Life in Prenzlauer Berg

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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.

locations

Fehrbelliner Straße 7, 10119 Berlin

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1

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52.531313

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13.409666

date

October 07, 1979
Brezhnev and Honecker

Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union, visits East Berlin to take part in the celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the GDR. As well as the famous fraternal kiss (staged at Schönhausen Palace to show the special relationship between the two states), the official schedule also includes an appearance at the ostentatious anniversary parade. Brezhnev tells the SED politburo that it must see to it that industrial productivity increases. “After all,” he says “we can only consume what we produce. None of us want to live at someone else’s expense or declare ourselves bankrupt.”

Politics, East

00:36
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June 1979
Free German Youth gathering

The GDR celebrates its 30th anniversary in 1979. The event is the focus of the Whitsun gathering of the Free German Youth. Teachers, who are required to turn their pupils into good socialist citizens, make sure every child is aware that this is a special year. But young people in the GDR don’t toe the line as much as the government would like them to. They idolise Western celebrities, listen to rock music, and wear denim. In fact, they are starting to look more and more like their peers on the other side of the Wall.

Politics, Culture, East

01:16
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June 1979
Authors banned

The East Berlin authors’ association joins forces with the SED leadership, the Stasi and the Ministry of Culture to convene a tribunal against nine problematic authors. Among those on trial are famous names like Stefan Heym, Klaus Schlesinger and Rolf Schneider. The group stands accused of “defaming the GDR, the SED, its cultural policy and its legal system”, and of having “put themselves at the service of anti-communist forces working against the GDR”. Of the 400 authors present, 350 vote in favour of ousting their colleagues from the association. That means the nine can no longer work, because only authors who are members of the association can publish in the GDR. Rolf Schneider talks about what it was like to have his livelihood taken away.

Contemporary Witnesses, Opposition, Culture, East

02:06
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April 16, 1979
Forum checks

GDR citizens used to be able to purchase goods with foreign currency (e.g. the Deutsche mark) in a special chain of shops called Intershop. Now they have to exchange the money for “Forumchecks” before they can buy anything there. The government has introduced the rule so that it can quickly siphon off the Western money that its citizens bring into the GDR. Visitors from outside the GDR, however, can still pay with foreign currency as long as they show their passport.

Politics, East

00:49
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April 02, 1979
Congress centre opens

The International Congress Centre (ICC) opens in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, West Berlin. It is one of the biggest congress centres in the world. The building (320 metres long, 80 metres wide and 40 metres high) was designed by Berlin architects Ralf Schüler and Ursulina Schüler-Witte. It cost 924 million Deutsche marks and took just four years to build. With 80 conference halls and rooms for 20 to 9,100 guests, multifunctional facilities, state-of-the-art technology, and a wide range of services, the ICC is ideal for all kinds of conferences and events. Harald Juhnke, a well-known Berlin entertainer, is extremely impressed.

Everyday Life, West

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1980
State visit to the Brandenburg Gate

On a state visit to East Berlin, the leader of Nicaragua is taken to see the “antifascist protection wall”, now a permanent feature of all state visits to the GDR. The ritual involves climbing the platform at the Brandenburg Gate and looking out over the class enemies in the West.

Politics, East

00:23
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1980
Life in Kreuzberg

1980 becomes the year of the citizens’ initiative in West Berlin. Squatters in Kreuzberg are demanding rental contracts for the nineteenth-century buildings that they have occupied in an effort to stop the senate from tearing them down. Affordable housing is hard to come by, and investment in Kreuzberg stopped a long time ago. As immigrants, artists and old-timers gather among the crumbling buildings, a colourful, vibrant community comes alive in the shadow of the Wall.

Everyday Life, West

01:09
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January 01, 1980
Teen fashion

The choice between being a popper or a punker can be a highly divisive issue in 1980s West Berlin, where fashion is a huge part of young people’s lives. Poppers haven’t really caught on in East Berlin, but clothes from the West are extremely popular. The GDR’s “teen fashion” doesn’t stand a chance against the much hipper alternatives from across the Wall.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:47
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February 1980
Solo Sunny

East and West both participate in the Berlin International Film Festival. The GDR has entered the DEFA film Solo Sunny in the competition section. East Berlin actress Renate Krössner surprises everyone by winning the Silver Bear for her performance in the title role. Renate has director Konrad Wolff to thank for being able to collect her award in person. She talks about the trip and how she never expected to be able to travel to West Berlin.

Contemporary Witnesses, Culture, West, East

02:06
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1980
Musicians dig Berlin

In May 1980 the Tempodrom on Potsdamer Platz begins staging offbeat shows in a circus tent. Numerous West Berlin artists appear on the programme, including Annette Humpe and her group, Ideal. Their song, Ich steh auf Berlin (I dig Berlin), is an anthem to the city. Ideal were an important part of the Neue Deutsche Welle and played a crucial role in shaping the genre.

Culture, West

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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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October 07, 1970
Interhotel Stadt Berlin opens

The Interhotel Stadt Berlin opens in East Berlin. A taste of the West in the East. The hotel on Alexanderplatz prepares to welcome guests from around the world. It is spread over 40 floors and boasts the best of the GDR in an attempt to compete with Western standards. Only the crème de la crème has the honour of working in its restaurant. Leonard Czichowitz talks about what it was like to work there.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

00:59
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1990
West Berliners head East

In 1990, West Berliners surprise everyone by queuing up to change their money into Eastern marks. They’re using them to go bargain hunting in East Berlin. The most popular destination is the department store on Alexanderplatz.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:49
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May 1971
Centrum Warenhaus on Alexanderplatz

The Centrum Warenhaus on Alexanderplatz is the shopping Mecca of East Germany. It opens its doors in 1970. Sales assistant, Gert Roth, is there from day one. He recalls the store's beginnings and special promotional offers. When Erich Honecker enters office, he not only promises flats, stable prices and a better supply of goods. He also "treats" GDR citizens to 150,000 pairs of blue jeans, a product imported from the West. This much-coveted item of clothing is only available at the Centrum Warenhaus on Alexanderplatz.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

01:19
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July 29, 1973
World Festival of Youth

For the second time since 1951 East Berlin is organising the World Festival of Youth and Students. Eight million people descend on the city, transforming Alexanderplatz into a huge festival arena. The GDR, with its new head of state and Party leader Erich Honecker, wants to present a cosmopolitan image. Free love, long hair: a colourful chaos. Suddenly almost anything seems to go in the GDR capital, turned upside down for nine days. West Berlin sports teacher Gunnar Rohn talks about his experiences at the festival. A different kind of provocation is coming from East Berlin's cinemas: the film The Legend of Paul and Paula escapes a ban by the skin of its teeth. It is to become one of the most successful DEFA films of all time.

Contemporary Witnesses, Culture, East

03:24
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June 01, 1968
Prague Spring

East Berlin in the early summer of nineteen sixty-eight. Alexanderplatz is a huge building site: socialism is getting a makeover and the GDR capital is set to become a modern showcase of the Republic. In June 1968 18-year-old Toni Krahl, who will later front the rock band City, travels to Prague and is impressed by what he finds there: "socialism with a human face". However, on 21 August 1968 half a million soldiers from the Warsaw Pact countries invade the CSSR, crushing the Prague Spring. The authorities in East Berlin welcome the intervention and convict 1,200 people who take to the streets in protest, including Toni Krahl.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

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December 1972
The Basic Treaty

For the first time since 1965, West Berliners are able to travel to East Berlin for Christmas. Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik is easing tensions. On 21 December, the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR sign the Basic Treaty. It is part of a strategy adopted by the West German government under Chancellor Willy Brandt, aiming to normalise relations with the GDR. The FRG acknowledges Germany's partition, but also includes a clause stating the objective of reunification.

Politics, West, East

00:28
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1989
How much longer will the Wall survive?

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.”

Everyday Life, Politics, West, East

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November 04, 1989
Christa Wolf speaks on Alexanderplatz

On 4 November, 500,000 people gather at a rally on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin. It is the biggest non-state-organised demonstration in the history of the GDR. The crowd calls for democracy, constitutional laws, and freedom of speech and the press. A group of East Berlin stage actors were the first to have the idea of a rally, and the event sees more than 20 speakers step up to the microphone. Among them are politicians like Günter Schabowski, Stasi official Markus Wolf, theologian Friedrich Schorlemmer, lawyer Gregor Gysi, university rector Lothar Bisky, authors such as Christoph Hein, Stefan Heym and Christa Wolf, playwright Heiner Müller, and the actors Steffie Spira, Ulrich Mühe and Jan Josef Liefers. Writer Christa Wolf also speaks the rally. This film shows her speech.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, Culture, East

03:16
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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

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