SEZ complex opens in East Berlin

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The SEZ sports and leisure complex opens in Friedrichshain, East Berlin.

It attracts 16 million visitors in the first five years alone. The complex, which had swimming pools, sports halls, an ice rink and several restaurants, was designed to welcome up to 22,000 visitors a day.

Heide-Maria Heyde used to work there and recalls the long queues that were a daily sight outside the complex.

locations

SEZ-Berlin, Landsberger Allee 77, 10249 Berlin

showtime
1

latitude
52.527115

longitude
13.446208

date

1981
Squatting in Kreuzberg

Housing in West Berlin is scarce, but whole streets in Kreuzberg and Schöneberg are being cleared of tenants. Once empty, the old buildings are to be torn down and new ones put up in their place. This destructive approach to urban development makes sense because the projects qualify for government subsidies. Young families, unemployed people, non-conformists and students are hit especially hard by the lack of housing. Some decide to fight back by occupying empty buildings. Anette Schill was one of them. In 1981 she and some friends occupy an old chemicals factory in Kreuzberg. She tells us about the early days of what would become known as the Rainbow Factory.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, Politics, West

02:16
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1981
Daily life in the divided city

The Wall has been part of Berlin life for 20 years now. People on both sides have done their best to get used to it, and the death strip and hostile barriers on either side have become almost normal. In fact, a lot of people in the West no longer find the Wall much of a threat.

Border, Everyday Life, West, East

00:53
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1981
Christiane F.

The film Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo tells the story of Christiane Felscherinow from Gropiusstadt in Berlin. Christiane became addicted to heroin after coming into contact with drugs for the first time through friends in 1974. The film is based on the book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, and features harrowing scenes of life as a young drug addict in West Berlin.

Culture, West

00:54
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November 1980
New pandas for the zoo

The Chinese government gives the West German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, two pandas. Bao-Bao and Tien-Tien take up residence in the zoo in West Berlin, and soon win hearts throughout the city.

Everyday Life, West

00:28
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October 1980
Cost of visiting the East rises

The GDR raises the amount of money that Westerners have to change when they visit East Berlin. It now stands at 25 Deutsche marks per day. That makes the trip too expensive for many West Berliners who, until now, have regularly visited friends and relatives in the East.

Border, Politics, West, East

01:08
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May 01, 1981
Elections in East and West Berlin

The early parliamentary elections held in West Berlin on 10 May 1981 herald a major turning point in the city’s post-war history. The SPD are forced out of government for the first time, Richard von Weizsäcker of the centre-right CDU becomes Mayor of West Berlin and appoints Heinrich Lummer (CDU) as Senator of the Interior, and the Greens win seats for the first time ever. The GDR is also going to the polls in a general election. Unsurprisingly, the SED led by General Secretary Honecker wins 99.86 percent of the vote.

Politics, West, East

01:07
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September 22, 1981
Man dies during protests

Heinrich Lummer (CDU), West Berlin’s senator of the interior, arranges for eight squats to be cleared at the same time. He later gives a press conference in one of the buildings. As Lummer speaks to reporters inside, protestors gather outside on the street. Police clash with the squatters, and the situation leads to 18-year-old Klaus-Jürgen Rattay being knocked down and killed by a bus.

Politics, West

02:10
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1982
Smog alert in West Berlin

West Berlin issues several smog alerts in 1982. Citizens are told that, due to high levels of carbon and sulphur dioxide, they should leave their cars at home, keep windows closed and avoid exercising outside. Smog hits Berlin whenever the wind blows from the southeast and brings pollution over from Czechoslovakia and the GDR’s chemical plants located just outside the city. East Berlin, however, acts as if nothing is wrong. As far as the official line is concerned, there is no smog.

Everyday Life, West, East

00:31
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1982
Blues Masses in East Berlin

A church in East Berlin starts holding what will become known as Blues Masses. The events attract those who are unhappy with the regime. Dirk Moldt, an 18-year-old watchmaker’s apprentice, is among them. The young people who gather here feel protected by the church and safe from the repression of the state. Father Rainer Eppelmann and Robert Havemann, a staunch critic of the government, publish their "Berlin Appeal", in which they call for disarmament and freedom of speech.

Contemporary Witnesses, Opposition, East

01:37
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June 11, 1982
Reagan visits West Berlin

When President Ronald Reagan visits West Berlin in 1982, protestors take to the street to demonstrate for disarmament and peace. But rather than focus on phasing out weapons and bringing East and West closer together, Reagan uses his speech to call for a build-up of military power. Hand-picked Berliners welcome Reagan as he arrives at Tempelhof airport. Another carefully selected crowd wait to greet him at Charlottenburg Palace, where he delivers his now-famous words: “Berlin bleibt doch Berlin. Berlin is still Berlin.” That evening, demonstrations against America’s arms policy tip over into rioting on the streets of West Berlin.

Politics, West

01:58
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location

January 1970
The socialist metropolis of East Berlin

East Berlin is flourishing. The “capital” is evolving into a socialist metropolis. The construction of 14-storey tower blocks next to the Wall aims to send a clear signal to the West. The first foundation stones are laid here in January 1970. In East Berlin city centre, meanwhile, city planners are creating a cult of the personality: a 19-metre-high statue of Lenin forms the centrepiece of the square named after the revolutionary leader. It was inaugurated by head of state, Walter Ulbricht.

Everyday Life, East

00:30
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October 07, 1974
The GDR's 25th anniversary

The GDR is turning 25. In October 1974, the Republic's birthday is marked in a fitting manner: a military parade through the centre of East Berlin. State-owned enterprises have exceeded their targets.

Politics, East

00:32
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July 28, 1984
Gasometer demolished

The gasometer in the East Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg is demolished. A new showcase estate honouring revered labour leader Ernst Thälmann is put up in its place. General Secretary Erich Honecker pays a personal visit to Ernst Thälmann Park to see how the project is progressing.

Everyday Life, East

01:10
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1982
Blues Masses in East Berlin

A church in East Berlin starts holding what will become known as Blues Masses. The events attract those who are unhappy with the regime. Dirk Moldt, an 18-year-old watchmaker’s apprentice, is among them. The young people who gather here feel protected by the church and safe from the repression of the state. Father Rainer Eppelmann and Robert Havemann, a staunch critic of the government, publish their "Berlin Appeal", in which they call for disarmament and freedom of speech.

Contemporary Witnesses, Opposition, East

01:37
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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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1978
Airplane hijacked

A passenger plane belonging to Poland’s LOT airline lands in Tempelhof, bringing to an end a hijacking that began in Gdansk. Ingrid Maron is on board – not as a passenger but as one of the hijackers. She was planning to use forged papers to flee from Gdansk to the West by ferry. When the plan fell apart, she and an acquaintance, Detlev Tiede, decide to escape by hijacking a Polish plane. In this film, Ingrid talks about how the incredible situation came about.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

03:43
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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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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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November 04, 1989
Rally at Alexanderplatz

On 4 November, 500,000 people gather for a rally on Alexanderplatz in East Berlin. It is the largest non-state-organised demonstration in GDR history. 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 actors Steffie Spira, Ulrich Mühe and Jan Josef Liefers.

Politics, Opposition, East

00:36
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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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