The Basic Treaty

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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.

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Berlin-Ost, Weihnachtsmarkt Alexanderplatz

showtime
17

latitude
52.521829

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13.413275

date

August 30, 1972
Steinstücken exclave

A few streets, a few houses, a few trees – Steinstücken measured a mere twelve hectares. Between 1945 and 1971, this area belonging to the Western district of Zehlendorf was West Berlin's only permanently inhabited exclave located in the Soviet-occupied zone/the GDR. In 1972 Berlin's mayor Klaus Schütz opens an access road connecting Steinstücken to West Berlin. Gert Knecht talks about living in the exclave.

Border, Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, West, East

02:49
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May 1972
Escaping in a car

The Transit Agreement is signed in East Berlin by State Secretaries Egon Bahr (FRG) and Michael Kohl (GDR). The agreement clarifies practical issues concerning transit and cross-border traffic. It also brings an easing of travel restrictions for West German citizens who want to travel to the GDR and for GDR citizens who wish to visit the Federal Republic to deal with urgent family matters. Up until now, only pensioners have been allowed to do this. Wolfgang Herrmann takes advantage of the relaxed conditions to flee across the border, assisted by escape helpers. Hermann describes his adventurous escape hidden in a car.

Border, Escaping, Contemporary Witnesses, West, East

02:38
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April 1972
Entry permits over Easter

For the first time since 1966, West Berliners will be allowed to travel to East Berlin over Easter. Applying for a visitor's permit is a complicated process. Nevertheless, over three days nearly 60,000 people submit travel applications at five specially set-up offices. The applications are processed by undercover Stasi agents from East Berlin. Gert Knecht remembers the situation in the offices only too well, but also recalls the joy of seeing friends and relatives again for the first time in six long years.

Border, Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

02:48
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January 29, 1972
Premiere of Ein Kessel Buntes

A Kettle of Colour premieres on GDR TV. The "Kessel" was the most glamorous and successful evening show ever broadcast on GDR television, fronted by “the three dialecticians”. Lutz Stückrath was one of the presenters. He recalls the programme's success and the initial freedoms the three satirists enjoyed when the show was launched.

Culture, East

03:13
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1972
The "get trim" campaign

West Berlin has been gripped by a "get trim" craze. Supported by the government, health insurance companies and business, the German Sports Association launches a campaign to combat a rise in circulatory disorders and help people lose weight.

Everyday Life, West

00:20
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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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1973
Double-decker buses

Berlin Transport Authority's (BVG) double-decker buses wind through the city's streets decked out in bright and cheerful adverts in an attempt to generate funds for its cash-strapped coffers. This is not the only innovation on the bus lines: for the first time since the war, women are also allowed behind the wheels of double-deckers. Up until 1971 this was prohibited by law.

Everyday Life, West

00:51
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1973
Rubbish from the West in the GDR

West Berlin is drowning in rubbish. In 1973 it produces three million cubic metres of household rubbish – enough to fill the Olympic Stadium four times over. West Berlin's rubbish dumps are full and there is no space for new ones. Where can all this rubbish go? The easing of tensions may enable West Berlin to “export” its rubbish to the East... Michael Ferber, former technical director of West Berlin's Sanitation Department, recalls the negotiations with the GDR.

Border, Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, Politics, West, East

01:24
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1973
Escaping via transit routes

As a result of the 1971 Basic Treaty between the Federal Republic and the GDR, thorough vehicle checks on transit routes are few and far between. This turns the transit motorway into a loophole for would-be escapees. Anyone slipping into a car boot or a truck trailer has a good chance of getting to West Berlin unnoticed.

Border, Escaping, West, East

00:35
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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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location

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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November 04, 1989
Stefan Heym 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. The poet Stefan Heym is also among those to speak.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

03:51
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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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1963
The new heart of East Berlin at Alexanderplatz

The new heart of East Berlin is taking shape around Alexanderplatz: Kino International and Café Moskau are almost complete. The café will treat its guests to original Russian dishes. Modern residential areas are also under construction in East Berlin, aiming to bring living standards up to the level of the West.

Everyday Life, Culture, East

01:21
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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

04:00
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November 04, 1989
Jan Josef Liefers 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. This is a recording of actor Jan Josef Liefers' speech on Alexanderplatz.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, Opposition, East

01:29
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July 01, 1990
Monetary union: Western marks for all

The economic, monetary and social union of West Germany and the GDR comes into force on 1 July 1990. The changes spell the end of the Eastern mark. GDR citizens finally have access to the Western mark, a long-time symbol of West German prosperity. Adults can change up to 4,000 Eastern marks at a rate of 1:1. For pensioners the maximum is 6,000. Savings in excess of those limits will be changed at a rate of 2:1. Wages and pensions are converted 1:1, and debts are halved. Brigitte Wnuck von Lipinski, landlady of Gittis Bierbar in Mitte, talks about the night before GDR money went out of circulation.

Contemporary Witnesses, Politics, West, East

01:53
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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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1969
The GDR's 20th anniversary

Presents to celebrate the Republic's birthday: the World Time Clock and the TV Tower on Alexanderplatz – at 368 metres, it is still Germany's tallest building today.

Contemporary Witnesses, Everyday Life, East

01:36
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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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