Teen fashion

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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.

locations

West-Berlin, Hermannplatz (Neukölln)

showtime
1

latitude
52.4868616

longitude
13.4248639
Ost-Berlin

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22

latitude
52.5168707

longitude
13.3885118

date

October 07, 1979
Brezhnev and Honecker

Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union, visits East Berlin to take part in the celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the GDR. As well as the famous fraternal kiss (staged at Schönhausen Palace to show the special relationship between the two states), the official schedule also includes an appearance at the ostentatious anniversary parade. Brezhnev tells the SED politburo that it must see to it that industrial productivity increases. “After all,” he says “we can only consume what we produce. None of us want to live at someone else’s expense or declare ourselves bankrupt.”

Politics, East

00:36
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June 1979
Free German Youth gathering

The GDR celebrates its 30th anniversary in 1979. The event is the focus of the Whitsun gathering of the Free German Youth. Teachers, who are required to turn their pupils into good socialist citizens, make sure every child is aware that this is a special year. But young people in the GDR don’t toe the line as much as the government would like them to. They idolise Western celebrities, listen to rock music, and wear denim. In fact, they are starting to look more and more like their peers on the other side of the Wall.

Politics, Culture, East

01:16
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June 1979
Authors banned

The East Berlin authors’ association joins forces with the SED leadership, the Stasi and the Ministry of Culture to convene a tribunal against nine problematic authors. Among those on trial are famous names like Stefan Heym, Klaus Schlesinger and Rolf Schneider. The group stands accused of “defaming the GDR, the SED, its cultural policy and its legal system”, and of having “put themselves at the service of anti-communist forces working against the GDR”. Of the 400 authors present, 350 vote in favour of ousting their colleagues from the association. That means the nine can no longer work, because only authors who are members of the association can publish in the GDR. Rolf Schneider talks about what it was like to have his livelihood taken away.

Contemporary Witnesses, Opposition, Culture, East

02:06
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April 16, 1979
Forum checks

GDR citizens used to be able to purchase goods with foreign currency (e.g. the Deutsche mark) in a special chain of shops called Intershop. Now they have to exchange the money for “Forumchecks” before they can buy anything there. The government has introduced the rule so that it can quickly siphon off the Western money that its citizens bring into the GDR. Visitors from outside the GDR, however, can still pay with foreign currency as long as they show their passport.

Politics, East

00:49
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April 02, 1979
Congress centre opens

The International Congress Centre (ICC) opens in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, West Berlin. It is one of the biggest congress centres in the world. The building (320 metres long, 80 metres wide and 40 metres high) was designed by Berlin architects Ralf Schüler and Ursulina Schüler-Witte. It cost 924 million Deutsche marks and took just four years to build. With 80 conference halls and rooms for 20 to 9,100 guests, multifunctional facilities, state-of-the-art technology, and a wide range of services, the ICC is ideal for all kinds of conferences and events. Harald Juhnke, a well-known Berlin entertainer, is extremely impressed.

Everyday Life, West

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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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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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
Musicians dig Berlin

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.

Culture, West

00:59
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location

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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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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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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May 11, 1975
Boy drowns in the Spree

Cetin Mert was born on 11 May 1970. He lives with his Turkish parents and two brothers in the West Berlin district of Kreuzberg. The day of his fifth birthday is a sunny one. Cetin goes outside to play with a ball, but ends up falling into the river Spree. Rescuers arrive quickly, but they aren’t allowed to intervene because they are from West Berlin and this stretch of the river is under GDR control. All they can do is watch as Cetin drowns. He is the youngest person to die at the Wall.

Border, West, East

01:35
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August 13, 1961
Cross-border business at the paper stand

Lothar Kensbock ran a newspaper stand on Oberbaum Bridge in Kreuzberg. Up until 13 August 1961 he sold papers and puzzle books to commuters from the East, who smuggled them over the border on their way home after work. 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

04:48
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August 13, 1961
Light to build the Wall

There are no traces left of the border that once ran between the districts of Mitte and Kreuzberg – right along the banks of Engelbecken pond. Wolfgang Gerhardt, an electrician at VEB Volksbau, was sent to work at this location. On 13 August 1961 he is contracted to light up a big new building site on the border. 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

03:11
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1966
Animal airlift

Foot-and-mouth disease is raging across the Federal Republic. As a result, East Berlin has banned the transportation of animals through the GDR, meaning they must be flown in to the city.

Everyday Life, West

00:40
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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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November 01, 1974
Tegel Airport opens

A new, modern airport opens in West Berlin. Tegel is designed to take over from Tempelhof as West Berlin's “beachhead” to the Federal Republic. But in its first few months in operation, its modern jet bridges barely dock with a single aircraft. The allied airlines are reluctant to leave Tempelhof because of the high costs involved. Many West Berliners continue to fly from Schönefeld. Robert Grosch, the director of Tegel Airport at the time, describes the difficulties the airport faced in its first years in operation.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West, East

02:23
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1969
The women's movement and anti-authoritarian kindergartens

The advancement of women is a growing priority in the GDR. The Action Committee on the Liberation of the Woman and anti-authoritarian kindergartens are founded in West Berlin. Film director Helke Sander recalls how she, too, needed a kindergarten place back then. She was still a student and made use of one of the new childcare facilities set up in empty shops. However, some of the committee's plans to promote women's lib and an anti-authoritarian approach to raising children fall by the wayside.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West, East

02:40
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