Tag: 25 Jahre Mauerfall

  • Sunday at Bernauer Straße

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    This time 25 years ago probably nobody knew what would happen that evening and night. I still remember my aunt calling from Berlin and telling us the exciting news. And I remember hiding behind the couch while my parents were glued to the TV as it was way behind my bedtime and I didn´t want to miss anything!

    It´s already been an exciting summer: my grandparents lived in a little village in Burgenland, right next to the hungarian border. When visiting them I was used to wave at the hungarian soldiers in their lookout towers and be careful not to cross (or got too close to) the borders. This spring, summer I loved to hear the “tales” of all the (former east) germans secretly crossing the borders from Hungary to Austria, being found by the locals somewhere in the fields, the vineyards or in the city center looking for a way to get to Vienna and the (west) german embassy. And then there was the “Paneuropean Picnic” with open borders for some hours until Hungary finally opened their frontiers for good and lines of Trabbis made their way through Austria to (west) Germany.

    25 years later 8000 glowing balloons recreate the route of the Berlin Wall. Unfortunately I won’t see the Lichtergrenze as I´m not in Berlin but I took a walk along Bernauer Straße on a sunday in October.

    The wall ran along the street and it became “famous” for escapes from windows of apartment blocks in the eastern part of the city, down to the street, which was in the West until the buildings were first sealed up and later demolished.

    In 1998 a memorial and documentation center was erected.

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  • Prenzlauer Berg

    After a nice afternoon at Mauerpark I took a walk trough Prenzlauer Berg.

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  • Hohenschönhausen

    While in Berlin I took a ride on the tram to the Hohenschönhausen memorial, the former prison complex of the former East German Communist Ministry of State Security, the Stasi.

    After World War II the Soviet Secret Police took over the Hohenschönhausen area of Lichtenberg and transformed it into a detainment and transit camp, over 20.000 people passed though on their way to other Soviet camps until it was closed in 1946. In 1951 the Stasi reopened the prison and erected new buildings using the work force of the imprisoned. After the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the prison was used to house those who wished or attempted to leave the GDR and for  political prisoners. It was used until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and officially closed on October 3, 1990.

    In the early 1990s former prisoners founded the memorial and they still offer guided tours by former inmates.

    Since the vast majority of the buildings, equipment and furniture and fittings have survived intact, the Memorial provides a very authentic picture of prison conditions in the GDR. The Memorial’s location in Germany’s capital city makes it the key site in Germany for victims of communist tyranny. (quote)

    Read more about the history of Hohenschönhausen on the memorial website!

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    It´s a huge and still haunting complex. Being there I felt quite impressed by the work of all the people conserving this dark side of history.
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