Derelict-UK
23-06-2011, 02:08 AM
I have uploaded some of our holiday snaps taken at the start of April 1990, just over 4 months after the Berlin Wall came down, thought I would post them here if anyone is interested.
We were there to visit my uncle and his family who were in the British Army, based near to the Olympic Stadium. He managed to get us to some places between the walls out of the tourist areas, still with both walls standing and untouched due to them being in the countryside parts of Berlin.
If you look closely at some of the images, you will see where the trip wires once lay in the sand also an East Berlin scout car doing its rounds although they no longer had a 'license to kill'.
It was a really wierd time, only a few months before, if you got even to touching distance of the wall from the east side, you would of been shot dead (hence the graffiti only on the west side) yet we were allowed to roam 'free' in no-man's land, East & West Berlin police were seen chatting and laughing with each other (you certainly wouldn't have seen that either!). Another good thing was the currency ratio from GBP to the East Berlin rate, you could dine out in luxurious 5 star hotels for pittance.
Anyway, enough of the babble, onto the pics, which btw I cannot take credit for this time round as I was only Six at the time so my parents were the ones behind the lens.
Please esxcuse the Perms & Fashion, it was 1990!! :D
Residential homes in the British Army base
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001761_7602.jpg
Group Shot (me on the left)
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001762_8227.jpg
Towards a traffic checkpoint
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001763_8893.jpg
Me in no-man's land
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001764_9423.jpg
Walking towards the Reichstag
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001765_9811.jpg
Some residents climbing from West to East
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001766_277.jpg
People chipping the West side to sell on to tourists
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001767_763.jpg
Me and my dad
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001768_1559.jpg
The Trabant was the only car available to East Berlin, there was the occasional Trabant van or estate, but thats as exciting as it got lol.
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001774_4401.jpg
Pictures for sale on the wall
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001769_2135.jpg
Looking through to an East Berlin watch tower
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001770_2818.jpg
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001771_3226.jpg
My Dad on the edge of West Berlin on the Glynicka(sp) Bridge, the Potsdam sign represents the start of the DDR (East Berlin)
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001772_3603.jpg
Me & my sister playing between the walls in the countryside area of Berlin, still untouched by wall chippers as the area was so far out, graffiti artists hardly bothered to tag the west wall.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001773_3998.jpg
An East Berlin Scout car doing its 'ghost round' they were still paid to drive around, so why not! They had no issues with us being there nor taking pictures of them.
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001775_4770.jpg
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001776_5163.jpg
Close-up, once again it is a converted Trabant car! (note the diagonal lines in the sand, my uncle explained to us that these were where trip wires once lay)
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001777_5537.jpg
Scout car going back into East Berlin
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001778_5921.jpg
Through the wall
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001779_6366.jpg
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001780_6867.jpg
A wooden lookout point
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001781_7271.jpg
An empty checkpoint, before the wall came down, these would of been packed every day.
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001782_7708.jpg
A memorial to those who were shot when trying to escape swimming through the river from East to West
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001783_8102.jpg
British (though might be French or American) tanks rolling through West Berlin
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001784_8546.jpg
The Stasi Headquarters (East Germany secret police)
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001785_8924.jpg
East & West Berlin guards talking with each other (fraternizing with the enemy;))
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001760_6847.jpg
A slide show of the above images with some music...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpllIFbXJnM
D-UK
We were there to visit my uncle and his family who were in the British Army, based near to the Olympic Stadium. He managed to get us to some places between the walls out of the tourist areas, still with both walls standing and untouched due to them being in the countryside parts of Berlin.
If you look closely at some of the images, you will see where the trip wires once lay in the sand also an East Berlin scout car doing its rounds although they no longer had a 'license to kill'.
It was a really wierd time, only a few months before, if you got even to touching distance of the wall from the east side, you would of been shot dead (hence the graffiti only on the west side) yet we were allowed to roam 'free' in no-man's land, East & West Berlin police were seen chatting and laughing with each other (you certainly wouldn't have seen that either!). Another good thing was the currency ratio from GBP to the East Berlin rate, you could dine out in luxurious 5 star hotels for pittance.
Anyway, enough of the babble, onto the pics, which btw I cannot take credit for this time round as I was only Six at the time so my parents were the ones behind the lens.
Please esxcuse the Perms & Fashion, it was 1990!! :D
Residential homes in the British Army base
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001761_7602.jpg
Group Shot (me on the left)
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001762_8227.jpg
Towards a traffic checkpoint
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001763_8893.jpg
Me in no-man's land
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001764_9423.jpg
Walking towards the Reichstag
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001765_9811.jpg
Some residents climbing from West to East
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001766_277.jpg
People chipping the West side to sell on to tourists
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001767_763.jpg
Me and my dad
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001768_1559.jpg
The Trabant was the only car available to East Berlin, there was the occasional Trabant van or estate, but thats as exciting as it got lol.
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001774_4401.jpg
Pictures for sale on the wall
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001769_2135.jpg
Looking through to an East Berlin watch tower
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001770_2818.jpg
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001771_3226.jpg
My Dad on the edge of West Berlin on the Glynicka(sp) Bridge, the Potsdam sign represents the start of the DDR (East Berlin)
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001772_3603.jpg
Me & my sister playing between the walls in the countryside area of Berlin, still untouched by wall chippers as the area was so far out, graffiti artists hardly bothered to tag the west wall.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001773_3998.jpg
An East Berlin Scout car doing its 'ghost round' they were still paid to drive around, so why not! They had no issues with us being there nor taking pictures of them.
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001775_4770.jpg
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001776_5163.jpg
Close-up, once again it is a converted Trabant car! (note the diagonal lines in the sand, my uncle explained to us that these were where trip wires once lay)
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001777_5537.jpg
Scout car going back into East Berlin
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001778_5921.jpg
Through the wall
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001779_6366.jpg
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001780_6867.jpg
A wooden lookout point
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001781_7271.jpg
An empty checkpoint, before the wall came down, these would of been packed every day.
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001782_7708.jpg
A memorial to those who were shot when trying to escape swimming through the river from East to West
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001783_8102.jpg
British (though might be French or American) tanks rolling through West Berlin
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001784_8546.jpg
The Stasi Headquarters (East Germany secret police)
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001785_8924.jpg
East & West Berlin guards talking with each other (fraternizing with the enemy;))
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v215/34/83/568980927/n568980927_1001760_6847.jpg
A slide show of the above images with some music...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpllIFbXJnM
D-UK