Posted: 2/20/2010 12:37:54 PM EDT
I had the opportunity to visit Germany right before, and right after, reunification. I was working for Volkswagen at the time. Just north of the main VW factory in Wolfsburg is a small town called Zicherie. The town was divided by the wall which once separated East and West Germany. I took some before-and-after pictures.
Here is no-man's land looking east from Zicherie. Yes, that's an East German guard tower. No, it's not there to keep the West Germans out. I waved at the VOPO in the guard tower after I took this picture. He didn't wave back. He didn't shoot, either. 
Here is the same view after East Germany joined the Soviet Union on "the ash-heap of history", as President Reagan said. 
in 1989, the town was still divided. No-man's land was about 1000 meters wide, as I remember it. . 
This picture, from about the same place, shows the road re-opened in 1991. The engraving on the big rock reads "Deutschland ist Unteilbar" ("Germany is indivisible"). What a fitting place for that statement. In the background it is possible to see remnants of the wall, a perfect monument to yet another failed socialist workers' paradise. |
I was stationed in Bitburg GE from 1989 to 1993. I made the trip to Berlin in Sep or Nov.....the demonstrations were going on, and total strangers were walking up to hug US service members. I knew that I had made the right decision to join the military only a year after Basic. The feelings from those heady times were what kept me going throughout the Klinton draw-downs and endless middle east deployments.
(I'm really not bowlegged––-I was leaning against the wall. Too much obst that night 
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I was stationed in Bitburg GE from 1989 to 1993. I made the trip to Berlin in Sep or Nov.....the demonstrations were going on, and total strangers were walking up to hug US service members. I knew that I had made the right decision to join the military only a year after Basic. The feelings from those heady times were what kept me going throughout the Klinton draw-downs and endless middle east deployments. http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w19/Colt45guy/CheckpointCharlie.jpg http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w19/Colt45guy/TheWall.jpg http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w19/Colt45guy/meatthewall.jpg (I'm really not bowlegged––-I was leaning against the wall. Too much obst that night Those pics of Check Point Charlie bring back memories when I was there. I"ll try and get what pics I have scanned and start a thread soon. |
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I was stationed in Bitburg GE from 1989 to 1993. I made the trip to Berlin in Sep or Nov.....the demonstrations were going on, and total strangers were walking up to hug US service members. I knew that I had made the right decision to join the military only a year after Basic. The feelings from those heady times were what kept me going throughout the Klinton draw-downs and endless middle east deployments. They were exciting times. I was fortunate to be in Germany when some of it was going on. There was an amazing flea market of East German military surplus when I was there in '91. It was spread out on tables, tarps and the street right around the Brandenburg Gate. And let me be the first to say, thank you for your service! |
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looking forward to seeing 'em! I have about 50 pics of Templehof and a few from the 'other side'.....all the pics from E. Berlin came out all dark and forbidding––like pics of the Death Star or something. We had to wear our dress uniforms to cross, so we stood out even more than usual. (any American who has gone to Europe knows what I mean––even without being loud, we still stand out)
Let me tell ya––-crossing the border into East Germany was like crossing from reality into Bizarro Wurld. Nobody on the street would talk to us––in English or German. Hell, nobody on the street would so much as make eye contact with us. First time in my life, I think I understood how a black man might feel in a white neighborhood. We finally found a store and tried to buy some vodka.....they had almost nothing on the shelves but there was a line to get in. Tried to find a bar....none were open that we could find, so we went to a restaurant on top of some big black building. Found out it was supposedly the only 5 star eatery in E. Berlin––damn good eats! Ate venison, quail egg soup, hossenpheffer (rabbit) and drank some tea. The bill for 2 of us came to less than $20 US and we were literally the only ones in the place. We left the restaurant before 8 PM and the streets were deserted. We just hightailed back to Checkpoint Charlie and went home. Just think––-a couple more years of Hope and Change, and that's what we'll have here 
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I was stationed in Bitburg GE from 1989 to 1993. I made the trip to Berlin in Sep or Nov.....the demonstrations were going on, and total strangers were walking up to hug US service members. I knew that I had made the right decision to join the military only a year after Basic. The feelings from those heady times were what kept me going throughout the Klinton draw-downs and endless middle east deployments. They were exciting times. I was fortunate to be in Germany when some of it was going on. There was an amazing flea market of East German military surplus when I was there in '91. It was spread out on tables, tarps and the street right around the Brandenburg Gate. And let me be the first to say, thank you for your service! No thanks necessary among friends, but very appreciated  Thank YOU for posting––-looking through my old pics has brought back a lot of memories
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Quoted:
looking forward to seeing 'em! I have about 50 pics of Templehof and a few from the 'other side'.....all the pics from E. Berlin came out all dark and forbidding––like pics of the Death Star or something. We had to wear our dress uniforms to cross, so we stood out even more than usual. (any American who has gone to Europe knows what I mean––even without being loud, we still stand out) Let me tell ya––-crossing the border into East Germany was like crossing from reality into Bizarro Wurld. Nobody on the street would talk to us––in English or German. Hell, nobody on the street would so much as make eye contact with us. First time in my life, I think I understood how a black man might feel in a white neighborhood. We finally found a store and tried to buy some vodka.....they had almost nothing on the shelves but there was a line to get in. Tried to find a bar....none were open that we could find, so we went to a restaurant on top of some big black building. Found out it was supposedly the only 5 star eatery in E. Berlin––damn good eats! Ate venison, quail egg soup, hossenpheffer (rabbit) and drank some tea. The bill for 2 of us came to less than $20 US and we were literally the only ones in the place. We left the restaurant before 8 PM and the streets were deserted. We just hightailed back to Checkpoint Charlie and went home. Just think––-a couple more years of Hope and Change, and that's what we'll have here By chance, was the restaurant called Ganymed? http://www.ganymed-brasserie.de/pages/ganymednbsp/history.php |