November ’89 Berlin
During the 1980s I talked to German colleagues about Berlin, the Cold War and what might happen there.
I was being drawn towards producing a career defining documentary about “Divided Cities.” Belfast and Berlin shared similar characteristics; their segregation Walls representing the visible consequences of political and social policies.
Wall is Breached at Potsdamer Platz 1989
East German Border Guard at Unter Den Linden
House Gate East Berlin
Dortheen strasse
East German police patrol the Berlin Wall near the Reichstag as seen from East Berlin at Leipziger Platz and Ebertstraße 12th November 1989
The Wall, (Berliner Mauer) was Constructed by the German Democratic Republic and officially referred to as the Anti-Fascist Protection rampart ( Antifaschistischer Schutzwall).
It was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 13 August 1961 to 11th November 1989.
The Friedrich Engels Guards Regiment conduct the NVA’s “Great Wachaufzug” on the Unter Den Linden November 11th 1989
Looking beyond the Brandenburg Gate days after the Wall was breached on November 9th 1989
Sightseers pictured on the Unter Den Linden at the Brandenburg Tor during the fall of the Berlin Wall
Memorial to Chris Geoffroy, the last person to be shot trying to escape across the Berlin Wall
The Friedrich Engels Guards Regiment conduct the NVA’s “Great Wachaufzug” on the Unter Den Linden November 11th 1989
Sightseers watch the Friedrich Engels Guards Regiment conduct the NVA’s “Great Wachaufzug” on the Unter Den Linden November 11th 1989
A GDR official hands out visas to East Berliners during the fall of the Wall 14th November 1989.The GDR, Deutsche Demokratische Republik, ended shortly after the event which also ended the Cold war.
Berliners filling in visa applications in order to cross over to the West.
Potsdamer Platz became one of the earliest locations where the Wall was “breached” to create a new border crossing between East and West Berlin. The crossing began operating on 11 November 1989
The Wall near Bernauer Strasse
East German police patrol the streets near to the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall as seen from Zimmerstraße 17th November 1989 West Berlin.
Invaliden and Chaussee strasse
Friedrichstrasse Station
Egon Schultz Strasse got its name from a famous incident when a 21 yr old border guard of the same name, was killed in the line of duty.
The Wall separates the French and Soviet sector
This tunnel later became famous as “Tunnel 57,” referring to the number of people who had succeeded in escaping through it the nights of October 3rd and October 4th 1964.
On October 4th 1964 while investigating the house near the wall, two Stasi agents were mistaken as fugitive escapees by two members of the tunnel operation.
The Stasi agents concocted a story, claimed they had to fetch a friend who had just been released from custody and bring him to the house. They returned with Schultz to arrest the escapees.
Schultz was shot in the gun battle and later died from his wounds.
The Leipziger Strasse. Like most children at that time, whose curiosity for cameras over ruled any shyness; they stopped and posed without being asked.
East Germans head west through a GDR checkpoint
Shopping for pieces of the Wall
Cafe Alder beside Checkpoint Charlie was used by spies and featured in films about the Cold war
The last official ceremony of the Great Wachaufzug before the end of the GDR three weeks later.
Russians at the WW11 memorial to the Red Army dead in Treptow Park
Russians at the WW11 memorial to the Red Army dead in Treptow Park
The Friedrich Engels Guards Regiment conduct the NVA’s last “Great Wachaufzug” on the Unter Den Linden November 11th 1989
The Grand Hotel Friedrichstraße, East Berlin, during the fall of the Berlin Wall 13th November 1989. The hotel was a flagship for the GDR and opened in 1987.
The GDR Palace of the Republic, in East Berlin. It was eventually demolished under protest from East Germans.
CONTACT
Get in touch on: martin.nangle@rocketmail.com or +44 (0) 7 56 55 49 557