Pink Floyd at the Reichstag

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Pink Floyd are performing outside the Reichstag building in West Berlin. Fans also gather on the other side of the Wall, in the hope of hearing some of the concert. But things take a turn for the worse and the East Berlin authorities make a number of arrests.

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Platz der Republik, 10557 Berlin

showtime
1

latitude
52.518519

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13.373101
Brandenburger Tor

showtime
11

latitude
52.516283

longitude
13.37763

date

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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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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June 12, 1987
Reagan visits West Berlin

President Reagan’s visit to West Berlin in June 1987 sparks rioting in the streets and anti-American demonstrations. To mark the 750th anniversary of Berlin, Reagan gives a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Two short sentences will be remembered forever: “General Secretary Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Politics, West

00:57
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June 1987
David Bowie plays Berlin

The Eurythmics, Genesis and David Bowie are all on the line-up for a three-day festival outside the Reichstag building in West Berlin. East Berliners gather close to the Wall to try and hear the performances. Protests break out among the crowd, with people chanting things like “the Wall must go”. David Bowie talks about his visit to East Berlin.

Culture, West

00:49
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May 01, 1987
Rioting in Kreuzberg

Kreuzberg stages an alternative celebration marking International Workers’ Day on 1 May 1987. What begins as a peaceful event during the day descends into rioting that night. A supermarket burns to the ground, whole streets are set on fire and 250 police officers are injured. The next morning, parts of Kreuzberg lie almost in ruins. It is the start of a cycle that will see the district erupt into violence on 1 May for many years to come. Helmut Sarwas describes what it was like being a police officer on duty that night.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West

02:04
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1989
How much longer will the Wall survive?

Protests in the GDR keep getting louder, but still no one thinks the Wall will fall any time soon. Even in January 1989, Honecker still believes in the border: “The Wall will still be here in 50 years, and in 100, if the reasons for its presence still persist.”

Everyday Life, Politics, West, East

01:02
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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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1989
Last shoot-to-kill death at the Wall

Chris Gueffroy, a 20-year-old from East Berlin, is shot and killed as he attempts to flee on 8 February 1989. He is the last person to die as a result of the shoot-to-kill order at the Wall. He and a friend were trying to cross the death strip along the branch canal between Treptow in the East and Neukölln in the West. Their route ran close to two sets of allotments, one called Harmony and the other Carefree. Chris’ friend survives and spends a short time in an East Berlin jail before West Germany buys his freedom.

Border, Escaping, West, East

00:42
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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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September 1989
Exit through Hungary

With Hungary’s borders now open, more and more people are using them to flee the GDR. The refugees all arrive at Tegel airport. For the first time since 1961, the refugee centre in Marienfelde is full to overflowing. New arrivals are housed in a disused furniture warehouse in the district of Wedding. From their windows they can see the TV tower in East Berlin.

Escaping, Opposition, West, East

00:38
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location

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

01:02
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June 1987
David Bowie plays Berlin

The Eurythmics, Genesis and David Bowie are all on the line-up for a three-day festival outside the Reichstag building in West Berlin. East Berliners gather close to the Wall to try and hear the performances. Protests break out among the crowd, with people chanting things like “the Wall must go”. David Bowie talks about his visit to East Berlin.

Culture, West

00:49
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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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June 12, 1987
Reagan visits West Berlin

President Reagan’s visit to West Berlin in June 1987 sparks rioting in the streets and anti-American demonstrations. To mark the 750th anniversary of Berlin, Reagan gives a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Two short sentences will be remembered forever: “General Secretary Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Politics, West

00:57
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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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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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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
A secret mission to guard the border

When the Wall goes up, Heinz Kube is 35 years old and works in foreign trade in the GDR. He is in the workers' militia, known as combat groups, and is called up to report to his company on the morning of Sunday, 13 August 1961. The combat groups are given weapons and uniforms and ordered to guard the border. It is a top secret mission and they must not reveal their whereabouts to their families. 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

01:50
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August 13, 1961
Through the eyes of a border guard

From 1959 to 1962 Peter Guba - born in 1940 - was a guard in the People's Police and was stationed at the border in Berlin before and after the Wall went up. He used his nine-millimetre camera to capture intimate glimpses of life at the barracks and at numerous border crossings. He has granted the Berlin Wall Memorial at Bernauer Strasse and the German Historical Museum access to his footage. 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

04:25
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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

01:52
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