Hi, this is an rarly time document, thanks for it !!. I was with my school class in 1987 in Berlin for a week, and we did traveled to East Berlin two or three times within this week - through this border passage Friedrichstrasse. I remember the Intershop and the transit controls to East Berlin, these endless ways and passages under the railway station - and back through Tränenpalast, it was very uncomfortible and nervous.
Religions were created by people (who pretended to be divine) with bad intentions in ways designed to make humankind split in to grpups which fight each other; especially at this time (Autumn 2011 - 2013), which is when humanity is having a rebirth and gaining a new understanding of what it means to be human.
This was done because those who are in power knew that once humanity has this rebirth then we will kick them out. Comet Elenin is acting as a catalyst for the rebirth. The time is now!
Alot of people lost their lives trying to escape East Berlin and East Germany since the wall was built. They were shot dead by East German Border guards. Some people are saying East Berlin was better than West Berlin. Why did your goverment have to build a wall around you to keep people from leaving? West Berlin, West Germany, and other Western countries never had to put up walls so people could not leave. West German border guards didn't shoot their citizens either.
This video clearly shows how much better life was in East Berlin than in the west and why the East was compelled to build a wall to keep out the starving ragged west Berliners...--- LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S REVOLUTION!!! LONG LIVE THE DDR!!!!!(GDR,East Germany)
@americanmaoist Sorry, but the wall was built after World War II, because the eastern sector that was controlled by the Soviets, was losing all their best and brightest people (doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists etc.) to the West, where they could earn more money. The Soviet controlled government built the wall so that they wouldn't lose half their citizens. I don't know where you learned your history . It sounds like you were fed alot of propaganda from your government.
I had a chance to visit Berlin twice in 1995 while I was stationed in Germany in the Army. There was still a stark contrast between west and east Berlin 5 years later. The friends that went along with me also noticed it too and even the cost for items were way more cheaper in the old east Berlin than in west Berlin. I also had a chance to visit the German City of Jena in 1993 with the German/American friendship club called Kontact. I was stationed in Bamberg which was not too far to travel.
Hehe,the railway hasn't change til today!;)I was born and raised in GDR and I will never forget the unique smell in the Intershop and I never smelled it again.This mixture between chocolate and soap will always be in the mind of my generation.
Amazing to see the scenes again...after all these years. I had several visits to Berlin then, the first in May 1989. I'll never forget seeing an "Alf" (the puppet extraterrestrial in that TV family comedy) as a stuffed animal in a Intershop Kiosk not too far from Alexanderplatz. I was amazed, but the old East Germany woman behind the counter did not think it that odd when I asked if everyone in the DDR knew Alf. Very glad that the DDR is long now dead. Evil to its core. Thanks for posting!
@erikinhawaii I've lived in America for 47 years and I never was questioned or harassed by the police for visiting different parts of a city. I can't believe the crap that people in other countries are told about the US. And, I would also like to remind everyone that we would't be able to watch all these videos and comment with people from around the world in this format if the USA didn't invent the computer and TV and the West didn't create the internet,
@marilynr46 - America is the world's new police state. Sure we invented the TV but what has that done for you ? Has it made you smarter ? Most likely a bit dumber. The reason you have never been questioned or harassed by the police is because you never stick up for what is right. I am sure you never attend rallies, I am sure you sit at home glued to your TV that tells you the world is dangerous. What about the TSA ? Do you strip when they command you to do so ? But the cops might show right ?
@marilynr46 Well neither the TV nor the computer is an American invention, just look up their history. And by the way, usually every invention would have been made with a little delay by other countries (by other inventors) too, because there always were different inventors delving for the same inventions, but only the one who got it first working (sometimes just a few weeks/month) became prominent with it
On Youtube I have several films from Berlin, not just the wall etc but also the trains, trams, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, M-Bahn, vintage tram, etc and this is just about everything I fimed.
In April 1990 I was in Berlin for 3 days - I knew that things would soon change and am just 'very happy' that I was able to visit at that time.
This video shows exactly the bizzare separation of East and West Berlin. West Berliners taking the S or U-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse to cross the border or just to transfer into a different train. While there buying some cigarettes or booze at the Intershop. East Berliners having to watch the trains going to the West Sectors moving right through their city, without being able to board it themselves. I've taken these trains many times myself.
I'm cuban and like you all know we still have communism in Cuba.
In Cuba most of the people don't know that Berlin was divided into two halves thanks to the stupidities communist countries make.
I found this video unbelievably telling but I'd like for someone to explain to me better how the eastern and western berliners were divided by the "steel wall" is mentioned in the piece.
Thank you very much and pray for us so we can get rid of communism soon.
This station had 3 platforms (two for the western Berlin trains and one for the eastern Berlin trains). They built up this steel wall between the East/West tracks, so nobody could run or even look to the other side.
@eastsiderobert Sir, I am not Cuban and I know you live in a socialist country, communist will be the final stage
and think it well, if socialist falls the imperialist dogs will conquer cuba with money and exploration
I don't understand cubans that are against communism, communist means equality between all the people
even in hard times of socialism, you must protect your revolution, it's better than be a puppet country to the usa/eu, cuba without revoltuion = resort for capitalist pigs
All the train stations shown in the movie are situated in or accessable only from West-Berlin, but the S-Bahn stations in West-Berlin were maintained and the train service itself was run by the East-German railway company due to allied law. Therefore they all look as run down as in East-Berlin or even worster because most people in West Berlin avoided the use of the East German S-Bahn trains in order not to finance with their fare the Eastern regime. Less fare, less money for maintainance.
To the people who gave him negative remarks: he's right, you know. In America, people serve the government and the government, the corporations. THAT is why the US is the Evil Empire!
So gehts mir mit dem gesamten ost-teil von Berlin heute. Alles sieht überall gleich aus. Und damit meine ich Gleichheit im negativen Sinne. Das fängt ja schon mit unseren Bahnhöfen an. Auf der Linie U5 erkenne ich keinen einzigen Bahnhof mehr wieder.
Makes me realise that the Evil Empire that the disgusting gangster Reagan described was none other than the United States. How the world has suffered in its slavery to the stinking dollar. I would gladly return to socialist world and have a peasceful life. Now we have "freedom" to travel but no money to do it! We were happier in peace and our system was not allowed to work, and why? Because Uncle Sam didn't want it to! America you were and are the Evil Empire!!
You have obviously led a sheltered life. Have you ever visited East Germany, or the USA for that matter?
Only a few months before this video was taken, this person would have had his camera confiscated and would probably have been arrested. Do you really want to return to those days?
Audinos, the "Patriot Act"(s) has put in place the mechanisms to bring forth into reality the very dire totalitarian situation you described! Right after the first one was passed, it became virtually illegal to take pictures of a bridge, or even of a sunset FROM a bridge!
I have never heard of this law. As an amateur photographer I have photographed many bridges in recent years, as well as objects viewed from a bridge, and I have never once been questioned by police. I have never seen police or guards on any road or railway bridge (as they were in the DDR), but only on very large dams such as Shasta Dam in California. They do not prohibit photography there. In fact, they sell postcards of it.
Back in Dec 2001, a lady here in New Orleans was taking pics of the sunset in Lake Pontchartrain while travelling north on the Causeway bridge. A police stopped her, confiscated her camera and told her she cannot take ANY photos of of from the bridge because of the "Patriot Act" Google it. You'll be amazed.
Gorbachov and reagan decided to work together, realising that when faced with an 'outside' force we earth-born humans must act as one.
What they did not reckon on is that what they saw as outsiders would come in peace through the mother's womb, with a desire to birth a new understanding of what it means to be human so that mankind would be able to put aside cultural differences and live together as one people.
@KoshmarUK in all due respect people like you won't be happy even if you lived in heaven...why don't you try to open your eyes and look at all the things you have that are because the americans faught for what they believe in - freedom and democracy.
Gesundbrunnen und U-Bahnstation Freidrichsstraße did look aweful in this video!Today they both luck modern and useful.but what dissapoints me, is the amount of muslims in this area.there is not a single day, where you can driver around thoise stations whitout being bothered by seeing them walking around like ants!
@Omithy, reproducing our self, costs money, which we don´t have! plus, reproducing our self, does only take care of this "problem", when i´m already gone. and to be honest, i do not care, what this planet has to go through, once i´m gone!
@Nudelsalatbomber Costing money is the least thing you will have to worry about when Islamists take over Europe and when churches will be a thing of the past.
Europe has all the money it needs to feed its own people. But when your culture and way of life are gone, everything is gone too. Then, money won't matter.
Thanks - I did not know what the man said, but it did not sound happy so I quickly stopped filming, 'just in case' the police were called... after all this was East Berlin / DDR and even though the wall had opened I still did not want any trouble!
Fascism is worse, there are no "untermenschen", everyone is equal, and anybody who decides that is no better than the oppressors of East Germany. Law and order means nothing when your people are living in a car dying of starvation.
the only "untermenschen" in this world are the ones who use that term at all.
scheiß wichsa du, you're the reason why Germany was split at all kacke nazi, why don't you follow hitler and kill yourself, you'd be doing the United Federal Republic of Germany a favor
Wieso hälst du nicht einfach deine Klappe?Er hat absolut Recht - dort wo er zu wohnen scheint, sind heute viel zu viel abgefuckte Drogendealer und deren Konsumenten unterwegs!Kurz nach der Wende gab es weder verlauste Ausländer, noch diese ganze Drogenflut an den hier gezeigenten Stellen!
Berlin ist nicht arrogant - die Berliner sind nur kratzbürstig. Und den Berliner Humor verstehen eben viele Westdeutsche nicht und umgekehrt. Ich habe zum Beispiel nie den Humor der Hannoveraner verstanden als ich dort lebte, falls die überhaupt sowas haben!
Meine Liebeserklärung an Berlin -trotz Arroganz- befindet sich der von mir gedrehten und publizierten Video DVD
"Deutsche Dampfende Republik, Teil I, Berlin" - längst ausverkauft. Meines Wissen nach der einzige Film der mit Ostrock vertont wurde. Grüße an die junge Pappnase.
Klar war ich in Berlin bin direkt umgedreht, weil es so eingemauert war..und zu dem: in Bonn wurde noch erfolgreiche Politik gemacht, in Berlin noch nie, wen wunderts bei der Umgebung..
Das ist eine unbelegte Stammtisch-Pauschalaussage, die unter der geschichtlichen Entwicklung seit 49 und der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung völlig kollabiert. Und dass die Qualität der Politik von der Umgebung abhinge, DASS ist ja nun wirklich an den Haaren herbeigezogen. Wenn sie vor 20 Jahren (vor dem Mauerfall) das letzte Mal im damaligen West-Berlin waren, dann wundern mich ihre Aussagen allerdings nicht.
Heute ist Berlin eine der grünsten Metropolen überhauot.
Mag für Sie belanglos sein. Der "lokale Fürst" war Kurfürst in Köln, Sitz Bonn. Er war gleich gestellt mit dem Kurfürsten von Brandenburg und Preußen. Bonn war vor 2000 Jahren Hauptstadt der Ubier und Sitz der römischen Kultur. Da hat man sich am Wannsee noch die Plötzen um die Ohren gehauen. Was war in New York oder Washington vor 250 Jahren? Keine Bange - ich mag Berlin auf seine Art und Weise auch! Hab' viel drüber publiziert.
Meine Aussage war, dass Bonn vor 1949 viel weniger Wirkung auf die gesamtdeutsche Geschichte hatte, als Berlin. Nicht mehr, nicht weniger. Der Hauptsitz der Ubier war doch aber Köln? Bonn war doch eine ubische Siedlung, bis die Römer dort kräftig ausgebaut haben.
Dann tun sie das bitte auch. Das Argument, wichtige Städte seien von Bonn aus besser zu erreichen, kann ja wohl kaum ernst gemeint sein. Berlin ist Verkehrsdrehkreuz in alle Welt. In Bonn halten gerade einmal zwei ICE Linien. Zumal es keine wichtige Eigenschaft ist, bedeutende Metropolen in der Umgebung zu haben. Wichtiger ist, wie man die wirklich wichtigen erreicht. Und da sind Großflughäfen nunmal besser.
da hat Bonn einige Berlin nicht in der Anzahl wie die direkt Umgebung von Bonn somit ist dieses Argument an den Haaren herbeigezogen,ausser dem ist die Verbrechensstatistik und der Sicherheitsfaktor in Bonn höher einzuschätzen, und die Politschen Gäste haben, gleich bessere Laune womit es zu einem harmonischen Miteinander käme.Ausserdem denkt man beim Betrachten Bonner Bauwerke nicht an Nazis und Deutsche Geschichtsschande, wofür Berlin sich seinen schlechten Ruf erwarb.
wen interssiert es welche metropole in der nähe ist?? niemanden!! wozu gibts flugzeuge?? in berlin is tausendmal mehr los als in bonn!! in meinem stadtrand stadtteil is schon mehr los als in ganz bonn!!!!!!!!!!!! also was willst du noch??
Herzliche Grüße aus dem "langweiligem Provinznest Bonn". Köln, Düsseldorf und selbst das Ruhrgebiet sind mit ihrer kulturellen Szene nicht weiter entfernt als eine Fahrt quer durch die Hauptstadt.
Bitte das Gehirn einschalten bevor man die Tastatur bearbeitet.
Ob man nun von Bonn aus Clubs im Ruhrgebiet erreichen kann ist ja nun wohl völlig belanglos. In Berlin gibt es eine sehr große und vor allem vielfältige Szene, die sich in den letzten Jahren massiv weiterentwickelt hat.
Bonn war eine Notlösung. Berlin war seit 1451 Residentzstadt der lokalen Fürsten und seit 1701 Hauptstadt von Preußen, ab 1871 hauptstadt des deutschen Reiches. Und was war Bonn? Sitz der lokalen Fürsten, aber historische Bedeutung auf den deutschen Raum vor 1949? Wenig.
KongaBongaMulu: Sie haben ja keine Ahnung! Berlin kann man nicht beschreiben! Dazu ist Berlin viel zu vielfältig! Kreuzberg ist total anders als Charlottenburg oder als Spandau oder als Köpenick oder oder oder! Und Berlins Geschichte ist ja wohl mal die geilste überhaupt!
Diese Stadt ist sowas von hässlich, verstehe nicht wieso man nicht das schöne Bonn als Hauptstadt belassen hat.Also ein Tümpel ist wohlicher als dieses Betonnest,wer Berlin schön findet ist entweder dort geboren, kennt nichts gutes oder sagt es nur weil er es muss.Verstehe sowieso nicht welche Funktion diese Stadt hat, darum machte man wohl die Hauptstadt aus ihr..
du hast recht. ich denke auch dass berlin sehr, aber sehr hässlich ist, nach dem krieg uns kommunismus... in beiden seiten, nicht nur im osten. ich verstehe auch nicht die fanatiker, die so viel berlin lieben... sie haben keine ahnung über die wahre schönheit. berlin hat historie aber keine schönheit mehr. berlin war schön ver dem krieg.
I am from Scotland and having nothing much to add to the comments.
However,i have been only once to Berlin and it is probably the best place i have ever visited.I visited the U-bahn station at the unter-den-linden ,near the brandenberg gate.The guide told me this station was closed during the wall period,does anybody have any information about this station?
Unter den Linden is also an S-Bahn-station and it was closed like the station Bornholmer Str. which you can see at the beginning of this movie at 1 min 02. The trains did run from west to west by partly running on resp. under eastern territory (Mitte area) without stopping at the closed stations in East Berlin, so that no East German could enter the trains to travel to West Berlin. Like the S-Bahn route in this video also the U-Bahn-lines U6 and U8 did pass through East Berlin without stopping.
Extremely interesting. I am German, born in 1986 and so way to have been able to have been seen that (sorry for this crude scentence, my English is not soo good). Just found this while searching for Berlin Videos (As I love Berlin). Well, was "DDR" (as you spelled in the About-box) not "GDR" in English-spreaking countries, for "German Democratic Republic"?
Thanks everyone for adding the timescale of the re-unification.
Looking back it seemed to happen so quickly... who would have imagined in October 1989 that in one year the political landscape would be so very different.
And it all happened in peace - although we must remember the protests in cities such as Leipzig and that other 'Eastern' countries were allowing people out to the West.
An excellent visual record of the DDR, I was very interested to go to Schoenefeld at this time and see all the ex-Oost Blok flights still operating. This is what youtube should be for!
I knew that I had the one chance to film things which even then were starting to change, with some formelrly closed stations already open again - but only for people of the DDR. Being British I could only travel to the East via Checkpoint Charlie or Freidrichstrasse Station - and the regulations said that I had to return the same way I came / it was not allowed to enter one route and leave the other route.
Reunification was finalized on July 1 of 1990. Until this date, all crossings required a passport, and currencies were the Mark and OstMark. I was there at this time, and needed to go through Checkpoint Charlie to visit East Berlin.
No, reunification was on October 3 1990. July 1 1990 was another important event: Introduction of West German currency in East Germany and removal of all passport controls, but two German states continued to exist still.
If I understood correctly this video was filmed shortly after reunification and the barriers, passport checkpoints at stations, shops for Westerners in East Berlin station, etc. were all remnants of the GDR? In otherwords, the GDR was no longer when this was filmed, right, and the Wall was in the process of being demolished.
No. This video is April 1990. That was 6 months after the "fall of the wall" and only a few days after the first free elections in East Germany. The communist govt. was officially gone, but there were still two states and a border with passport controls. They were much more relaxed than 6 months earlier though. The dismantling of the wall had not yet begun, it was not yet clear how long it would take for Germany to reunify. Turned out October the same year, but they didn't know that in April.
Nov 9 1989: East Germans can travel to the west. The wall installations continue to exist and remain guarded for a while. Still this event is dubbed "fall of the wall" because it did not fulfill its original purpose any more.
Dec 23 1989: West Germans can travel to East Germany without visa
March 18 1990: Free elections in East Germany
July 1 1990: West German currency in East Germany, all passport controls end, dismantling of the wall begins
Finally they allowed the currency to be convertible in the early 1990s, and they all disappeared. Not only can ordinary Chinese buy western products, most of those products are made in China anyways.
in December 1989 I went through Freidr. Str. and yes I did need my pasport plus i think i still had to buy some Ostmarks. But they did not search me to stop me from carrying western newspapers, etc.
In April 1990 I walked through Checkpoint Charlie. Despite being British with a Brityish passport it was very daunting walking through the 'no mans land' between the two sections of the city. I could feel the city, and the emotions of those who had died trying to do this.
The reason of isolation was politics. It was a cold war. And some ideology makes things complicated for human lifes. Like if you have spoilers in car, it goes fast in road bends but slow in straights.
Yes, but the Berlin wall was because too many people from the east were going to Berlin and then escaping to the west.
Then in 1988/9 the same was happening via other eastern countries - for a while I thought that the army would be used to stop this, but thankfully a peaceful solution was found.
But once the wall came down not everything was good - the economy changed and many people in the former Soviet Bloc found that whilst they were now allowed to have passports and to travel to the West they were no longer able to afford to travel.
So a few people became very wealthy and everyone much poorer.
April- May 1990, Berlin: I spent the best time of my life exchanging DDR to D-Mark on the streets of West Berlin. What a rush...the Wall has fallen down and there was a scent of fresh new, life in the air, lots, lots of enthusiasm and...I made tons o money...I'll never forget those days. Never! I love this city!
I missed seeing film of the u-bahn traveling through east berlin where there were soldiers pointing machine guns at the train in the station and the walls of the station were made so close that if you were to get in and hang on you would not be there any more. I saw this when i was there 1980-84. Perhaps it had changed when you shot the film. It was one of the strongest memories from that time. There were quite a few.
DDR and other comunist country like a People Republik of Poland (PRL) was in so bad isolation from Western :(
Comunists killed our dreams about free moving, free live and free thinking.
I'm very interested in situation DDR's people living this time in East Berlin. They could see western but they coudn't get in. It was so unfair! Like a Polish people couldn't visit theirs families in Western Europe for ages!
Thanks God, we've broken this comunist horror in 1989 :)
I think the "West German InterCity train" filmed at Gesundbrunnen (somewhere after 2:00) actually is a train of one of the Allied garrisons in West Berlin, most probably one of the french forces (FFA). The livery of the coaches matches the one used by the French, and in the spring of 1990, no commercial trains from West Germany would have gotten near Gesundbrunnen (all trains were routed via Zoologischer Garten - Stadtbahn - Friedrichstraße, which is quite a bit to the south).
Thanks - someone else said that, in the first comment on this video. I've copied it below...
Simon
------------------------------------
the S-Bahn trains you see were built in 1927/1928; the so-called intercity on 1:55 is a French military train coming from the Gare française de Berlin-Tegel, the only circulating on these rails in this time (german trains used only the Stadtbahn);
Your videos are so informative! I lived in Berlin for a year (2005-06) and I have an endless fascination with the city and everything that happened there. A lot of the videos you have are of places I used to be at a lot (Gesundbrunnen, Alex, Friedrichstr, Zoo) and it's downright scary looking at the abandoned Ring platforms at Gesundbrn...I used to get the Ring all the time!!!
It nearly did not happen, as 4 weeks before I went to Berlin my camcorder 'went wrong' and the shop told me it would take 6 weeks to repair. When I bought the camcorder I was told that repairs take 2-3 weeks.
So I stood up in the shop shouting very loudly accusing the sales staff of telling me lies. The manager came to me and took me to an office where customers could not hear what was being said and arranged to give me a new camcorder within 7 days.
Your video is just great and very informative!!But what about the spree river?, what prevents people of crossing to the other side just swimming under the bridge? Was it sealed with some kind of net?
The river wasn't sealed. Where the point of the border was, the river was quite wide. People did try to swim across, and some people did manage it, but a lot of people were shot and made 'dead in the water' so to speak.
If you want a good book to read about the history of the fall of the Eastern Bloc, I suggest you read 'The Berlin Wall' by Frederick Taylor (who also wrote 'Dresden'). It's a brilliant history.
Yes,forgiveninasong , Thanks a lot for your response and for the books recommendation, I am really interested on this, and will look for the books. Thanks again.
Hello edup12, thank you as well - I did not know about the people trying to swim the river. I suppose it helped if a person was very good at swimming - especially under the water! (could hold their breath for a long time while swimming several meters below the surface of the water)
take a look at these painted wall. In Poland and in other communist countries we got the same - when sth. was to see by western tourists it was ok. Just to show them how rich we are.
Yeah, maybe it will, but rather a prison to the outside. While EU-citizens are enabled to travel easily to any spot in the world they want to, those who try to enter are kept away with fences and guns (i.e. Ceuta), or EU pays money to her neighbour countries to let them do the dirty job. Once Morocco military once set out a group of african people in the middle of nowhere without any water, after they had been caught in boats, trying to reach the spanish coast clandestinely...
EU, Australia, US, Canada, etc all try to keep others out. This is partly because of matters related to poverty in the outside nations.
If only there was greater global democracy and an economic system which was fair for all humans so the terrible situation would be changed for the better.
There have also been attempts at extensions again, however as in the early 1930's the money has run out. This explains why the extension of Line U5 has ended up as a short shuttle service named U55. But it had to be opened asap, as it was built with a Federal grant - and had it not opened the monies would have had to be repaid.
The whole public transport network is reunified and running as one system. All of the gaps created by the Wall are now closed, except for one small branch which ran SW from Zehlendorf for a mile or so. Problems remain because lines built while Berlin was still divided were not coordinated with each other: West Berlin invested in the U-Bahn, while East Berlin concentrated on S-Bahn and trams.
U-Bahn: All pre-1961 sections open, plus lots new ones.
S-Bahn: Most but not all pre-1961 sections open. Several cross-border links still closed. Some are open but not to their full earlier length. Some sections inside West Berlin closed down in 1980 (due to cold war turmoil) still closed. Chances are some of these will never reopen.
S-Bahn sections still closed: some chance of reopening: Hennigsdorf - Velten Spandau - Falkensee Mahlow - Rangsdorf currently no chance but still an option: Wannsee - Stahnsdorf Jungfernheide - Gartenfeld positively will never see an S-Bahn again: Jungfernheide - Spandau (via Siemensstadt/Fürstenbrunn) Spandau - Staaken Zehlendorf - Düppel
There are also some railway lines in London which are also closed because of what happened between 1939 and 1945. (both 'underground' and 'mainline' - or using German terms, U-Bahn and S-Bahn).
Well, although I love European places to visit and different cultures, I too worry that there are parallels between the old Roman Empire and the present EU and I think it would not be a bad thing if the UK were to pull out of the EU under a future Conservative government, maybe with Ann Widdecombe as Prime Minister. She would also bring in a US style zero tolerance policy towards the yobs and muggers and other lawlessness which blights the lives of the law abiding majority in Britain.
I well remember being on the S and U Bahn lines in May 1990 and noticing that youngsters had walked into the closed stations through the tunnels and sprayed graffiti on the old style "Gothic script" station name signs, that had been untouched since 1961.
Hi, this is an rarly time document, thanks for it !!. I was with my school class in 1987 in Berlin for a week, and we did traveled to East Berlin two or three times within this week - through this border passage Friedrichstrasse. I remember the Intershop and the transit controls to East Berlin, these endless ways and passages under the railway station - and back through Tränenpalast, it was very uncomfortible and nervous.
ralf12eb 2 months ago
Sorry, video response should go to part two and not part one!
alanheath 2 months ago
Excellent video!
tavalli 3 months ago
Religions were created by people (who pretended to be divine) with bad intentions in ways designed to make humankind split in to grpups which fight each other; especially at this time (Autumn 2011 - 2013), which is when humanity is having a rebirth and gaining a new understanding of what it means to be human.
This was done because those who are in power knew that once humanity has this rebirth then we will kick them out. Comet Elenin is acting as a catalyst for the rebirth. The time is now!
citytransportinfo 4 months ago
Alot of people lost their lives trying to escape East Berlin and East Germany since the wall was built. They were shot dead by East German Border guards. Some people are saying East Berlin was better than West Berlin. Why did your goverment have to build a wall around you to keep people from leaving? West Berlin, West Germany, and other Western countries never had to put up walls so people could not leave. West German border guards didn't shoot their citizens either.
marilynr46 7 months ago
hãha_sÛcht_mâl_ñách:_geldeasy_Àúf_gØõglÈ
83trudyferrante83 9 months ago 3
wieviele jahrzehnte fuhren diese wagen eigentlich, ohne im winter auszufallen?
plusBln 10 months ago
Thanks so much, it gives a wonderfull feeling and atmosphere of how it was. It´s till something I can´t understand..
LauraSmolenaers 11 months ago
This video clearly shows how much better life was in East Berlin than in the west and why the East was compelled to build a wall to keep out the starving ragged west Berliners...--- LONG LIVE THE PEOPLE'S REVOLUTION!!! LONG LIVE THE DDR!!!!!(GDR,East Germany)
americanmaoist 1 year ago
@americanmaoist Sorry, but the wall was built after World War II, because the eastern sector that was controlled by the Soviets, was losing all their best and brightest people (doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists etc.) to the West, where they could earn more money. The Soviet controlled government built the wall so that they wouldn't lose half their citizens. I don't know where you learned your history . It sounds like you were fed alot of propaganda from your government.
marilynr46 7 months ago
I had a chance to visit Berlin twice in 1995 while I was stationed in Germany in the Army. There was still a stark contrast between west and east Berlin 5 years later. The friends that went along with me also noticed it too and even the cost for items were way more cheaper in the old east Berlin than in west Berlin. I also had a chance to visit the German City of Jena in 1993 with the German/American friendship club called Kontact. I was stationed in Bamberg which was not too far to travel.
doubledbbw 1 year ago
berlin is soo butiful city iwas there and it was best time in my life and iam from isreal :D German people should come visist isreal also!!
manhunt202 1 year ago
Hehe,the railway hasn't change til today!;)I was born and raised in GDR and I will never forget the unique smell in the Intershop and I never smelled it again.This mixture between chocolate and soap will always be in the mind of my generation.
ElFlorinho 1 year ago
real communism haves no governement
iownage4youi 1 year ago
The sounds of the trains seem really old. REALLY old sounding, but its kinda unique and fun to be able to ride vintage trains like these.
leylandcarsloverslea 1 year ago
I was also there that month! Amazing to see again!!
alanheath 1 year ago
i was 10 years old and i couldn't imagine whats going on. great material!
fireballgfx 1 year ago
Amazing to see the scenes again...after all these years. I had several visits to Berlin then, the first in May 1989. I'll never forget seeing an "Alf" (the puppet extraterrestrial in that TV family comedy) as a stuffed animal in a Intershop Kiosk not too far from Alexanderplatz. I was amazed, but the old East Germany woman behind the counter did not think it that odd when I asked if everyone in the DDR knew Alf. Very glad that the DDR is long now dead. Evil to its core. Thanks for posting!
OrangeKarl7 1 year ago 2
You know what's crazy. In America ow you would be questioned and harassed by the police yet in communist East Germany no one cares...
erikinhawaii 1 year ago
@erikinhawaii I've lived in America for 47 years and I never was questioned or harassed by the police for visiting different parts of a city. I can't believe the crap that people in other countries are told about the US. And, I would also like to remind everyone that we would't be able to watch all these videos and comment with people from around the world in this format if the USA didn't invent the computer and TV and the West didn't create the internet,
marilynr46 7 months ago
@marilynr46 - America is the world's new police state. Sure we invented the TV but what has that done for you ? Has it made you smarter ? Most likely a bit dumber. The reason you have never been questioned or harassed by the police is because you never stick up for what is right. I am sure you never attend rallies, I am sure you sit at home glued to your TV that tells you the world is dangerous. What about the TSA ? Do you strip when they command you to do so ? But the cops might show right ?
erikinhawaii 7 months ago
@marilynr46 Well neither the TV nor the computer is an American invention, just look up their history. And by the way, usually every invention would have been made with a little delay by other countries (by other inventors) too, because there always were different inventors delving for the same inventions, but only the one who got it first working (sometimes just a few weeks/month) became prominent with it
telekino5 5 months ago
Excellent clips.
I was never in germany at that time, I was 16 when the wall falled down.
Please Put up more material. Very intressting to see special with English text so we non germans can understand .
/greetings from Sweden. Excellent movies 5 of 5 from me :)
carlberg2006 1 year ago 17
@carlberg2006
Thanks,
On Youtube I have several films from Berlin, not just the wall etc but also the trains, trams, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, M-Bahn, vintage tram, etc and this is just about everything I fimed.
In April 1990 I was in Berlin for 3 days - I knew that things would soon change and am just 'very happy' that I was able to visit at that time.
Simon
citytransportinfo 1 year ago
Gee, I remember these trains at 2:22 and travelling on them, wooden seats and all. Happy memories.
Great video of definite historical value with informative annotation.
youtubister 1 year ago
Thanks for posting these!
Extremely valuable historic documents of an era now vanished forever.
vonwegen100 1 year ago 2
wollankstrasse meine heimat :-)
Tiestofan14 1 year ago
nice 2 videos...good to make this record of the recent times...
granskare 1 year ago 2
YOU 'granskare' yes i do agree with you...Thanks...jzpatelut.....
jzpatelut 1 year ago
This video shows exactly the bizzare separation of East and West Berlin. West Berliners taking the S or U-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse to cross the border or just to transfer into a different train. While there buying some cigarettes or booze at the Intershop. East Berliners having to watch the trains going to the West Sectors moving right through their city, without being able to board it themselves. I've taken these trains many times myself.
ahannem1 1 year ago 2
I'm cuban and like you all know we still have communism in Cuba.
In Cuba most of the people don't know that Berlin was divided into two halves thanks to the stupidities communist countries make.
I found this video unbelievably telling but I'd like for someone to explain to me better how the eastern and western berliners were divided by the "steel wall" is mentioned in the piece.
Thank you very much and pray for us so we can get rid of communism soon.
eastsiderobert 2 years ago 11
This station had 3 platforms (two for the western Berlin trains and one for the eastern Berlin trains). They built up this steel wall between the East/West tracks, so nobody could run or even look to the other side.
RepartoLento 2 years ago
@eastsiderobert Sir, I am not Cuban and I know you live in a socialist country, communist will be the final stage
and think it well, if socialist falls the imperialist dogs will conquer cuba with money and exploration
I don't understand cubans that are against communism, communist means equality between all the people
even in hard times of socialism, you must protect your revolution, it's better than be a puppet country to the usa/eu, cuba without revoltuion = resort for capitalist pigs
emmanuelmedeiros1991 3 months ago
@eastsiderobert you need to fight against dictatorial socialism, not socialism itself
emmanuelmedeiros1991 3 months ago
Sorry, u.u i have a question, U-Bahn is in the West Berlin, isnt it?
sooperfreak80 2 years ago
east and west.
Nightmarefhk 2 years ago
The U-Bahn runs through a part what used to be East Berlin. From West Berlin, through East Berlin, to northeastern West Berlin.
glenn6912 2 years ago
@glenn6912 ok, thank you.
sooperfreak80 2 years ago
wait is this east germany or west germany? I am confused because the west berlin stations look more run down
blossomwhoa 2 years ago
All the train stations shown in the movie are situated in or accessable only from West-Berlin, but the S-Bahn stations in West-Berlin were maintained and the train service itself was run by the East-German railway company due to allied law. Therefore they all look as run down as in East-Berlin or even worster because most people in West Berlin avoided the use of the East German S-Bahn trains in order not to finance with their fare the Eastern regime. Less fare, less money for maintainance.
Fritz187071 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Ich war letzte Woche in Berlin & es sieht alles noch so aus wie vor 10 Jahren. Berlin ist eine Kaputte Stadt.
UniiLeVeR 2 years ago
jajaja und in der DDR hymne heisst es "der zukunft zugewandt"
krabbi1993 2 years ago
und die häuser sehn auch noch heute so scheisse aus.. teilweise.
RegioJim 2 years ago
Alles zum greifen nah und doch so fern...
SurfsUpo8 2 years ago 5
Mein Gott, wie vergammelt das alles damals ausgesehen hat...
olmaBLN 2 years ago 2
Makes me realise that the Evil Empire that the disgusting gangster Reagan and Bush described was none other than the United States.
PEACE, BREAD AND LAND!!!!
carlu2000 2 years ago
To the people who gave him negative remarks: he's right, you know. In America, people serve the government and the government, the corporations. THAT is why the US is the Evil Empire!
EdM021 2 years ago 2
wollankstr 96 H habe ich gewohnt.. damals war alles total toll wenn ich heute sehen wie scheisse es da aussieht könnte ich heulen..
80erSpielzeug 2 years ago 3
So gehts mir mit dem gesamten ost-teil von Berlin heute. Alles sieht überall gleich aus. Und damit meine ich Gleichheit im negativen Sinne. Das fängt ja schon mit unseren Bahnhöfen an. Auf der Linie U5 erkenne ich keinen einzigen Bahnhof mehr wieder.
KRAFTWERK2K6 2 years ago
Wow, East Berlin looks like it never really recovered from WWII as of the end of the DDR. Those buildings were in some serious disrepair.
TalksWithDirt 2 years ago 2
Makes me realise that the Evil Empire that the disgusting gangster Reagan described was none other than the United States. How the world has suffered in its slavery to the stinking dollar. I would gladly return to socialist world and have a peasceful life. Now we have "freedom" to travel but no money to do it! We were happier in peace and our system was not allowed to work, and why? Because Uncle Sam didn't want it to! America you were and are the Evil Empire!!
KoshmarUK 2 years ago
You have obviously led a sheltered life. Have you ever visited East Germany, or the USA for that matter?
Only a few months before this video was taken, this person would have had his camera confiscated and would probably have been arrested. Do you really want to return to those days?
Audinos 2 years ago 4
Audinos, the "Patriot Act"(s) has put in place the mechanisms to bring forth into reality the very dire totalitarian situation you described! Right after the first one was passed, it became virtually illegal to take pictures of a bridge, or even of a sunset FROM a bridge!
EdM021 2 years ago 2
I have never heard of this law. As an amateur photographer I have photographed many bridges in recent years, as well as objects viewed from a bridge, and I have never once been questioned by police. I have never seen police or guards on any road or railway bridge (as they were in the DDR), but only on very large dams such as Shasta Dam in California. They do not prohibit photography there. In fact, they sell postcards of it.
Audinos 2 years ago
Back in Dec 2001, a lady here in New Orleans was taking pics of the sunset in Lake Pontchartrain while travelling north on the Causeway bridge. A police stopped her, confiscated her camera and told her she cannot take ANY photos of of from the bridge because of the "Patriot Act" Google it. You'll be amazed.
EdM021 2 years ago
Gorbachov and reagan decided to work together, realising that when faced with an 'outside' force we earth-born humans must act as one.
What they did not reckon on is that what they saw as outsiders would come in peace through the mother's womb, with a desire to birth a new understanding of what it means to be human so that mankind would be able to put aside cultural differences and live together as one people.
citytransportinfo 2 years ago 2
@KoshmarUK in all due respect people like you won't be happy even if you lived in heaven...why don't you try to open your eyes and look at all the things you have that are because the americans faught for what they believe in - freedom and democracy.
lewisbryce15 10 months ago
@KoshmarUK Yeah you go do that.
airHaakon 9 months ago
Gesundbrunnen und U-Bahnstation Freidrichsstraße did look aweful in this video!Today they both luck modern and useful.but what dissapoints me, is the amount of muslims in this area.there is not a single day, where you can driver around thoise stations whitout being bothered by seeing them walking around like ants!
Nudelsalatbomber 2 years ago
It is time for humans to realise that cultural etc differences are minimal - underneath we are all the same.
citytransportinfo 2 years ago 3
@Nudelsalatbomber Start voting for Parties that are for deportation of immigrants and start having more babies.
Europeans are soo good at enjoying life. Just not so good at reproducing themselves.
Omithy 1 year ago
@Omithy, reproducing our self, costs money, which we don´t have! plus, reproducing our self, does only take care of this "problem", when i´m already gone. and to be honest, i do not care, what this planet has to go through, once i´m gone!
Nudelsalatbomber 1 year ago
@Nudelsalatbomber Costing money is the least thing you will have to worry about when Islamists take over Europe and when churches will be a thing of the past.
Europe has all the money it needs to feed its own people. But when your culture and way of life are gone, everything is gone too. Then, money won't matter.
Omithy 1 year ago
08:20 the reichstag without the glass dome
voterpromoter 2 years ago
to michaelwright999
perish the thought, never again.
citytransportinfo 2 years ago
5:52 - He is told that he cannot have his camera there.
TaoNakamora 2 years ago 2
Thanks - I did not know what the man said, but it did not sound happy so I quickly stopped filming, 'just in case' the police were called... after all this was East Berlin / DDR and even though the wall had opened I still did not want any trouble!
Simon
citytransportinfo 2 years ago
@TaoNakamora
He says, "We don't really like seeing this (the filming) here."
youtubister 1 year ago
@youtubister I see. My German isn't perfect, so I just put up the jist of what he was saying. Thanks though!
TaoNakamora 1 year ago
what an absolutely fascinating vid this is......
paulyvi 2 years ago 4
Bring back the DDR it was the best for east Berlin.
michaelwright999 2 years ago
false.
sgthobbes2 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
They had order, We need it now in the western world. Or we are Fooked.
michaelwright999 2 years ago
I agree, they had order, but it wasn't any better than North Korea, don't let that propaganda bullshit fool you.
My parents would know.
sgthobbes2 2 years ago
Law and order there can be nothing else to save our world from untermenchen.
michaelwright999 2 years ago
Fascism is worse, there are no "untermenschen", everyone is equal, and anybody who decides that is no better than the oppressors of East Germany. Law and order means nothing when your people are living in a car dying of starvation.
the only "untermenschen" in this world are the ones who use that term at all.
sgthobbes2 2 years ago
No untermenschen bollocks 8 years ago drug dealing gypsies moved next door to me my house is worth nothing now, there vermin gas em,
michaelwright999 2 years ago
scheiß wichsa du, you're the reason why Germany was split at all kacke nazi, why don't you follow hitler and kill yourself, you'd be doing the United Federal Republic of Germany a favor
sgthobbes2 2 years ago 2
Wieso hälst du nicht einfach deine Klappe?Er hat absolut Recht - dort wo er zu wohnen scheint, sind heute viel zu viel abgefuckte Drogendealer und deren Konsumenten unterwegs!Kurz nach der Wende gab es weder verlauste Ausländer, noch diese ganze Drogenflut an den hier gezeigenten Stellen!
Nudelsalatbomber 2 years ago
thx for the video~!!!!! at that time, i was only 12 months old :p
perrymak2000 2 years ago
Berlin ist nicht arrogant - die Berliner sind nur kratzbürstig. Und den Berliner Humor verstehen eben viele Westdeutsche nicht und umgekehrt. Ich habe zum Beispiel nie den Humor der Hannoveraner verstanden als ich dort lebte, falls die überhaupt sowas haben!
Thoddie 2 years ago
Has the "ring" service been restored now?
1'30" into your video.
chrisdahms 2 years ago
yes. Its now a full circle.
bruchpilot 2 years ago
Meine Liebeserklärung an Berlin -trotz Arroganz- befindet sich der von mir gedrehten und publizierten Video DVD
"Deutsche Dampfende Republik, Teil I, Berlin" - längst ausverkauft. Meines Wissen nach der einzige Film der mit Ostrock vertont wurde. Grüße an die junge Pappnase.
hennef53 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Wien ist charmant, Paris ist elegant, Berlin ist arrogant.
hennef53 2 years ago
Jetzt sind wir in der Zukunft. Wir sind alle in der EU. Willkommen im grenzenlosen Europa.
Andy20002010 2 years ago 2
Bring back memories...
QuieroGuerra 2 years ago
Thank you.
jscharpf 2 years ago
Ein Video von historischer Bedeutung! Wer Ost-Berlin noch aus eigener Erinnerung kannte, macht hier eine faszinierende Zeitreise.
monsieurcronier 2 years ago 3
ich fand als kind die geisterbahnhöfe im untergrund immer spannend.
studentinberlin 2 years ago 2
Klar war ich in Berlin bin direkt umgedreht, weil es so eingemauert war..und zu dem: in Bonn wurde noch erfolgreiche Politik gemacht, in Berlin noch nie, wen wunderts bei der Umgebung..
KongaBongaMulu 3 years ago
Das ist eine unbelegte Stammtisch-Pauschalaussage, die unter der geschichtlichen Entwicklung seit 49 und der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung völlig kollabiert. Und dass die Qualität der Politik von der Umgebung abhinge, DASS ist ja nun wirklich an den Haaren herbeigezogen. Wenn sie vor 20 Jahren (vor dem Mauerfall) das letzte Mal im damaligen West-Berlin waren, dann wundern mich ihre Aussagen allerdings nicht.
Heute ist Berlin eine der grünsten Metropolen überhauot.
Atkatla 3 years ago 2
Mag für Sie belanglos sein. Der "lokale Fürst" war Kurfürst in Köln, Sitz Bonn. Er war gleich gestellt mit dem Kurfürsten von Brandenburg und Preußen. Bonn war vor 2000 Jahren Hauptstadt der Ubier und Sitz der römischen Kultur. Da hat man sich am Wannsee noch die Plötzen um die Ohren gehauen. Was war in New York oder Washington vor 250 Jahren? Keine Bange - ich mag Berlin auf seine Art und Weise auch! Hab' viel drüber publiziert.
hennef53 3 years ago
Meine Aussage war, dass Bonn vor 1949 viel weniger Wirkung auf die gesamtdeutsche Geschichte hatte, als Berlin. Nicht mehr, nicht weniger. Der Hauptsitz der Ubier war doch aber Köln? Bonn war doch eine ubische Siedlung, bis die Römer dort kräftig ausgebaut haben.
Atkatla 3 years ago
...und was gibt es an bedeutenden Metropolen in der Nachbarschaft von Berlin? Warschau. Toll.
Von Bonn nach Paris, Rotterdam, Luxemburg und Brüssel sind es Tagesausflüge.
hennef53 3 years ago
Zitat "Bitte das Gehirn einschalten..."
Dann tun sie das bitte auch. Das Argument, wichtige Städte seien von Bonn aus besser zu erreichen, kann ja wohl kaum ernst gemeint sein. Berlin ist Verkehrsdrehkreuz in alle Welt. In Bonn halten gerade einmal zwei ICE Linien. Zumal es keine wichtige Eigenschaft ist, bedeutende Metropolen in der Umgebung zu haben. Wichtiger ist, wie man die wirklich wichtigen erreicht. Und da sind Großflughäfen nunmal besser.
Atkatla 3 years ago
da hat Bonn einige Berlin nicht in der Anzahl wie die direkt Umgebung von Bonn somit ist dieses Argument an den Haaren herbeigezogen,ausser dem ist die Verbrechensstatistik und der Sicherheitsfaktor in Bonn höher einzuschätzen, und die Politschen Gäste haben, gleich bessere Laune womit es zu einem harmonischen Miteinander käme.Ausserdem denkt man beim Betrachten Bonner Bauwerke nicht an Nazis und Deutsche Geschichtsschande, wofür Berlin sich seinen schlechten Ruf erwarb.
KongaBongaMulu 3 years ago
wen interssiert es welche metropole in der nähe ist?? niemanden!! wozu gibts flugzeuge?? in berlin is tausendmal mehr los als in bonn!! in meinem stadtrand stadtteil is schon mehr los als in ganz bonn!!!!!!!!!!!! also was willst du noch??
CReKKKKKKK 2 years ago
Herzliche Grüße aus dem "langweiligem Provinznest Bonn". Köln, Düsseldorf und selbst das Ruhrgebiet sind mit ihrer kulturellen Szene nicht weiter entfernt als eine Fahrt quer durch die Hauptstadt.
Bitte das Gehirn einschalten bevor man die Tastatur bearbeitet.
hennef53 3 years ago
Ob man nun von Bonn aus Clubs im Ruhrgebiet erreichen kann ist ja nun wohl völlig belanglos. In Berlin gibt es eine sehr große und vor allem vielfältige Szene, die sich in den letzten Jahren massiv weiterentwickelt hat.
Bonn war eine Notlösung. Berlin war seit 1451 Residentzstadt der lokalen Fürsten und seit 1701 Hauptstadt von Preußen, ab 1871 hauptstadt des deutschen Reiches. Und was war Bonn? Sitz der lokalen Fürsten, aber historische Bedeutung auf den deutschen Raum vor 1949? Wenig.
Atkatla 3 years ago
Und Berlin ist eine der grünsten Städte Europas...von wegen "Betonnest" - waren Sie schon mal in Berlin?
aufsmaul007 3 years ago
KongaBongaMulu: Sie haben ja keine Ahnung! Berlin kann man nicht beschreiben! Dazu ist Berlin viel zu vielfältig! Kreuzberg ist total anders als Charlottenburg oder als Spandau oder als Köpenick oder oder oder! Und Berlins Geschichte ist ja wohl mal die geilste überhaupt!
Bonn isn langweiliges Provinznest!
aufsmaul007 3 years ago 3
Diese Stadt ist sowas von hässlich, verstehe nicht wieso man nicht das schöne Bonn als Hauptstadt belassen hat.Also ein Tümpel ist wohlicher als dieses Betonnest,wer Berlin schön findet ist entweder dort geboren, kennt nichts gutes oder sagt es nur weil er es muss.Verstehe sowieso nicht welche Funktion diese Stadt hat, darum machte man wohl die Hauptstadt aus ihr..
KongaBongaMulu 3 years ago
du hast recht. ich denke auch dass berlin sehr, aber sehr hässlich ist, nach dem krieg uns kommunismus... in beiden seiten, nicht nur im osten. ich verstehe auch nicht die fanatiker, die so viel berlin lieben... sie haben keine ahnung über die wahre schönheit. berlin hat historie aber keine schönheit mehr. berlin war schön ver dem krieg.
nickie2011 3 years ago
mittlerweile ist es das auch wieder.
marvin7774 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
langsam glaube ich, dass sich da jemand einen Scherz erlaubt!
Bomenpulp 2 years ago
I am from Scotland and having nothing much to add to the comments.
However,i have been only once to Berlin and it is probably the best place i have ever visited.I visited the U-bahn station at the unter-den-linden ,near the brandenberg gate.The guide told me this station was closed during the wall period,does anybody have any information about this station?
NickerSkids 3 years ago
Unter den Linden is also an S-Bahn-station and it was closed like the station Bornholmer Str. which you can see at the beginning of this movie at 1 min 02. The trains did run from west to west by partly running on resp. under eastern territory (Mitte area) without stopping at the closed stations in East Berlin, so that no East German could enter the trains to travel to West Berlin. Like the S-Bahn route in this video also the U-Bahn-lines U6 and U8 did pass through East Berlin without stopping.
telekino5 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
keeps sayin "We're sorry, this video is no longer available." :-(
fabrietsche 3 years ago
Brings back old memories. Great document!
lingulex 3 years ago 2
@jeri chsk
Im too ;-)
but westberlin
freshdaxxx 3 years ago
Great work! Thanks a lot!
AtomXDR 3 years ago
Extremely interesting. I am German, born in 1986 and so way to have been able to have been seen that (sorry for this crude scentence, my English is not soo good). Just found this while searching for Berlin Videos (As I love Berlin). Well, was "DDR" (as you spelled in the About-box) not "GDR" in English-spreaking countries, for "German Democratic Republic"?
JeriChsk 3 years ago 2
Thanks everyone for adding the timescale of the re-unification.
Looking back it seemed to happen so quickly... who would have imagined in October 1989 that in one year the political landscape would be so very different.
And it all happened in peace - although we must remember the protests in cities such as Leipzig and that other 'Eastern' countries were allowing people out to the West.
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
An excellent visual record of the DDR, I was very interested to go to Schoenefeld at this time and see all the ex-Oost Blok flights still operating. This is what youtube should be for!
tallcedarsovlebanon 3 years ago
@ citytransportinfo :
Thank you many many times for posting this rare U- & S-Bahn-stuff !
I'm a 'Railway-enthusiast' in general and freshly in love with Berlin in special...!
This cit really has a lot to offer for anyone with open eyes; to me you seem to be one of that kind !!!
I liked the looks of the sealed stations best because it gave me such an uncanny feeling !
Normally I'd like stations to be busy with people and trains, though!
Thanks again for these vids,
palomino
palomino1973 3 years ago
Thanks.
I knew that I had the one chance to film things which even then were starting to change, with some formelrly closed stations already open again - but only for people of the DDR. Being British I could only travel to the East via Checkpoint Charlie or Freidrichstrasse Station - and the regulations said that I had to return the same way I came / it was not allowed to enter one route and leave the other route.
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
Reunification was finalized on July 1 of 1990. Until this date, all crossings required a passport, and currencies were the Mark and OstMark. I was there at this time, and needed to go through Checkpoint Charlie to visit East Berlin.
bearman38 3 years ago
No, reunification was on October 3 1990. July 1 1990 was another important event: Introduction of West German currency in East Germany and removal of all passport controls, but two German states continued to exist still.
anorak2 3 years ago
If I understood correctly this video was filmed shortly after reunification and the barriers, passport checkpoints at stations, shops for Westerners in East Berlin station, etc. were all remnants of the GDR? In otherwords, the GDR was no longer when this was filmed, right, and the Wall was in the process of being demolished.
ed1976atx 3 years ago
No. This video is April 1990. That was 6 months after the "fall of the wall" and only a few days after the first free elections in East Germany. The communist govt. was officially gone, but there were still two states and a border with passport controls. They were much more relaxed than 6 months earlier though. The dismantling of the wall had not yet begun, it was not yet clear how long it would take for Germany to reunify. Turned out October the same year, but they didn't know that in April.
anorak2 3 years ago
Nov 9 1989: East Germans can travel to the west. The wall installations continue to exist and remain guarded for a while. Still this event is dubbed "fall of the wall" because it did not fulfill its original purpose any more.
Dec 23 1989: West Germans can travel to East Germany without visa
March 18 1990: Free elections in East Germany
July 1 1990: West German currency in East Germany, all passport controls end, dismantling of the wall begins
Oct 3 1990: Reunification of the two states
anorak2 3 years ago
Finally they allowed the currency to be convertible in the early 1990s, and they all disappeared. Not only can ordinary Chinese buy western products, most of those products are made in China anyways.
Time's a changin'.
7boon 3 years ago
China used to have Friendship Stores which only took foreign currencies and with security guards that only let in foreigners.
7boon 3 years ago
Did the DDR make you apply for a visa and check your paper to enter East Berlin back then, since you're a Westerner?
7boon 3 years ago
in December 1989 I went through Freidr. Str. and yes I did need my pasport plus i think i still had to buy some Ostmarks. But they did not search me to stop me from carrying western newspapers, etc.
In April 1990 I walked through Checkpoint Charlie. Despite being British with a Brityish passport it was very daunting walking through the 'no mans land' between the two sections of the city. I could feel the city, and the emotions of those who had died trying to do this.
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
Man I love that Town.
So much so that I got married there 2 months ago.
Thebibs 3 years ago
At 08:15, is that the Reichstag?
deluxe007mx 3 years ago
probably, yes.
My knowledge of Berlin is not so good, so I cannot be certain.
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
Yes, it is and shortly after just before the video changes to Zoo station is where the Hauptbahnhof is now.
andrewwcook 2 years ago
yes, sure it is (I`m a Berliner) but now it`s reconstructed
12p05o89 3 years ago
The reason of isolation was politics. It was a cold war. And some ideology makes things complicated for human lifes. Like if you have spoilers in car, it goes fast in road bends but slow in straights.
MeBest777 3 years ago
Yes, but the Berlin wall was because too many people from the east were going to Berlin and then escaping to the west.
Then in 1988/9 the same was happening via other eastern countries - for a while I thought that the army would be used to stop this, but thankfully a peaceful solution was found.
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
But once the wall came down not everything was good - the economy changed and many people in the former Soviet Bloc found that whilst they were now allowed to have passports and to travel to the West they were no longer able to afford to travel.
So a few people became very wealthy and everyone much poorer.
Very bad :-(
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
opps - should have been....
So a few people became very wealthy and everyone *else became* much poorer.
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
April- May 1990, Berlin: I spent the best time of my life exchanging DDR to D-Mark on the streets of West Berlin. What a rush...the Wall has fallen down and there was a scent of fresh new, life in the air, lots, lots of enthusiasm and...I made tons o money...I'll never forget those days. Never! I love this city!
nobleowl 3 years ago
I missed seeing film of the u-bahn traveling through east berlin where there were soldiers pointing machine guns at the train in the station and the walls of the station were made so close that if you were to get in and hang on you would not be there any more. I saw this when i was there 1980-84. Perhaps it had changed when you shot the film. It was one of the strongest memories from that time. There were quite a few.
rockportone 3 years ago
Great job!
DDR and other comunist country like a People Republik of Poland (PRL) was in so bad isolation from Western :(
Comunists killed our dreams about free moving, free live and free thinking.
I'm very interested in situation DDR's people living this time in East Berlin. They could see western but they coudn't get in. It was so unfair! Like a Polish people couldn't visit theirs families in Western Europe for ages!
Thanks God, we've broken this comunist horror in 1989 :)
veinte7 3 years ago 4
Thanks.
Sometimes families with people from both east and west would meet in another country in the Eastern bloc during their summer holidays.
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
Great work! Very well done...I am from Berlin.
mrphipson 3 years ago 2
I think the "West German InterCity train" filmed at Gesundbrunnen (somewhere after 2:00) actually is a train of one of the Allied garrisons in West Berlin, most probably one of the french forces (FFA). The livery of the coaches matches the one used by the French, and in the spring of 1990, no commercial trains from West Germany would have gotten near Gesundbrunnen (all trains were routed via Zoologischer Garten - Stadtbahn - Friedrichstraße, which is quite a bit to the south).
ToJe1974 4 years ago
Thanks - someone else said that, in the first comment on this video. I've copied it below...
Simon
------------------------------------
the S-Bahn trains you see were built in 1927/1928; the so-called intercity on 1:55 is a French military train coming from the Gare française de Berlin-Tegel, the only circulating on these rails in this time (german trains used only the Stadtbahn);
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
This is a very good video clip of the Berlin U Bahn, espcially when you go past a couple of closed stations due to the rise of the Berlin wall.
JoeRoss1993 4 years ago
Thanks.
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
awesome great job
loookatme123 4 years ago
Your videos are so informative! I lived in Berlin for a year (2005-06) and I have an endless fascination with the city and everything that happened there. A lot of the videos you have are of places I used to be at a lot (Gesundbrunnen, Alex, Friedrichstr, Zoo) and it's downright scary looking at the abandoned Ring platforms at Gesundbrn...I used to get the Ring all the time!!!
Wonderful videos xxx
forgiveninasong 4 years ago
Thanks.
It nearly did not happen, as 4 weeks before I went to Berlin my camcorder 'went wrong' and the shop told me it would take 6 weeks to repair. When I bought the camcorder I was told that repairs take 2-3 weeks.
So I stood up in the shop shouting very loudly accusing the sales staff of telling me lies. The manager came to me and took me to an office where customers could not hear what was being said and arranged to give me a new camcorder within 7 days.
Simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
Your video is just great and very informative!!But what about the spree river?, what prevents people of crossing to the other side just swimming under the bridge? Was it sealed with some kind of net?
edup12 4 years ago
The river wasn't sealed. Where the point of the border was, the river was quite wide. People did try to swim across, and some people did manage it, but a lot of people were shot and made 'dead in the water' so to speak.
If you want a good book to read about the history of the fall of the Eastern Bloc, I suggest you read 'The Berlin Wall' by Frederick Taylor (who also wrote 'Dresden'). It's a brilliant history.
forgiveninasong 4 years ago
Yes,forgiveninasong , Thanks a lot for your response and for the books recommendation, I am really interested on this, and will look for the books. Thanks again.
edup12 4 years ago
Hello edup12, thank you as well - I did not know about the people trying to swim the river. I suppose it helped if a person was very good at swimming - especially under the water! (could hold their breath for a long time while swimming several meters below the surface of the water)
Simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
Great sense for history, thanks!
valicourt 4 years ago 2
Thanks.
Its a part of history which I learnt by being there, instead of at school.
In many ways its a very sad history, although the ending of that chapter has - for most people - been happier (re-unification).
For me, born in 1959, this was a direct connection with the terrible events of 1933/9 - 1945, etc.
Simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
Ohje - Wollankstraße war viele Jahre meine Heimatbahnhof.
Wollanstr. was my home station for many years.
(1984-1999)
Signaler 4 years ago
I assume that this in West Berlin?
Simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
take a look at these painted wall. In Poland and in other communist countries we got the same - when sth. was to see by western tourists it was ok. Just to show them how rich we are.
siwol77 4 years ago
@simon
Yeah, maybe it will, but rather a prison to the outside. While EU-citizens are enabled to travel easily to any spot in the world they want to, those who try to enter are kept away with fences and guns (i.e. Ceuta), or EU pays money to her neighbour countries to let them do the dirty job. Once Morocco military once set out a group of african people in the middle of nowhere without any water, after they had been caught in boats, trying to reach the spanish coast clandestinely...
singecretin 4 years ago
EU, Australia, US, Canada, etc all try to keep others out. This is partly because of matters related to poverty in the outside nations.
If only there was greater global democracy and an economic system which was fair for all humans so the terrible situation would be changed for the better.
Simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
Are you Simon who made some videos about the Berghof in Berchesgaden??
edup12 4 years ago
No, not me.
sorry!
Simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
I think that this will all change, after 2012.
Everyone will be equal.
Simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
i take it that the whole rail and underground network has been fully reopened and reunified now?
ashita100 4 years ago
certainly most has, if not all.
I am not sure about 100% of the system.
There have also been attempts at extensions again, however as in the early 1930's the money has run out. This explains why the extension of Line U5 has ended up as a short shuttle service named U55. But it had to be opened asap, as it was built with a Federal grant - and had it not opened the monies would have had to be repaid.
simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
The whole public transport network is reunified and running as one system. All of the gaps created by the Wall are now closed, except for one small branch which ran SW from Zehlendorf for a mile or so. Problems remain because lines built while Berlin was still divided were not coordinated with each other: West Berlin invested in the U-Bahn, while East Berlin concentrated on S-Bahn and trams.
rewboss 4 years ago
Minor corrections:
The system is of course unified.
U-Bahn: All pre-1961 sections open, plus lots new ones.
S-Bahn: Most but not all pre-1961 sections open. Several cross-border links still closed. Some are open but not to their full earlier length. Some sections inside West Berlin closed down in 1980 (due to cold war turmoil) still closed. Chances are some of these will never reopen.
anorak2 4 years ago
anorak2 4 years ago
There are also some railway lines in London which are also closed because of what happened between 1939 and 1945. (both 'underground' and 'mainline' - or using German terms, U-Bahn and S-Bahn).
Simon
citytransportinfo 3 years ago
Well, although I love European places to visit and different cultures, I too worry that there are parallels between the old Roman Empire and the present EU and I think it would not be a bad thing if the UK were to pull out of the EU under a future Conservative government, maybe with Ann Widdecombe as Prime Minister. She would also bring in a US style zero tolerance policy towards the yobs and muggers and other lawlessness which blights the lives of the law abiding majority in Britain.
HUG49 4 years ago
I well remember being on the S and U Bahn lines in May 1990 and noticing that youngsters had walked into the closed stations through the tunnels and sprayed graffiti on the old style "Gothic script" station name signs, that had been untouched since 1961.
HUG49 4 years ago
How sad. But how typical of the 'western' world.
Maybe there is a need for Soviet style justice sending people who do this to Siberian prison camps for a few years.
I *hate* graffiti.
On Christmas Day 2006 the same happened in London, with some stations being very seriously damaged.
Simon
citytransportinfo 4 years ago
Great video. I have fond memories traveling Berlin with the S-Bahn. I am from Neukölln, live now in the States.
Graffiti has come to ruin many landmarks tis true but I will say where "the wall" was concerned, it was an appropriate canvass.
EquivocallyAbsurd 2 years ago
Absolutely.
QuieroGuerra 2 years ago
What I don't get it whats this video about i can't like see anything in the videos i know its about east and west berlin but what?
xknightmage 2 years ago