Auferstanden aus Ruinen: Images of (East) Berlin

This video highlights the areas of Berlin that were formally part of East Berlin. My goal was to contrast these areas as they were under the DDR and show them as they appear today, showing how Berlin under a unified Germany has prospered and grown. The video is in two parts (pre- and post-unification) and features two different versions of the old DDR national anthem to contrast the feelings of the two eras.

But, wanting to use all my own photos and videos I was faced with a small problem: I had never been to East Berlin during the time of the DDR. What to do? My only option was to use my own photos and video of areas of the old East Berlin and "backdate" them so they appear they were taken before 1989.

The photos were made to look like old black and white photos from perhaps the 70s or 80's, and I did some extensive Photoshop work on a few of them to remove things like graffiti and billboards, which would not have been present. The Karl Marx bust statue at Strausberger Platz was a missing the "K" when I took the picture in April 2006, so I Photoshopped a replacement.

The video was put through several filters in Final Cut Pro to look like color shifted, scratched old 8MM film, rather than digital video shot in 2005 and 2006.

The only images in the video that are not my own creations are the photos in the opening sequence, which are from some old DDR era postcards that I have, as well as some other elements which are items I have purchased at Berlin flea markets.

The original orchestral version of the DDR national anthem "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" (Arisen from Ruins) is used in the "DDR section" of the video, and a punk version of it by M.I.A. (and used in the film Furher X) is used in the "post-DDR section".

The opening sequence was created in Motion, and the video was edited in Final Cut Pro.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• East
• Berlin
• Germany
• DDR
• travel
• Europe
• vintage

[superdoctortse1984]

I think some of the pictures in the video are USA,not DDR!!!!

[sl3media]

You couldn't be more wrong about that.

[plumlove1995]

nice footage + the opening of 'goodbye lenin'

was the ddr the one in best shape compared to the other soviet members?

Werbung_aus_der_DDR... i listen to it as a 30 minute-music everyday!

[sl3media]

Thanks. The opening is not from Goodbye Lenin, although the spinning Lenin is a nod to the movie. I composed it all in Motion. :-)

[Nudelsalatbomber]

hallo!

super video!die anfangsbilder und videoschnitte gefallen mir am besten!die bearbeitung wurde sicher mit einem profiprogramm durchgeführt, oder?mfg aus der hauptstadt

[sl3media]

Vielen dank für die Grüße!

[squatworldwide]

i was born in the GDR(DDR) it was peace full No gangs, drugs,naziscum.

we hat free healtcare,free education,no homlesnes, in holyday we got the chance to meet children from another socialist countris in hollydaycamps.

if only the leader dint screwt the country up.

cuate you right we hafe the most amacing castle and old towns

[cuate682003]

I'M from Mexico city.I just went to beautiful Berlin city! I went late Sept and boy si cold!

I love the East side better that the west.

DDR is beautiful!!!!!!!!

[colonelperry42n]

ein ganz toller Film! Er ist sehr umstaendlich!

[Sky1green]

Über Deutschland scheint

über Deutschland .............

SCHEINT

Yeah, East Berlin rocks

[keepitclean17]

I never had opportunity to visit the DDR, and I regret this now very much.

A friend of mine took regular visits there. She said that as a woman alone she had nothing to fear on the DDR streets late at night.

If only this was true of modern Capitalist towns and cities!

I hope that the united German people will rediscover their Marx and Engels in a time when Capitalism is shown as so fragile, and when it continues to fail the vast majority of the world population.

[Dudtz]

Risen from the Ruins of The Palace of The Republic,the German Democratic Republic will rise!

Auferstanden aus Ruinen des Palastes der Republik, der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik wird steigen!

[laurin84]

Naja, erkauft hat man sich die Vorteile mit einem gravierenden Nachteil: Man war nicht frei.

Man durfte nicht mal Westmusik hören.

[forgetititititit]

I love the east as well, although the east as it is now is not what it was in the time of the DDR. Nowadays, birches growing through roofs are a rarity.

Yes, Berlin is fabulous. The former eastern part more so than the former western part, because the BDR and all those nefarious capitalist enterprises spent billions building it back up from the ruins left by the Communists.

[FixedHDD]

1:50

geil die parkbahn!

super video!

[Klottelitsch]

Die DDR Hymne war definitiv ein Superwerk!