Schönefeld Airport opens

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July 1962 sees the opening of Berlin-Schönefeld Central Airport.

The new airport has taken three and a half years to build. It is the pride and joy of all GDR pilots.

Horst Materna was one of these pilots.

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Flughafen Schönefeld

showtime
5

latitude
52.38838247

longitude
13.51919174

date

June 18, 1962
GDR border guard Reinhold Huhn is shot

Ten months after the Wall goes up, the death strip winds through the city, cutting Berlin in half. West Berlin is sealed off. Windows have been bricked up, people separated by barbed wire, roads blocked by tank traps. Families have been torn apart. Escape helper Rudolf Müller has dug his way under the Wall from the West. However, GDR border guards discover the escape tunnel and one of them is shot and killed, sparking a propaganda war. The dead man, Reinhold Huhn, becomes a martyr and streets and schools are named after him.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

01:23
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May 01, 1962
The first of May in East and West

1 May celebrations a year after the Wall goes up: A military parade is held in East Berlin to mark Labour Day, which falls on a Tuesday that year. Over in West Berlin, Federal President Heinrich Lübke gives a speech at the Reichstag.

Politics, West, East

00:42
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March 01, 1962
Escaping at the dead of night

The sector border between Rosenthal and Wittenau: Annemarie Salzmann and her boyfriend slip on overalls to camouflage themselves as they crawl across the open ground near the border. Leather gloves will help protect their hands as they climb over the barbed wire. In March 1962 they escape under cover of darkness and fog, risking their lives in the death strip. In 2011, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wall going up, the rbb interviewed Berliners to find out what the division of the city meant to them. The Wall had a profound impact on the way each person went about their daily lives - no matter what side they found themselves on. Overnight people were cut off from their friends and relatives, from their offices, factories and schools, and from places where they enjoyed spending their leisure time. The division of the city tore families apart, ruptured biographies and claimed many lives.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, East

04:43
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October 1961
Stand-off at Checkpoint Charlie

"The world holds its breath: at the end of October, American and Soviet tanks stand face-to-face at the US Checkpoint Charlie on Berlin Friedrichstrasse. The GDR authorities are trying to restrict the allies' freedom of movement. For several months, the young US president John F. Kennedy has been negotiating with USSR First Secretary Khrushchev, the strongman of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev wants to make Berlin a free city and release it from the joint responsibility of the Second World War's victorious powers, but Kennedy takes a stand. The Berlin Wall goes up and a few months later the situation escalates even further when the GDR tries to impose border controls on foreign diplomats and the military at Checkpoint Charlie. US Special Emissary Lucius D. Clay responds by sending in tanks. Khrushchev then orders Soviet tanks to drive to the border, leading to a stand-off between the two superpowers that lasts 16 hours. "

Border, Politics, West, East

01:02
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August 16, 1961
Brandt and Adenauer's reaction to the Wall

West Berlin's mayor Willy Brandt gives a speech at a protest rally at Schöneberg Town Hall. Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, however, does not arrive in Berlin until days later.

Border, Politics, West

00:54
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August 13, 1962
First anniversary of the Wall

In the year since the Wall went up, 20 people have died trying to escape to the West. West Berliners fall silent for three minutes at midday on 13 August 1962 to commemorate the Wall’s victims. Afterwards they protest by honking their horns. Horst Materna describes how many Berliners had accepted the Wall and already saw it as a part of everyday life.

Border, Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West

00:55
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August 17, 1962
Peter Fechter dies trying to escape

Eighteen-year-old Peter Fechter is shot while trying to escape near Checkpoint Charlie. US soldiers, West Berlin police and GDR border guards fail to come to the rescue of the dying man. He bleeds to death in the death strip. Crowds of people gather on both sides, but can do nothing but stand by and watch as he dies. That evening, thousands of West Berliners take to the streets to protest against the Wall. The mayor of Berlin, Willy Brandt, urges calm. By November 1989, at least 136 people will have died at the Wall. Margit Hosseini talks about what she experienced at Checkpoint Charlie on 17 August.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

02:13
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1962
Supply of goods in East and West

Everyday life for Berliners in the divided city: customers in the West are flocking to self-service stores. In East Berlin, however, shoppers are often met with empty shelves in 1962.

Everyday Life, West, East

01:02
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December 27, 1962
An escape fit for the circus

As a fireman in West Berlin, Werner Grützmann is often called out to the border between East and West. These operations generally involve him and his colleagues holding out rescue nets for East Berliners escaping by jumping out of windows. Just before Christmas in 1962, his unit is sent to Teltow Canal to respond to an unusual call for help. In 2011, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wall going up, the rbb interviewed Berliners to find out what the division of the city meant to them. The Wall had a profound impact on the way each person went about their daily lives - no matter what side they found themselves on. Overnight people were cut off from their friends and relatives, from their offices, factories and schools, and from places where they enjoyed spending their leisure time. The division of the city tore families apart, ruptured biographies and claimed many lives.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West

04:00
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1963
Bowling, the new trend

Berliners get on with their day-to-day life in the walled-in city. Despite the gloomy situation, they still find plenty of ways to enjoy their leisure time. A new sport is all the rage in 1963: bowling. Played by both East and West Berliners – albeit using slightly different technology.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:29
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location

December 27, 1962
An escape fit for the circus

As a fireman in West Berlin, Werner Grützmann is often called out to the border between East and West. These operations generally involve him and his colleagues holding out rescue nets for East Berliners escaping by jumping out of windows. Just before Christmas in 1962, his unit is sent to Teltow Canal to respond to an unusual call for help. In 2011, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Wall going up, the rbb interviewed Berliners to find out what the division of the city meant to them. The Wall had a profound impact on the way each person went about their daily lives - no matter what side they found themselves on. Overnight people were cut off from their friends and relatives, from their offices, factories and schools, and from places where they enjoyed spending their leisure time. The division of the city tore families apart, ruptured biographies and claimed many lives.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West

04:00
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1973
A car made in West Berlin

A new car is being built in West Berlin: "the shopper". It is the curious product of lavish state subsidies allocated to the walled-in city to attract industry. But the new vehicle is too small, too impractical and too expensive. After just one year, the manufacturer declares itself bankrupt. Fewer than 2,000 “shoppers” have rolled off the production line.

Everyday Life, West

00:59
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Schönefeld Airport opens

locations

information

locations

GDR border guard Reinhold Huhn is shot

The first of May in East and West

Escaping at the dead of night

Stand-off at Checkpoint Charlie

Brandt and Adenauer's reaction to the Wall

First anniversary of the Wall

Peter Fechter dies trying to escape

Supply of goods in East and West

An escape fit for the circus

Bowling, the new trend

Commuting between East and West

The end of a childhood by Müggelsee

Hertha in the Bundesliga

The women's movement and anti-authoritarian kindergartens

The GDR's 20th anniversary

An escape fit for the circus

A car made in West Berlin