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View Full Version : Berlin & Inside No-Mans Land - 1990



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

Tankman
23-06-2011, 05:31 AM
Thanks for this, truly a unique moment just after the wall came down:thumb I wonder what its like now in the same locations? Most of that land I would imagine has been built on.

Krypton
23-06-2011, 08:38 AM
I was lucky enough to visit Berlin last year it is totally unrecogniseable in someparts, however i can recognise many parts from DerUK's photos. I'm sure he wont wont mind me hijacking the thread and sticking some up of what it is like now...

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/34677_1470692923644_1123254504_1372336_1300617_n.j pg
Small thigs like this remain tucked between two skycrapers. Many people arnt bothered about the history. The same goes for the watchtower below.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/34117_1470693163650_1123254504_1372337_4210703_n.j pg
Uncared for and left just how it was.

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/34597_1470693843667_1123254504_1372341_7098468_n.j pg
Graffiti, especially political is now encouraged on any space of free wall.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/35377_1470694603686_1123254504_1372350_1013756_n.j pg
This is opposite the olympic stadium and near the old Stasi Headquaters.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/34607_1470700363830_1123254504_1372396_5352209_n.j pg
This bridge was blown up by the East German governement but was rebuilt some time in the 1990's.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/28284_1470714524184_1123254504_1372503_3703719_n.j pg
A small museum in an old West German Cinema showing various objects


http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/20869_1470711604111_1123254504_1372476_6965711_n.j pg
The Gate used to have the wall running directly behind it (or through it i cant remember).

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/35851_1470712564135_1123254504_1372485_6414208_n.j pg
Areas that were once buldozed have been totally rebuilt. All these buildings are new. Thats the one where Michael Jackson hung his baby over the balcony.



Sorry about pics you dont get much time on a school trip lol


DerUK, your pictures are fantastic and really do show what life was like at the time.

Nicola
23-06-2011, 09:36 AM
What a cracking insight into a defining moment in time...:thumb

Derelict-UK
23-06-2011, 10:11 AM
No problem Krypton, me and my mate are going over to Germany in August, I intend on doing a bit of sight seeing myself (in between the bunkers/factories/death strips etc)

Krypton
23-06-2011, 02:40 PM
I really wish i'd have had more chance to explore in Berlin - there looked so much old stuff to do but it just wasnt the right opportunity!

mr beardy
23-06-2011, 06:04 PM
brilliant photos :thumb

joybee
23-06-2011, 06:43 PM
That's excellent :thumb

SaltGeorge
25-06-2011, 12:51 PM
Very nice shots, it's good to see some period images from Berlin. We've been taking our holiday there and meetign friends for the last three years and still not seen everything we want to see.

The building labelled as the "Stasi headquarters" is really the Haus des Lehrers (House of Teachers) and built as a meeting place for teachers and educators. It's just off Alexanderplatz and you might catch a glimpse of it in the Bourne films if the camera pans around that way.

There's very little of the wall left now, although the foundations can be traced via a bronze strip set into the pavement/roads where it passed. The iconic graffiti (including the Brezhnev/Honecker kiss) is on a short stretch (the East Side Gallery) by the Oberbaumbrücke. These peices of grafitti have become rather clinical of late, they were pretty much invitation pieces and in the last two years have been repainted to repair damage. The repairs were still ongoing last year, and I wouldn't be surpised if they were all going to be top-coated with anti-grafitti paint - the irony.. But grafitti is still a vibrant artform and there are plenty of good pieces around the city.

The apartment block with the Trabbies in front, I think I know where that is. I'll need to check back through some photos on the hdd to be sure.

The Glienicker Brücke is iconic, but due to a quirk of the division between West Berlin and East Germany you actually walk east to enter West Berlin when crossing the bridge.. ..

freebird
25-06-2011, 03:11 PM
Great to see the old and the new. It's so interesting. :thumb

lankylad
29-06-2011, 10:26 PM
Wow - great comparison! :) I'm going to Berlin in February so will try and get some pics (if I have a camera by then!).