Berlin 1981: A Tale of Two Cities - A Contrast of East and West Berlin
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- Опубліковано 20 лют 2014
- This video takes us back to 1981, when the Berlin Wall was still standing and the city was divided into East and West. We get a glimpse of life in both parts of the city, with stark contrasts between the two. The footage shows the bustling streets of West Berlin, with its vibrant culture and modern architecture, while East Berlin appears gray and austere, with Soviet-style buildings and a lack of modern amenities. This video is a fascinating look back at a time when the world was divided by the Cold War, and Berlin was at the center of it all.
First part is in West Berlin, second East. My grandparents used to live there before and during the war, and came back to visit their old house, among other things. It's a different city in many respects, but i'm glad there is this record of the time then.
For footage lincesing inquiries, contact request@bridgemanimages.com
My husband was stationed In Berlin 1986-90. What an honor it was to be a part of the Berlin Brigade family. It was our best tour, loaded with history, friends & cultural exchanges.
Danke Deutschland, Danke Berlin
please let your husband know that we thank him for service - it was essential and keeping West Berlin free.
I was stationed there, Andrew's Kaserne 1981-1983 loved the place, the people, and had a great time. I wish to go back and visit one day
Gute alte Zeit. Keine Graffitis, wenig Kriminalität, man fühlte sich sicher, der KOB ging regelmässig Streife, abends und Nachts konnte man unbeschwert durch das Nachtleben ziehen, ohne überfallen oder abgestochen zu werden. Meine Jugend! Danke fürs Upload
MrRacermike1967...Sie reden echten Stuß, niemand mochte die Kobs, auch heute kann man Tag und Nacht sicher unterwegs sein!
@@saucerfull1 "sicher unterwegs" - wirklich?
Gehen Sie doch mal nachts um zwei am Kottbusser Tor oder im Görlitzer Park spazieren.
@@Kentokkil ...das tue ich ganz oft, obwohl ich dort nicht wohne. Nie ist mir dort auch nur annähernd was Böses gesagt worden, noch das mich jemand anging, auch die schwarzen Dealer sind harmlos. Im Gegenteil die Leute sind desinteressiert oder Freundlich!
Sie haben sich die Falsche ausgesucht, um sich mit "Wissen" zu brüsken. Auch wenn ich die Zustände dort nicht gut heiße, diese Dealer wären sicher auch lieber bei ihren Familien.
@@saucerfull1 Nun, ich "brüske" mich nicht. - Ich kenne die Gegend seit 1976.
@@Kentokkil ...ich aber auch, seit 1974 und nun!!!
I was a Army medic stationed in Berlin in 1981. This is the city as I knew it. Love watching this.
This is awesome to see as an adult. My dad was stationed there from 77 to 80. I was 7 when i left but still remember this.
bear dulin Dang, lol, I was 9,smh.
@@thegotoguy100 i dident exist yet hehe
@@Aroncare we lived in Berlin as well during that time! i went to the German/American kindergarten! i remember it faintly
Yes, were great times. I, was born in West-Berlin and never had the feeling of beeing unsave with the allies in Berlin.
Even when it was a nice sunny day, East Berlin was still gray. ☹️
The east literally did not have the ingredients to make bright coloured paints
you dumbass, it's evident that the East is shown in the early morning hence bleak colors and rare passersby. or you thought that was the place devoid of people since they had all been sent to gulag? moron
Trabi Auspuff !!
You could always feel how poor and dirty East Berlin was. The properties were in a dreadful state.
grey was definitely the East’s favorite color
When the camera turned to the direction of the Brandenburger Tor, my heart skipped a beat. Still brought back an unsettling feeling.
yes, crazy to think that there was an actual wall between two parts of the same city - a wall between worlds, really.
I spent 6 months in Berlin, 1983-84. I studied basic German at the Goethe Institute. What great memories. The local people were so friendly.
glad to hear your memories are good ones! i live in berlin now
Amazing to see how clean the streets were back then...
I was stationed at the British Military Hospital 1982-1984, this is the Berlin that I remember..
Thanks for this. This is exactly when I lived there, late 81 to Sept 82. Some pretty awesome childhood memories.
That’s amazing to hear! You’re not the first and I love the people find their old neighborhoods in this movie…
I was there then bro, 42nd Engineers Andrew's Kaserne loved the place then and still do.
The film shows vividly the contrast between the East and West. To distinguish the 2, all you have to look at are the cars. In the first part you see Volkswagens, BMWs, Mercedes, and a host of autos imported from NATO countries. Once you cross over, you see mostly Trabants spewing a bluish cloud of smoke. Another thing, it seems like the West has a lot of color and foliage. Once you cross Checkpoint Charlie, it looks monochromatic and hazy. I'll say this for the East. That changing of the guard sure was impressive. Plus there was a lot of good history to see in the East. Thanks for sharing.
I completely agree, the western streets are much more crowded, living, and also there is a Douglas shop at 0.53. :)
That was simply not possible und permitted only to a limited extend. As I understood all packages and presents were checked with heavy scrutiny, either on the border or through postal services. Western relatives always sent pakets and present with Western good to their Eastern relatives, mainly for christmas and easter, with coffee and other food cans, which were of minor Quality in the East. Especially coffee, a highly sought after "drug", as the government had to spend Western currency for purchase from other countries. Western currency in possession of Eastern people had to be declared to the officials before it could be exchanged in the so called "Inter-Shops", where Western goods (i.e. Camel & Marlboro cigarettes...) were offered for purchase with Western currency. I very well remember buying a paket of Marlboro for 2,60 DM in the Intershop which was in Eastern Berlin in the Mitropa Hotel.
eren mori - So, let me see... Because the DDR officials made it difficult for you to send chocolate or coffee or cars to your poor relatives in the DDR, you are a "Nazi"... Of course! Makes perfect sense! LOL.
jlh4jc Not to mention Germany was literally destroyed after the Second World War, don’t expect it to look nice...
Capitalism / socialism 😉
Many memories...i spent a couple of weeks in GDR in 1988..very clean..well educated people..but some discontentedness were slightly evident...the rest is History...a world that no longer exists...regards..
I was there! December 1981-December 1983, U.S.Army Andrews Kaserne. I still love the place and the German people
thank you for your service!
Berlin would be Russian without it 🇺🇸
visited the DDR a couple of times before unification on my motorbike. It was such an amazing experience. East Berlin, very grey and depressing and the heavy stink of the 2 stroke exhaust fumes from all the vehicles. We also visited Dresden, Leipzig and Meissen.
interesting, thanks for sharing your experience! I’m only seeing this comment now for some reason… 🤨
Funny how colorful all the cars were then. Who would buy a red or green car nowadays?
I hate modern cars... all grey\black or white and they all look the same.
Old cars were a lot more stylish.
Red: best color for a sportscar. GtA V comes to my mind
Got one of each colour ...
The possibility to buy a colorfull car was very important for the individualism back then
There are many red cars on todays roads.
The damage in East Berlin is still plainly evident on some of the classical buildings in these shots. To see this same area today is to see a frenetic sea of scaffolding, rebuild and construction. The video makes the city look very gloomy on both sides. Berlin is a lot more vibrant these days without these constraints on it by wartime victors. Interesting to look back on this period, but I am so glad it is consigned to the dustbin of history.
indeed… interesting to look at in the rearview mirror, but today’s Berlin is definitely a lot more colorful
In TCA 1986-1988, city will never be the same. Such an interesting place at the time, the epicenter of intrigue.
those must have been interesting days indeed
My mothers cousin Brigitte Wollner is German (actress, you’d see the authentic Germany in most euro films back in the day). and back in the early 80s, Germany was one iconic country known for its old run down huge buildings, with punk, with class , blah blah blah. She (the old age) and people who grew up back then knew Germany was developing, but it was never really poor as people assume after ww2. Many Italian films were also filmed there because of Germany’s distinguished individuality (run down beauty- GORGEOUS GORGEOUS BUILDINGS)
thank you for this slice of history!
very nice to come across this.
in spring 1981 i spent about a week visiting both east and west berlin.
oh wow - did you spot yourself in the footage? 😃
4:43 you captured my favorite car : ) my father owns a 1982 model back in the states, neat to see one on the streets of Berlin back when it was new - thanks for that !
sweet! I’m glad you were able to find it in that little film 😊
Wow man. I grew up here in West TN and would see this so often on TV. My dad would always remind me how lucky we were to not be like the poor people and the soldiers. So glad it ended and those folks are not separated anymore. Real strong people there no doubt.
well and we have the USA to thank, too, for their resolve…
Die Autos von damals hatten noch Charakter
Das hatten die damals von den "Autos von damals" auch schon behauptet...
lived in western-berlin from 1954 to 1981, went to school and art-academie, hot time about 1961 when they closed the frontier, stud only 10 meter away from eastern soldiers.
peyrambert andré wow! And where do you live now?
@@pt3085 since 1981 near Valence in southern France.
peyrambert andré very interesting story. History of Berlin is very cinematic. I hope once to see this in a movie.
Now people’s stories seem to be more interesting than a movie.
It’s not so easy to get that all we take now for granted was completely impossible for many people 30 years ago.
Was there in 1980 .. West Berlin was wonderful East so depressing and gray (dirty).
Was also surprised how smooth the border control was..
It is very informative, thank you
At 05:01 it looks like Invalidenstraße checkpoint
05:29 Unter der Linden
05:37 Brandenburger Tor
05:55 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
06:07 Die Neue Wache, Berlinerdom, Zeughaus
06:19 St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale
07:15 Staatsratsgebäude
07:28 Leipziger Straße
08:02 Treptower Park
thanks for the timed geotags!
@@storiestellr Yes, of course--thank you for posting video!
Danke fur die kleine ZeitReise.
Guten Abend"
beautiul footage, Thanks for sharing it
thank you! yes my grandparents were good at this….
Despite the lack of sound, Super 8 really has some suburb quality!!!
+Alexander Ryan hey, thx... yes the movies hold a lot of information, but granted - this was a really good, professional scan job... costs some dough, but worth it
I am grateful for videos like this , capturing moments in time from another era, many thanks
About 2 seconds in shows the exact area where I was living in 81 - just off the Ku dam - great times, used to cross to the east when bored and try not to get arrested.
haha good times, I bet 😜
How do you get back? If you go over the wall won't the East German soldiers shoot you？
I was there in 1980/81 in the Quartier Napoleon opposite Tegel Airport
And I can't remember it was so grey !!
wow… crazy - and yes it was!
sehr schönes Video. Danke.... man vergisst wie es war und hat es irgendwie schöner in Erinnerung, aber es war schon teilweise ganz schön abgerissen....
This presentation is very well done but seems slanted to follow the high-level events without really addressing the meaning, and primary issues of that conflict. There were citizens of every stripe, on both sides, engaged in these confrontations.
I was fortunate (and honored) to serve under President Reagan as a Senior NCO in the US Army, stationed in the occupied city of West Berlin from 1981 to 1984. The Cold War was at its peak then, mostly as a clear confrontation between NATO (commercial west) and the Warsaw Pact (communist east). President Reagan made his first official visit to West Berlin in June of 1982 and spoke initially to those of us in the Allied military forces stationed there. This was long before his famous ‘Wall’ speech.
Membership in NATO was formed from western allies voluntarily. Membership in Warsaw Pact was formed, and enforced by Soviet forces, in countries they invaded during World War II. Any country that tried to leave the Warsaw Pact because of freedom movements (East Germany (DDR) / Hungary / Czechoslovakia) faced violent suppression by the Soviet forces. The members of the Warsaw Pact were not the comrades as the PR often claim. It appeared similar events would happen in Poland during the 1980’s.
We were able to see the evils of communism everyday in the DDR. Oftentimes in areas just across the street or closer. Escape attempts and bloody retribution were pretty common occurrences with blatant and often loud results. Everyone on that side suffered in some form or other from food shortages to constant brutality.
I was attached to the Military Intelligence (MI) Detachment as an interrogator tasked with interviewing defectors (Border Guard / Military) and refugees (civilians) from all of the various Pact countries. They were fleeing similar oppression with many vivid stories of their own. We had an almost constant flow during my time there.
We were especially concerned about events in Poland as the Solidarity Union disturbances were watched closely by the Soviet seniors. During one of my 1983 interviews with a Polish officer who had defected; I asked him what would happen if the Pact forces invaded Poland to suppress the activities… … would the Polish military fight or not. His answer was both humorous and cynical. He said:
“Your question presents a very serious issue for Polish soldiers to answer; do we do our duty to the people and country by shooting Russians? Or do we enjoy ourselves by shooting Germans? No more invasions.”
We were pretty certain something was coming soon by that time; just not sure if we would become radioactive dust or the Soviet Union would collapse.
I am surprised it took until 1989 for the Wall to actually come down.
Regards
Al Martin thank you for this insightful commentary & background info. Heady times, to be sure, and you got to see it from a perspective very few people got to witness - interesting input! Greetings from Berlin...
Spent a summer in Germany 1981. Most of it in W. Berlin but I visited the East two times. The differences were just as the video shows. East was gray, far less cars and the vibe wasn't good at all.
The spontaneity of the west vs. the reserved , self possessed east . The streets in the east had no litter . They got that part right .
it was kinda grim. and above all: grey.
Gerade die waren meine Zeiten in West- und Ost-Berlin (1980-82)
Bin 81 in west berlin geboren kult das mal zu sehen
Mannomann!! Tolle Aufnahmen aus meiner Geburtsstadt. In dieser Stadt kenn‘ ich mich aus…!
danke! (sehe deinen Kommentar komischerweise erst jetzt). Viele Grüße aus Berlin!
4:57 Looks like the Invalidenstrasse checkpoint? But visitors could not use it, it was for West Berlin residents only _unless_ you were on a tour bus. So was it a tour bus?
Very nice danke a lot
Que bonito autobús el diseño del neoplan cityliner no sabía que ya existía desde esas fechas.
they go way back
Loved it
thx!
Thanks for the video! Where did your grandparents move after the war?
Ctpx7 they moved to the countryside near Hanover. I actually just read their account of fleeing at the end of the war, literally on the last train out. Harrowing stuff.
This is fantastic! What camera and film was used for this?
Super-8-Filmmaterial: Bestimmt Kodachrome. Kamera: Keine Ahnung, es gab und gibt so viele... Wenn ich raten müsste, dann hätte ich gesagt eine von Nizo.
No sound?
danke!! mein berlin damals!! :-) und heute ?! :-(
plokfok heute isses auch noch ganz nett - bis auf die hässlichen Einkaufszentren usw..
Question: Bus lines on the Streets in the early eighties?
I also thought that they were installed later but then I looked it up at Wikipedia and they say that Berlin had bus lanes since the 1970ies
Great film! Is this in the public domain? Would I be able to use it?
Hi Miriam, thanks! No it isn’t in the public domain. What would you like to use it for?
Gerrit Sievert just for an art installation for a private event. I wouldn’t multiply or upload it anywhere. It would just be screened with your credits for an art installation about the Mauerfall and Einheit.
Miriam Karout wanna send me an email at gsievert %gmail?
It was really interesting time...Each country had it s own face....Not like now-the same marks, nets, symbols...
West-Berlin: SETRA-buses. East-Berlin: Ikarus-buses, which were also good, but due to the lack of maintenance they got ruined quickly.
We still use Ikarus buses in my city :)
Hello Gerrit, I'm a film researcher/archivist based, and I'm wondering if you have an email address I can contact with regards this piece (and your other super8)??? thanks. alex.
Hi Alex, my email is gsievert @ the email from this largeish search engine
@@storiestellr thanks!
Danke für die Aufnahmen, in West- Berlin ist der Himmel deutlich heller, in Ostberlin scheint ueber dem Himmel eine Smogwolke zu hängen.
Chris Mas...das schien nicht nur so!
Nun war das auch im Winter gedreht... da sind Dunst und Bewölkung nun nicht ganz auszuschließen.
Its amazing how colorful and bright the west is and how dull and gloomy the east is its sad that Germany was divided and couldn't be given to all allied countries
How do you think Nazi capital should look like? Soviet Union thought about German people as about animals those years
Even nowadays we write "To Berlin " on our tanks and rockets
@@urbanwanderer1534
Except now Berlin has to Moscow written on their Nato rockets and tanks.
What the communist Soviet Union did to East Germans was evil and every bit as barbaric as what some nazis did to Russia you slavs got away with your crimes because you were "allies" with US /Britain/france but Rußland has no moral high ground to stand on.
Interessante Bilder. Westberlin war damals wirklich deutlich schöner als der Osten. Man muss fairerweise sagen, das mit dem Kudamm überwiegend eine Prachtstrasse des Westens gezeigt wurde, wo schon tolle Autos fuhren und die Menschen gut gekleidet waren.
guter Punkt; allerdings wurde ja auch Unter den Linden gezeigt, und es sieht trostlos aus. Aber generell sah es natürlich in Charlottenburg (im Film) besser aus als in Neukölln in 1981, stimmt schon.
@@storiestellr Stimmt, wobei es im Westen auch einige Gegenden gab, wo sich seit dem Kriegsende nicht so viel getan hatte. Aber in der DDR sah alles etwas trostloser aus, auch die guten Gegenden. Lag unter anderem an dem Baustil sowie den völlig anderen Autos, die Leute waren auch anders gekleidet.
a difference between cars in capitalist and socialist parts of Berlin is mindblowing
4.44 Porsche 928S!
says it all…
Was East Berlin always that dark and foggy?
The film is made in late december and because of the two stroke smoke of the cars the East was always a bit more smoky :)
Andy Hanovera - And the brown coal. Always had a peculiar stink to it. And the stink wafted across the wall to West Berlin.
That happens when you sit in a bus with darkned windows.
It was dark and foggy because the videographer timed the visit perfectly to make it look gross to discredit socialism.
@@freshnessfordays2828 Socialism does a splendid job of discrediting itself, it needs no help from anybody. Venezuela a prime example these days!
Großartig!!!!
danke 🤩
Why there was a smog in East Berlin 🤔 ? Heavy industrial complex?
that, plus dirty cars, no regard for the environment, etc.
Heute gefällt mir die Stadt besser.
Bismarck Allee?!
Wow,just look at that.how big is the difference between West and East Berlin.one side is vibrant,while the other side is gloomy.
0:58 amazing Alfa GTV6
#legend
The first part...Christmas music. The Second Part...Eleanor Rigby.
😂😄 nailed it!
Same year of Christiane F movie.
mind blown! 🤯
Ich war 1987 in Ost-Berlin und habe es als einen grauen, depressiven Scheisshaufen in Erinnerung. West-Berlin hingegen war das pralle bunten Leben.
🤝 ich auch, mit der 11B 😅
Obwohl, Kino International für 1 Mark war schon ganz cool
Ja. Und jetzt erst ist es noch viel viel bunter.
isso
Das war noch vor der Islamisierung. Leider sind diese Zeiten vorbei.
If the cars of the West ,would be transfered to the East,the West would look poor, and the East rich.
And the unmaintained buildings?
oops ;)
1981/03/18 then I was born .....old enough to recall the fall of the 🧱 🧱 and communist🤷⏰️ regime 👋
haha nice! i was 16 or so… good times!
Ist mir zu unscharf
das ist 40 Jahre alter Super 8 Film…
Keine flüchtlinge die Leute beklauen wenn auch vereinzelt
Und keine AfD Wähler, die solchen Stuss verzapfen...