How much longer will the Wall survive?

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Protests in the GDR keep getting louder, but still no one thinks the Wall will fall any time soon.

Even in January 1989, Honecker still believes in the border:

“The Wall will still be here in 50 years, and in 100, if the reasons for its presence still persist.”

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Schönhauser Allee (U-Bahnhof Eberswalder Straße), 10437 Berlin

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1

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52.54102365

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13.41204286
Brandenburger Tor

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25

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52.516283

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13.37763

date

June 16, 1988
Pink Floyd at the Reichstag

Pink Floyd are performing outside the Reichstag building in West Berlin. Fans also gather on the other side of the Wall, in the hope of hearing some of the concert. But things take a turn for the worse and the East Berlin authorities make a number of arrests.

Culture, West

01:03
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March 1988
Lenné Triangle occupied

In 1988, a group of young people occupy the Lenné Triangle, a plot of land that lies right by the Wall, in an attempt to stop a motorway being built there. Although the site is in West Berlin, it is actually the property of East Berlin. The occupation makes a tourist attraction of what was once just a wasteland. Not long after the young people arrive, the Lenné Triangle is handed back to the West and several hundred police officers begin clearing the site. They fire teargas and use water cannons, and the squatters retaliate by throwing paving stones. A lot of the protestors manage to flee across the Wall to East Berlin, where they are given breakfast and later allowed to take the U-Bahn back to the West. Today the site is home to the Beisheim Center.

Politics, West, East

02:47
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January 1988
Opposition to the GDR

Mid-January sees the GDR’s leaders gather for the annual Luxemburg-Liebknecht demonstration. The politicians visit Friedrichsfelde in East Berlin, where they pay their respects at the memorial to labour leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. While this is going on, the voices of those who oppose the regime are getting louder. People take to the streets and unfurl banners bearing quotes by Rosa Luxemburg. Over 100 protestors are arrested, among them Stephan Krawczyk, Bärbel Bohley, Wolfgang Templin, Vera Wollenberger and Freya Klier.

Politics, Opposition, East

03:20
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June 12, 1987
Reagan visits West Berlin

President Reagan’s visit to West Berlin in June 1987 sparks rioting in the streets and anti-American demonstrations. To mark the 750th anniversary of Berlin, Reagan gives a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Two short sentences will be remembered forever: “General Secretary Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Politics, West

00:57
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June 1987
David Bowie plays Berlin

The Eurythmics, Genesis and David Bowie are all on the line-up for a three-day festival outside the Reichstag building in West Berlin. East Berliners gather close to the Wall to try and hear the performances. Protests break out among the crowd, with people chanting things like “the Wall must go”. David Bowie talks about his visit to East Berlin.

Culture, West

00:49
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January 1989
Karajan retires

Herbert von Karajan leaves the Berlin Philharmonic after 35 years as its principal conductor.

Culture, West

00:22
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1989
Last shoot-to-kill death at the Wall

Chris Gueffroy, a 20-year-old from East Berlin, is shot and killed as he attempts to flee on 8 February 1989. He is the last person to die as a result of the shoot-to-kill order at the Wall. He and a friend were trying to cross the death strip along the branch canal between Treptow in the East and Neukölln in the West. Their route ran close to two sets of allotments, one called Harmony and the other Carefree. Chris’ friend survives and spends a short time in an East Berlin jail before West Germany buys his freedom.

Border, Escaping, West, East

00:42
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May 1989
Local elections in the GDR

The GDR holds local elections in May 1989. A group of young civil rights activists monitor the vote counting. When the official figures show that 98.85 percent of the population voted for the candidates put forward by the SED, the activists accuse the party of ballot rigging. As a member of the peace group in Weisensee that organised the monitoring, Mario Schatta experienced the events first hand.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

02:23
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September 1989
Exit through Hungary

With Hungary’s borders now open, more and more people are using them to flee the GDR. The refugees all arrive at Tegel airport. For the first time since 1961, the refugee centre in Marienfelde is full to overflowing. New arrivals are housed in a disused furniture warehouse in the district of Wedding. From their windows they can see the TV tower in East Berlin.

Escaping, Opposition, West, East

00:38
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October 07, 1989
Gorbachev at GDR's 40th anniversary

The SED leadership is holding celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the GDR, but the people are far from happy. They want political reform, the kind of restructuring that they know is happening further East. Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union and the SED’s guest of honour, uses the opportunity to issue a warning to East Germany’s leaders. Those who oppose the GDR regime hope for a sign that reforms are on the way. Speaking in an interview, Gorbachev says: "I believe danger awaits those who do not react to the real world. If you pick up on the currents moving the real world, moving society, if you use them to shape your policies, then you have no reason to fear difficulties. There is nothing unusual in that.”

Politics, Opposition, East

00:57
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location

August 13, 1961
A last trip to the cinema

Film lover Jürgen Franke from Prenzlauer Berg often goes to the pictures in West Berlin with his friends. The 12 August 1961 is no exception: they go to a late-night screening in the Western district of Gesundbrunnen. As they near the border crossing at Bernauer Strasse in the early hours of 13 August, they can already see the floodlights and construction trucks. 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, Contemporary Witnesses, East

03:56
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August 13, 1961
Troublespot, Bernauer Strasse

After the Wall cut Berlin in two, Bernauer Strasse became a particular troublespot. On 13 August 1961 Ursula Behrendt lived on the fifth floor of an apartment block on the street – too high to climb out of the window and abseil down. A few neighbours managed to escape, but her family stayed in their flat until the last few windows were bricked up. For more information, go to: www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de 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, Contemporary Witnesses, East

04:15
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1985
Queuing up for the West

Many East Berliners have submitted applications to leave the GDR, but no one knows when or if they will be granted. Most people have to wait a long time before they find out. Author Bernd Wagner is among those who want to get out. When his application is finally approved, he leaves Prenzlauer Berg and settles in Kreuzberg in West Berlin.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

03:22
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September 01, 1986
Environmental library in Zion Church

Greenpeace activists stage a protest outside the GDR’s environment ministry. They are trying to raise awareness of how East Germany is damaging the environment. Christian Halbrock was part of the group. In this film he talks about how he and his friends also wanted to bring about political reforms. They have the idea to set up an environmental library, which opens in the parish hall of the Zion Church in East Berlin. Filled with books and information smuggled in from the West, the library becomes a focal point of East Berlin’s opposition movement.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

01:45
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November 01, 1977
Expulsion of Pannach, Kunert and Fuchs

In November 1977 the Free German Youth gathers in East Berlin to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Russian revolution. At the same time, a year since Wolf Biermann’s expulsion from the GDR, East Berlin’s cultural life is losing its lifeblood. Anyone who criticises the state is promptly banished to the West. Singer-songwriters Gerulf Pannach and Christian Kunert, and the author Jürgen Fuchs all suffer this fate.

Politics, Opposition, East

00:47
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August 13, 1961
Gleim Tunnel sealed off overnight

In 1961 Jutta Witt lives next to the S-bahn line in Prenzlauer Berg. When she wakes up on 13 August, everything seems just a little too quiet. She soon realises that the S-bahn station Schönhauser Allee has been closed overnight and turns on the radio to discover that East Berlin has been sealed off. Jutta quickly heads to the nearby Gleim Tunnel, her usual route over to the West to visit her relatives. There will be many a dramatic scene on both sides of the tunnel over the months to come… 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

05:19
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August 1961
Escaping on Bernauer Strasse

Bernauer Strasse is the scene of dramatic events in the days after the Wall goes up. The houses are in the East, the pavement in front of the buildings, in the West. People abseil down to the street from the windows of their flats. Others jump into the rescue nets of firemen waiting below. Residents are still throwing their belongings down onto the street as East German border police break into the buildings to try and stop them from escaping. In the autumn of 1961, the last tenants are forcibly evicted from houses on Bernauer Strasse. Nevertheless, in the years that follow, numerous escape tunnels are dug from the basements of houses on Bernauer Strasse. On 15 August 1961 non-commissioned officer Conrad Schumann is captured on film as he leaps across the rolls of barbed wire in the French sector throwing his weapon aside. This photograph will become an emblematic image of the city's division the world over. The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central memorial site documenting Germany's partition, located at the historic site of Bernauer Strasse: http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

02:37
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1980
Life in Prenzlauer Berg

Finding a place to live in East Berlin is hard, despite the fact that the authorities control the housing situation. Even after waiting a long time, many young people still can’t get a flat. They decide to bypass the official route and break the rules by moving into empty pre-war buildings. The GDR calls this “rent dodging”. The building at Fehrbelliner Strasse 7 was the first block of flats in Prenzlauer Berg to be fully occupied. Carlo Jordan was one of the squatters who moved in.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

02:10
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August 13, 1961
A daredevil escape

After the Wall goes up on 13 August 1961, Peter Hertel gets a job at the electric company BEWAG-OST in the new technologies division. Dissatisfied with life in the East, he comes up with a daredevil escape plan. Armed with a forged BEWAG contract and a rope in his briefcase, he sets off in the direction of Bernauer Strasse. For more information, go to: www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de 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

04:57
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1969
The Wall: video surveillance and tourist attraction

West Berlin customs officials have started to document events at the Wall. The Wall has also long been a tourist attraction. The Berlin Wall Memorial is the central memorial site documenting Germany's partition, located at the historic site of Bernauer Strasse: http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de

Border, Escaping, West, East

00:38
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