Renovating East Berlin

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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.

locations

Nikolaiviertel, 10178 Berlin

showtime
13

latitude
52.516667

longitude
13.407222
Friedrichswerdersche Kirche, 10117 Berlin

showtime
1

latitude
52.515833

longitude
13.397222
Französischer Dom, Gendarmenmarkt 5, 10117 Berlin

showtime
8

latitude
52.514444

longitude
13.392222
Sophienstraße, 10317 Berlin

showtime
56

latitude
52.505963

longitude
13.495899

date

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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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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April 30, 1986
Linie 1 premieres in Berlin

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.

Culture, West

00:38
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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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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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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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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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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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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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location

1983
Cross-border relations ease

West Berlin is helping reconstruct the Nikolai Quarter, East Berlin’s decaying old town. Parts of the façade of the Ephraim palace, which have been in West Berlin ever since the war, are sent back across the border and later used to reconstruct the palace. It reopens in 1987. Another sign of East and West moving closer comes when Richard von Weizsäcker visits East Berlin. It is the first time a mayor of Berlin has visited the other side.

Politics, West, East

00:42
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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 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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March 18, 1990
The GDR holds its first free election

The GDR holds its first free and democratic parliamentary elections on 18 March 1990. Alliance for Germany, which supports Germany being reunified within the scope of the Basic Law, wins the most votes (48 percent). The alliance was a coalition of opposition parties: the CDU (a former bloc party whose leading candidate was Lothar de Maizière), the German Social Union and the Democratic Awakening. The newly founded Social Democratic Party in the GDR (SDP, though it has changed its abbreviation to SPD by the time of the election) wins 21.9 percent of the vote. Lothar de Maizière becomes prime minister of the GDR.

Politics, East

00:44
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May 18, 1976
9th SED conference: cementing the divide

As well as increasing social spending, the 9th SED party conference (18-22 May 1976) also agrees a new manifesto. Designed to cement the GDR’s ideological separation from the West, the document does away with any mention of German unity.

Politics, East

00:37
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October 18, 1989
Honecker steps down

After leading the SED for 18 years, Erich Honecker steps down on 18 November 1989. His successor is Egon Krenz, 25 years Honecker’s junior. Krenz will only spend a few weeks in power. Honecker flees to Moscow in 1991. The following year he is charged with manslaughter in Berlin in connection with the deaths of those who were shot and killed at the Wall. The case is dropped after Honecker’s lawyers complain to the Berlin Constitutional Court. In 1993 Honecker emigrates to Chile, where he dies a year later at the age of 81.

Politics, East

00:33
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November 02, 1973
Laying the foundation stone of the Palace of the Republic

A new palace is emerging in East Berlin: the Palace of the Republic. Berlin Palace once stood on this spot. The GDR authorities had the grand Prussian building blown up in 1950. A “palace for the people” will now take its place. It will also be home to the GDR's People's Parliament. The modern building's doors will open 32 months later in 1976.

Everyday Life, East

00:49
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April 23, 1976
Palace of the Republic opens

The Palace of the Republic opens in East Berlin with a celebration for its builders, technicians, engineers, architects, and anyone else who was involved in its construction. Two days later it opens to the public. The building is home to the People’s Chamber (the parliament of the GDR) and is also a conference and events centre. Built on the site of the old city palace, the imposing structure is the new jewel in East Berlin’s crown. Caretaker Bernd Wolfgang spent weeks preparing everything for the grand opening. In this film he talks about his first days on duty in the palace.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

02:49
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1966
Division of the evangelical synod

The evangelical church is fighting against moves to divide its diocese which still encompasses the whole of Berlin. In February 1966 Kurt Scharf is appointed as the new bishop. However, he cannot visit his East Berlin parishes, as he is refused access to East Berlin. Instead, he retains informal ties to Christians in the East. Meinhard Schröder, then a theology student, talks about his connections with Christians in the East.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

01:35
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1983
Udo Lindenberg plays East Berlin

Rock singer Udo Lindenberg receives permission to give a concert in East Berlin in October 1983. He and his Panikorchester perform in the Palace of the Republic to an audience of carefully selected young East Germans. Egon Krenz, head of the Free German Youth organisation, is also in attendance. While the concert is going on inside, police are mistreating and brutally arresting fans who have gathered outside on the street. Nikolaus Becker witnessed the events and talks about what it was like.

Contemporary Witnesses, Culture, West, East

03:24
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