Willy Brandt becomes Federal Chancellor

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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".

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Flughafen Tempelhof

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5

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52.48042797

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13.39259148

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1969
The GDR's 20th anniversary

Presents to celebrate the Republic's birthday: the World Time Clock and the TV Tower on Alexanderplatz – at 368 metres, it is still Germany's tallest building today.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

01:36
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March 05, 1969
Election of President of the Federal Republic, Gustav Heinemann

On 5 March 1969, the West German Federal Assembly elects Gustav Heinemann to the post of Federal President in West Berlin. His election is taken as a sign of the political reorientation in Bonn: in autumn 1969 a social-liberal coalition comes to power in the Federal Republic, led by Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt. East Berlin accuses the West Germans of violating the city’s special status by holding the presidential election in West Berlin and seals off transit routes. GDR chief commentator Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler lashes out on East German television, remarking that there is a village in the West German state of Schleswig-Holstein called Berlin. He suggests the Federal Assembly go and elect its Federal President there.

Politics, West

01:04
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1969
GDR dissident Florian Havemann

The GDR is preparing for its 20th birthday. Alexanderplatz is being redeveloped and the new centre is gradually taking shape. Everything must be finished in time for grand celebrations in October. Not all young GDR citizens are in the mood for celebrating. Florian Havemann, the son of dissident Robert Havemann, has just been released from prison, where he was sent for his involvement in protests against the invasion in Prague. Florian Havemann is among a group of dissidents who are fighting for "socialism with a human face".

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

01:53
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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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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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December 1969
Christmas in Steinstücken

Santa Claus flies into the exclave of Steinstücken by helicopter. An exclave was a plot of land belonging to West Berlin but surrounded by GDR territory and therefore cut off from the West. During the Cold War, there were ten such exclaves in Berlin (West).

Border, Everyday Life, West

00:24
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1970
Four Power talks begin

Many Berliners have pinned their hopes on Willy Brandt, who has been Federal Chancellor since 1969. Will he help ease tensions between the two Germanies? After a ten-year hiatus, the Western allies and the Soviet Union go back to the negotiating table and begin the Four Power talks on Berlin. They aim to improve conditions for Berliners by securing permanent visiting arrangements and introducing new regulations for transit traffic. Klaus Schütz, SPD, was mayor of Berlin (West) and looks back at this period.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

02:07
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January 1970
The socialist metropolis of East Berlin

East Berlin is flourishing. The “capital” is evolving into a socialist metropolis. The construction of 14-storey tower blocks next to the Wall aims to send a clear signal to the West. The first foundation stones are laid here in January 1970. In East Berlin city centre, meanwhile, city planners are creating a cult of the personality: a 19-metre-high statue of Lenin forms the centrepiece of the square named after the revolutionary leader. It was inaugurated by head of state, Walter Ulbricht.

Everyday Life, East

00:30
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1970
Everyday life in East and West

The West Berlin Senate is trying to attract young skilled workers from the Federal Republic to address the rising average age of the city's residents. In 1970 one fifth of West Berliners are already over 65. A Berlin Bonus aims to attract young people to the city. East Berlin, on the other hand, is a popular destination for young people. Those who study here try to stay if they can.

Everyday Life, West, East

02:32
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1970
Freeing of Andreas Baader

Berlin Free University has been badly affected by the student protests of recent years: slogans have been scrawled on the walls and facilities vandalised. The former troublemakers will not be charged – thanks to an amnesty for those who committed offences during the protests. But not everyone is interested in reconciliation. Left-wing radical Andreas Baader has been serving time in West Berlin since April 1970. He receives a high-profile visitor: the journalist Ulrike Meinhof claims to be planning to write a book with Baader. Lawyer Horst Mahler arranges a meeting for them at a location outside the prison to discuss the project. In fact, he and Ulrike are preparing to free Baader. After helping him escape, all three of them go underground, marking the birth of the Red Army Faction (RAF). Andreas Eschen, then a member of the Socialist Lawyer Collective, recalls these dramatic events.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West

03:40
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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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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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1983
Aerobics vs. Popgymnastik

Exercising to music is the latest craze to hit Berlin. In the West they call it aerobics, in the East it’s Popgymnastik. A Kreuzberg factory building becomes home to Europe’s first aerobics studio. Angie Kauss, who soon became an instructor at the studio, remembers the early days of the trend.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West, East

01:44
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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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1978
Kreuzberg nights are long

SO 36 is the name of the part of Kreuzberg that stands right in the shadow of the Wall. Kreuzberg isn’t exactly the best of West Berlin’s districts, but a lot of flats are available in its old, often crumbling buildings – and the rents are cheap. That’s what brings comedy singer-songwriter Beppo Pohlmann from Osnabrück to Kreuzberg. He and his band, Gebrüder Blattschuss, release a song called Kreuzberger Nächte (Kreuzberg nights), which celebrates life in the district and becomes a nationwide hit.

Contemporary Witnesses, Culture, West

02:00
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1975
Turkey comes to Kreuzberg

Numerous foreign workers from Southern Europe and Turkey come to West Berlin, attracted by the prospect of jobs and the extra pay that comes with living in the city. Many of them move into cheap flats in pre-war buildings in Kreuzberg. Eva Sarioglu talks about how the buildings were often in very poor condition. Over time, Kreuzberg becomes known as Little Istanbul and develops its own unique identity: “The air was different there,” says Eva.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West

01:31
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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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October 02, 1990
Allied control ends

Allied control in Berlin has been governing relations between the occupying powers and West Germany since 1949. This control, along with Berlin’s special status, comes to an end in early October 1990, when the GDR becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Two plus Four treaty is signed on 12 September 1990. It returns full sovereignty to Germany, giving the country sole control over its domestic and foreign affairs.

Politics, West

00:56
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October 26, 1968
Olympic gold medallist Manfred Wolke

East and West German athletes are competing in different teams at the Olympic Games for the first time – with different anthems, but still with the same flag. Boxer Manfred Wolke wins a gold medal for the GDR.

Contemporary Witnesses, Culture, East

00:46
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1973
Double-decker buses

Berlin Transport Authority's (BVG) double-decker buses wind through the city's streets decked out in bright and cheerful adverts in an attempt to generate funds for its cash-strapped coffers. This is not the only innovation on the bus lines: for the first time since the war, women are also allowed behind the wheels of double-deckers. Up until 1971 this was prohibited by law.

Everyday Life, West

00:51
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