972
Entry permits over Easter

For the first time since 1966, West Berliners will be allowed to travel to East Berlin over Easter. Applying for a visitor's permit is a complicated process. Nevertheless, over three days nearly 60,000 people submit travel applications at five specially set-up offices. The applications are processed by undercover Stasi agents from East Berlin. Gert Knecht remembers the situation in the offices only too well, but also recalls the joy of seeing friends and relatives again for the first time in six long years.

Border, Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

02:48
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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
Christiane F.

The film Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo tells the story of Christiane Felscherinow from Gropiusstadt in Berlin. Christiane became addicted to heroin after coming into contact with drugs for the first time through friends in 1974. The film is based on the book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, and features harrowing scenes of life as a young drug addict in West Berlin.

Culture, West

00:54
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April 07, 1965
Controversial session of the Bundestag in West Berlin

The Bundestag holds session in West Berlin, causing huge disruptions to transit traffic and threatening gestures from the Soviets. They do not view West Berlin as part of the Federal Republic. Soviet jets fly low over the city, disturbing the session. The GDR prohibits the members of the Bundestag from passing through its territory and temporarily suspends all transit traffic, claiming the autobahn is needed for military manoeuvres. Drivers are forced to wait in queues for 20 hours. The members of the Bundestag travel to West Berlin by plane and the session is held in the Kongresshalle conference venue in Tiergarten, which today houses the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. The Western allies lodge an objection with the West German Federal Government and veto future sessions of the Bundestag in West Berlin. In the 1971 Berlin Four Power Agreement, the Western allies pledge to allow no further plenary sessions of the Bundestag in Berlin. It will be another 25 years before German MPs hold session there again – after the fall of the Wall.

Politics, West, East

00:56
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1969
Migrant workers in West Berlin

Due to the shortage of skilled labour in West Berlin, workers are recruited from other countries in the 1960s. Many of Berlin's new residents come from Turkey. Hairdresser Suleyman Ilkan works in a salon at Zoo Station and learns German on the job, allowing him to act as an interpreter for his fellow countrymen when they arrive at Zoo Station.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West

02:18
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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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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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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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