As a young man in Germany, my first visit to Berlin was in March 1964. At this time, you could still see some bombed buildings from 2nd world war. The most impressive site was Bernauer Strasse =Street. Houses with 5 floors were East Berlin. The walk way was West Berlin. Along the walk way have been crosses of people which jumped from the roof into theit dead before they have been taking prisoners from the guards. Many made it because they have been discovered from the West Berlin fire Department and jumped in a kind of trampoline. Their was also a high platform maybe 20 ft to take a look at the other side. Later all houses at the Bernauer Strasse have been demolished.
I was stationed in West Berlin in 1979-1981. I never thought i would see the wall come down, you really experienced history. We went to the building where the surrender of WW2 was signed, the second one. It was a KGB listening post in the basement. We also went to the Soviet war memorial, the large shapes at the entrance were covered in marble removed from Hitler's bunker. This brings back a lot of memories, thanks for posting it.
…At the end the Germans themselves are realizing who are their real enemies, the same criminals who are occupying their territory since 1945 and blowing up their future prosperity and becoming more dependent of their masters Energy sources and establishing the Morgenthau Plan and their desindustrialización and going back to the glory days of the Weimar Republic…🫵🏼🐖💨🇩🇪🇺🇸💩🇪🇺
I lived in West Berlin in the 70's as a kid as my father was posted there as a member of the British Forces. Yes I was an Army brat!! Those sites are still very familiar to me even all those years later. I also visited East Berlin as well. Brings back memories but as a kid I didn't really fully understand the historical and the political implications of The Berlin wall. I remember several times my father was called out from home on alert all but one of those was a practice alert. That one was a standby alert (for about two days) due to some event unknown to me or my family. To this day my father never knew what it was about. He was a Telecoms Tech with the REME attached to a tank regiment (4RTR I think).
Oh wow, same here...As a kid experiencing this, I knew what was happening was important, but I didn't fully understand the historical impact until years later.
@@darkWorkOne Yep same. I recognise Checkpoint Charlie. Went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum on a school trip. I remember the Lipstick and Powder Puff church with the broken church next to it. Brandenburg gate of course. Unless I was mistaken there was a place called Peacock Island someplace that had tons of peacock on it. All those places seem as real as it was last week to me.
@@M2M-matt Pfaueninsel or Peacock Island lay on the Wannsee (lake), it lay just inside Berlin (West), as you correctly stated it was inhabited by many Peacocks. My uncle was stationed at RAF Gatow. I once took a tour on the ferry from Kladow to see the island.
@@Steve14ps Ah yes that's it the Wannsee lake. Thanks for that. Great memories! I just remember being fascinated by these Peacocks. I also remember RAF Gatow as I think I went to a school there on the base. I could be wrong about that though. It just rings some bells. I got a rough memory of an old collection of building for my school and going though some barriers and gates to get to it. This would have been mid 70's. I didn't like school much so my memory might be blocking some of it out.
In case you still don't know: the implications are that the red army was and still is used by the totalitatians on the east block, by any block you want, it doesn't change anything anyway....... And now even using al kaeda as to make more barbary. East germany was raped in many ways by those fanatics. Which for the devil's sake are still wanting the same thing today
Those East German helmets were actually designed in 1943 They were intended to replace the M35 stahlhelm, but Hitler thought they looked too ridiculous so that was the end of that
Not true. While the M56 (as seen in the video) was in the same development line as the M35 the development for this helmet started in 1956 and was first used in 1957. So Hitler for sure didn't see it. Actually Hitler forbid the development of new helmets in 1942 but they still secretly researched new designs as the old ones were prone to injuries. One of the proposed designs looked similar to the M56 design (Typ B II) but was never presented to Hitler
If the wall fell that morning, why did the East German guards stick around especially with tourists going in and out of the East German tomb of unknown soldier ?
Thanks for posting this video. I stood on that same platform overlooking the wall at checkpoint charlie along with visiting East Berlin as well. Was in 1987. It's nice to see videos from these areas and from that time.
Thanks so much for this! I lived in West Berlin and a military brat. My father was stationed there in the USAF. I was there from ‘81-‘85, and got to do all 4 high school years there. Got to go to East Berlin twice with my father, who like you videotaped, had to be in uniform. I was very aware of everything going on there and old enough to appreciate how lucky I was!
I had the opportunity to visit East Berlin a half dozen times between 1984 and 1991. I always planned to be there on Wednesdays at 14:30. There was a a full ceremonial parade at that time down Unter Den Linden to the Neue Wache and back with goose-stepping NVA troops and a band playing Prussian march music. It was like going back in time. So cool!
You could easily go to east Germany If you did a bus tour that goes from west Germany to Berlin you had to go through east Germany That's what my mum did and everytime she got off the bus on the ddr side they checked her passport
I was born on August 16, 1989. When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989 I was almost 3 months old at the time. When I watch videos like this I can't help but feel various things. My mother went to live in Germany in the early 1980s when the wall was still up. My sister was born in Germany. I am an American, but I can just feel how significant this moment was. 1989... What a year.
My wife and I visited Berlin in 2008. It's so strange to see the footage from when the wall was up. In 2008, you could barely tell what was east and what was west. We only saw a few sections of the wall still standing.... Thanks for posting this, this is very interesting.
I came to East and then to West Berlin from the opposite direction - from Poland,. on several occasions in the 70s. For a Pole it was an impressive but stiff city. I still remember perfectly synchronised traffic lights - from the Gate to Schoenefeld airport we had all greens! Never seen anything like that afterwards.
those traffic engineers desperately need to come to st Louis and tidy things up we got one street that's in front of a couple hospitals that has 11 lights in a mile and it can take stopping 3 or 4 times sometimes more if your unlucky just traveling through them. they are all on timers too so there is absolutely no reason why they can't be synced except the city government obviously hates its own citizens
@@directscientific4550 Yes, we were - Poland was different in this respect. The only catch was that you had to apply for your passport each time and then return it to the police afterwards.
Thanks for the video. I was stationed In West Germany from 1988 to 1990 (USAF). I separated in April 1990. I never really knew at the time what was going on in Berlin. I did hear a few things about parts of the Wall may be coming down, or the easing of restrictions, or something like that. But I don't know how much I would have appreciated the significance at the time either. I was under the impression (at the time) Berlin was mostly restricted and you had to fill-out a bunch of paperwork if you wanted to visit there. I remember (at the time) I was more interested in visiting Paris than Berlin. I figured Berlin was still mostly being rebuilt after the war. But looking back I can understand things better now.
@@darkWorkOne I had to look where Giessen was. The Air base I was stationed at was a distance to the west of there. The Air Base is closed now. Sometimes I still say "West Germany" instead of "Germany." I haven't been back since then. I liked West Germany though. I thought it was a nice place. I did visit Frankfurt, Munich, and Koblenz when I was there.
I lived in Ukraine for 20 years. I knew a couple of guys who had served in East Germany for the Soviet Army. They said it was the most boring assignment you could get abroad, with the exception of having access to consumer goods you couldn't get in Ukraine at the time. They had both told me separately that there were a lot of restrictions placed on Soviet soldiers at the time. They had no freedom of movement anywhere within East Berlin nor East Germany. They were mostly confined to their bases. This is not only due to the oppressive nature of the Soviet Government at the time, but to control their soldiers who raped and pillaged at will not only right after the war, but for several months, even longer, after.....
В 1948 году солдат Советской Армии снял с танка крупнокалиберный пулемёт, залез с ним на кирху посреди немецкой деревни и стал расстреливать все дома и людей вокруг. Погибло и ранено было несколько десятков немцев. Потом выяснилось, что ранее у этого солдата всю его семью немцы живьём сожгли в русской деревне. Вместе со всеми остальными жителями и другими домами. Данный солдат, будучи тогда ребёнком, чудом остался жив. После всего того,что немцы со своими союзниками сотворили на территории Советского Союза и других оккупированных стран, некоторые горячие головы в Великобритании предлагали всю Германию залить бетоном. Очень жаль,что это предложение осталось фантастическим и не было реализовано. Очень жаль.
I was stationed in central Germany and my friend and I drove to West Berlin. That was an experience in itself. I was there in 1979 when the wall was still up and also went to East Berlin.
I was stationed there for two years from 87-89 and never got to travel to Berlin. I was stationed in Bamberg, but traveled to Coburg and Nuremberg a lot. I went to Munich for an Oktoberfest. I probably needed to get my Commander's permission and what not.
Lol. When the wall initially fell a bunch of our guys hoped in a car and sped off to join the party in Berlin. Several days later they called our unit saying they were out of money and gas. After we got them home they had the riot act read to them as technically crossing from west Germany to Berlin by road meant they had crossed the border into East Germany without leaves or passes. A pretty big deal normally but in the chaos and euphoria it was swept under the rug.
The following day, people were already climbing onto the top of the wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate. I know, because I was one of them. It was a weird feeling, unheard of only a few hours earlier. On the eastern side were about 20 angry East German border guards trying to stare us down. In fact they even sprayed us with water. We answered by offering them a drink of the Champaign we'd brought with us. The day after that, the 10th, people were bringing hammers and pickaxes with them and starting to dismantle the wall. It's utterly mind blowing to know you're in the middle of a history changing event with the whole world watching on.
@@darkWorkOne Oh, thanks! Some fantastic footage! I was there that day among the crowds at the wall. Maybe I'm even somewhere in the footage. The East German border guards shooed the people off the wall for a while, but were later ordered to retreat. The crowds coming over from the east later got bigger with many still wearing their work overalls. There were so many that they were having difficulty getting into Berlin west. Some people told me it took them 2 hours just to cross into west Berlin. What amazed me most was that on that day, 10th of Nov., the east Germans were already removing parts of the wall across the streets between east and west. I mean, they had guarded this wall for 28 years with everything they had and then, from one day to the next, they suddenly decided it was in the way and needed to be removed. That Thursday - that was on the 9th - when I got home (very late) and told my girlfriend what was happening she refused to believe me, she thought I'd spent the evening at a bar and was drunk.
During WW2, that "tomb of the unknown" had a pair of statutes of German Soldiers in WW1 gear (ironically with an early version of the German helmet used in WW2) standing perpetual guard. After the war, because the statues resembled Nazi uniforms, they were destroyed and replaced with the perpetual guard you see here. They also exhumed and cremated the remains of two WW2 German "unknown" soldiers during the de-nazification process.
How ironic considering the NVA wore basically the same uniforms (aside from the helmet) as the Wehrmacht. Edit: before anyone pointing out that the Wehrmacht soldiers wore closed-collar uniforms instead of what's shown here at 2:30, the NVA only changed to that much later. Early NVA soldiers used to don the same uniform as their Wehrmacht predecessors: th-cam.com/video/pVeu2r85uD0/w-d-xo.html
@@omg.mesohungry Actually the NVA helmet was a design that the Wehrmacht had trialled but never put into service. The early Bundesgrenzschutz wore Wehrmacht uniforms including the helmets to avoid being mistaken for Soviets, I think when the Bundeswehr was formed in 1955 they changed to US style uniforms like the BW.
The German "Neue Wache" Did not have statues in front of them. They had soldiers from the Reichwehr perform a similar guard ceremony. It was continued by the Wehrmacht. After the creation of the DDR, the Iron cross center piece was replaced by the eternal flame, an unknown German soldier, a Concentration camp victim and soil from all the lands that Germans died in during WWII. The guard detachment was named after the Bolshevik mass murderer Felix Dzerzhinsky. Today the center piece has been replaced with a weeping mother holding her dead child. On special occasions, The Bundeswehr performs a very similar guard ceremony.
I remember that you could buy all of this East Germany military equipment on E-bay after East Germany dissolved. I bought a pair of these boots, and one of the old great coats they are wearing. I do not have them anymore. Can't remember what happened to them now. Should have held on to them for a collector's item.
The Solidarnosc sign was fixed on the Berlin Wall Museum. It was facing east and clearly visible but very few East Germans could see it as on the eastern side there was the restricted border zone, maybe 150 m wide. Access was restricted for service vehicles only, army, police.
According to the description, this video was shot the day before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Did you know that the Berlin Wall was going to fall the very next day while you were filming this breathtaking footage?
Thanks for watching! I think all my dates are off by 1 day. This video is actually the morning OF the Fall (Nov. 9th) before it happened later that same night. In my incorrect memory of the event, I always thought of the next day as the day it was opened since that's when I witnessed all the celebrations. But that was actually Nov. 10th. We had no idea that it would happen, just coincidence that we were there! All my videos in the series span Nov. 8th - Nov. 10th. th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html
Joke. East-german family drove west in their Trabant. However the car broke down just infront of a Mercedes-garage. The workers decided to help them and find out the engine was kaputt. However they were able to change the motor. Family took off, but after 10 metres car stopped and started to reverse, stopped again an repeat this forward-reverse movement. The father then asked "what kind of motor you put there?" "Well, only motor that we could fit in was Mercedes' wiper-motor."
On Nov 8, 1989, I paid a visit to E Berlin. I got to drinking beer with some young folks there, and missed the closing time for the U Bahn to go back, so I had to pass through Checkpoint Charlie. We ran to get there before it closed for the day, as I would be in significant trouble if I spent the night in the DDR without permission. But we got there, just as it was closing, and I got through. The next day, of course, was the day the wall fell. It was an interesting experience, part of my gap year in Europe. June 4 I had been in Strasbourg, and there was a massive demonstration on behalf of the Tiananmen Square protesters. Also a wild thing to just run into.
I was there also.... that morning and by midnight East Germany was defunct. I got to walk into East Berlin by 2am the next morning.... it was historically insane....
East Germany was not defunct until October 1990, when reunification of Germany took place. The fall of the Berlin Wall only meant that the border controls have been loosened a lot (although not abandoned completely) and people could move freely between the territory of GDR and West Berlin. However, both German states (and West Berlin as a special territory) still continued to operate separately as before.
The last time I was in Berlin, quite by accident my hotel was near the old Stasi, secret police headquarters in eastern Berlin and well worth a visit as it is now a museum , another fact, too if you see tramlines, this was restricted to eastern Berlin under communist rule.
@@WILLIAM1690WALES Sorry I'm not trying to be pedantic, rather replying to your incorrect statements. Tram lines have existed in whole Berlin since 1865. After ww2 West Berlin had more tram lines than East Berlin. It was politics that got rid of the tram in the western part of the city whereas they were kept in the east. It has also nothing to do with communism. Just facts.
Or Fawlty Towers to be more precise 😂 ( classic and much beloved British TV comedy series from the 70s ). But John Cleese ( the owner of the small FT hotel ) was a member of the British Monty Python comedy group, and he was indeed the one, who did those silly walks 😂 Check out the FT episode called "The Germans" to see what I mean 😉 - best FT episode alongside "Communication Problems" ( with the deaf woman 😂 ).
Thanks so much for watching! The footage in this video is from the morning of Nov. 9 1989, just hours before the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The other videos in the series playlist are from Nov. 10, 1989, just after the Fall of the Wall: th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html
Меня всегда манило на Запад. Очарование Западом, его свободой, так и осталось навсегда. Слушал в 1980-1990 годы немецкую волну, БиБиСи, Голос Америки, Радио Свобода.. В Июле 1990 я смог сбежать на Запад. Я подделал приглашение себе в ГДР после долгих мытарств. Покинуть СССР по другому легально было невозможно. Я познакомился с несколькими советскими солдатами, которые убежали из Советской Армии в западный Берлин, воспользовавшись, что границы больше не было. Помню, как один рассказывал, как много недель его разыскивали вертолеты. Он скрывался в лесу. По ночам забирался в немецкие летние домики, чтобы там найти что-нибудь съедобное. I have always been attracted to the West. The charm of the West, its freedom, has remained forever. I listened in 1980-1990 to the Deutsche Welle, BBC, Voice of America, Radio Liberty. In July 1990 I was able to escape to the West. I forged an invitation to myself in the GDR after a long ordeal. It was legally impossible to leave the USSR otherwise. I got to know several Soviet soldiers who had fled the Soviet Army for West Berlin, taking advantage of the fact that there was no longer a border. I remember how one told how many weeks he was searched for by helicopters. He was hiding in the forest. At night he climbed into German summer houses to find something edible there.
Thanks for sharing your story, I'm glad you were able to make it out of the USSR. It's easy to take freedoms for granted and forget how difficult and restrictive life can be for many. I have some additional videos of a trip we took to the Soviet Union as well: th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOZyuca0Bf4-VBbqE6BzQJN.html
At 3:05 is the "Neue Wache" that now is dedicated to victims of all wars. Back then it was dedicated to the victims of fascism and militarism and it enshrined not only an unknown soldier but also a concentration camp victim. It now holds a Käthe Kollwitz sculpture of a mother holding her dead son.
On the main door to the Wall Museum there was a sign with tickets prices: 2 DM Adults 1 DM schoolchildren and pensioners. Visitors from East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea enter FREE of CHARGE upon showing their passports.
I remember when the Wall was opened up. I never thought i would see that happen. I have a little piece of the Berlin Wall. They were selling them at K Mart.
Been in Berlin since 1974. Worked for brits in NAAFI 10 years. Then 1984 to 1991 lived in the west but worked in the east commuting daily. Very interesting years. Now retired and still in berlin
I lived in Germany (near Giessen) in the late 80s/early 90s. At the time, we just happened to be visiting Berlin when the Wall fell in the middle of our trip. I hope to travel to Berlin next year and revisit some of the sights to see how much has changed.
I was in my early teens then. When I left, it was still West Germany. After I graduated highschool, I came back to another country, a united Germany with no more DDR.
We were in Berlin the 8th - 11th. This specific video was Nov. 9th, just hours before the Wall fell later that same day. The playlist has videos from the 10th as well: th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html
Ich finde das Konzept der Mauer einfach surreal als 2000er geborener geht das nicht in meinen Kopf rein das man einfach da nicht lang konnte oder rüber durfte
Visited Berlin last summer. It was a shock seeing the capital of German not fully recovered after WWII yet. When you fight fascism be careful not to install another one.
@@urbandiscount I mean, look what happened in Russia. They were so proud they fought and destroyed fascism, yet they did succeed to reinstall the same fascism in their motherland.
There happens to be a small portion of the Berlin wall in Eureka Springs, Arkansas at the Passion Play grounds. It still has the graffiti written on it.
@tatum ergo I think that's why my dad initially took us kids to the berlin zoo on Nov 10th, out of caution (shown in one of my other videos). My mom and her friend didn't go to the zoo, and I think they were seeing if it was safe to have us kids at Checkpoint Charlie, which we went to after.
2:25 When I visited East Germany in 1985 as a backpacker this 19th century Kaiser era memorial had been renamed a memorial against "Militarism and Fascism" by the Erich Honecker East German (DDR) Communist government.
There was an even better picture of Honecker and Forby celebrating the anniversary of the wall with a banner describing the wall as antifascist.. things fell apart soon after that trip
I was 10 months old when they pulled down the wall. Joegoslavia war, Cold war and Yasser Arafat, Palestina and Israel was the first thing I can remember to watch on the news back then. Way too young to understand. These happenings are all remnants and devastating consequences of WW2, well over 4 decades later.
I'm shocked that the STASI or Volkspolizei would allow anyone, let along foreigners from across the wall, to bring in camera equipment and record in the DDR. Granted, this is under Egon Krenz's SED but still...
It is pretty shocking in retrospect, but surprisingly we also had no problems filming in Moscow and Leningrad (USSR) a couple months later in 1990 (still editing those videos to upload).
The GDR wanted tourists and tourists' money. Even before 1989 tourists could travel around the GDR, and take pictures and film. I traveled throughout the GDR taking pictures. Sometimes I took trains, other times I drove a rental car. You had to pay for your hotels ahead of time and they gave you a visa when you arrived.
@@robn8726 East German tour guides would halt the tours so people could take pictures of buildings and other sights. They wanted you to take pictures of GDR symbolism.
East Germany, like all of the east bloc countries, had a list of things not to be photographed. Rail stations, government buildings notably. As a westerner you had to be careful what you photographed, but war memorials and such were usually ok.
🤣 the funniest part - it was western world that first insisted on dividing germany in half and then deliberately forced communists to separate Western Berlin by the Wall. but blamed, successfully, USSR.
I lived in Germany from 1984 until 1992...so many happy times, when we knew the wall was about to fall and hopes for the future, with freedom. Sadly look at it now, another enemy is closing in and taking away our hopes rights to freedom. When the wall was still there, we had stability, now we have chaos and a terrifying future...I wish the damn thing was back. We had a stalemate, but it felt " secure" now we have danger and uncertainty...I seriously never thought I would write such comments, as truly believed that when the wall was gone, peace would reign...how wrong I was!! 😢
*The boys who saw the changing of the guard would have been impressed and inspired to become soldiers one day to fight fascism and its economic system of capitalism.*
Why were East German guards still there knowing the wall was basically gone? If anyone now can go see the East German tomb of unknown soldier due to fall of wall, what was the point of changing the guard?
@@darkWorkOne ok thanks. How come the East German guards let western tourists go inside the tomb if they didn’t know until later that it was gonna “fall”? So the communist regime was technically already overthrown. The wall falling that night was just a foregone conclusion?
@Inquisitve m I'm not sure why they allowed western tourists, maybe for propaganda purposes? I'm not sure, but they allowed it. I don't think anyone knew the wall was coming down that night, even the guards.
I think all guard changing rituals are bizarre and goofy, regardless of country. But I do have video of Welsh guards from the same time in another video on my channel: th-cam.com/video/NjBQyDf-7n4/w-d-xo.html
The calm before the storm 😉 Basil Fawlty ( from the famous British TV comedy series Fawlty Towers ) can do those silly goose steps way better than those East German guards 😂 - but it's a bit weird how they kept on marching like that in the GDR; I guess that is telling us a lot about that political system ( a combination of communism and fascism / nazism ).
That building at 2:30 was NOT a "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". The building is called "Neue Wache" in German, which translates to "New Guardhouse". Before WW2 it was a memorial of the victims of the Napoleonian wars 1813-1815. After WW2, GDR turned it into memorial of the victims of Nazism - and that's what we see in the video. After reunification of Germany in 1990, it has been changed again and now it is a memorial of victims of WW1 and WW2.
@@darkWorkOne Well, maybe it has, I didn't know about it. But it was at the times primarily intended to serve as memorial of the victims of Nazism, and has been labeled as such in tourist guides, city maps etc. and signs on the building itself. The tomb was not mentioned much. I was in that building a few years earlier than you and don't remember anything written there about the tomb, but the inscription "Mahnmal für die Opfer des Faschismus und Militarismus" was displayed very prominently. So we are both right to some extent... ;)
@@briesn7004 Thanks buddy! I appreciate you engaging with my content. Hope your day gets better! Watch my other videos and engage more!! th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html I love you
@@briesn7004 Ah yes, my psychological condition and my bullshit, I keep forgetting about that. I am so relaxed now, thank you. As an idiot, it's easy to stay relaxed. I don't know much, and my ignorance keeps me nice and relaxed. Nice and relaxed, oh yeah. I hope your psychological condition is nice and relaxed as well. I'm going to go take a bath and stay relaxed and forget about all my bullshit from before when I said, "Seems not that long ago, but also a lifetime, haha". I was such a bullshit idiot with a bad pschological condition when I said those idiotic words.
Yep right down to the shabby buildings. I've been around the world including to a lot of 3rd world countries but this is the only country where you see plants growing out of the roofs of buildings which are still in use.
Interesting how this soldier kid was so curious toward the sound of American language...probably he was well aware that he was serving a losing nation....can imagine him later telling his friends down in Zeulenroda how cool it was to work in these vibrant international enviromnents of Berlin :-)
@@teamgeist3328 well, these were consrcipts and certainly in the course of the year 1989 the felt how the authorities were eroding...furhermore the army remained strong in the east....and sport and military remain the only two areas where East Germans continue to be overrepresented in reunited German...
@@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe Not really. American English and British English sound different. Even British civilians cant understand a lot when British soldiers talk amongst each other lol.
@@simonh6371 While I was Based in West Berlin, Royal Engineers Jan Smut Barracks. In 1989 I regularly spoke with British Civilians on a Weekly basis In the NAAFI ,And Tourists and 🇬🇧 Expats I never had a problem understanding them or they understanding myself or my Brothers & Sisters in Arms (Even the Glaswegians And one fellow from the Shetland islands Hello Derick if you ever read this. And Yorkshire And Cumbrians, . In fact the Thursday before the Berlin Wall came down ((9th/10th November 1989. I had a pleasant evening in a Chinese restaurant (SUCCELENT CHINESE MEAL) with 20 people from many areas of the UK And understood them all. Yes a lot of alcohol was taken but I was aware what they were yapping about.
Хорошо жил Берлин нельзя им ныть, напряжение было место где проходила граница 2 полюсного мира личнокорыстно мелко похабного капиталистического и идейно народного социалистического. Мир уже не станет как раньше и везде будет своя АМЕРИКА как в песне Рамштейн хоть в Африке хоть в Крайнем Севере. Солдаты на видео последние немецкие солдаты вот так умерла Германия остатки от той старой гордой. И там сейчас своя АМЕРИКА но люди люди помнят свою жизнь кто то с радостью вспомнит а кто то осуждает. Спасибо автору за видео а мы простые дети тогдашнего соцлагеря 80 х с радостью переписывались по почте с детьми из других стран и мы ждали эти письма от своих камерад товарищей от Польши СССР Венгрии ну и конечно очень ждали письма от своих друзей с ГДР
I was in Berlin in late Summer of 1989 I SWORE THAT WALL WOULD HAVE REMAINED UP TILL TODAY!! But History as always would see it change just 3 months after I left!! I been back many times especially in 1994 when I worked and Lived in Berlin and last in 2006 how the city had changed! I always say the day the Wall came down was the true end of WWII
Absolutely! I was only a child then and didn't realize the full historical impact of the events at the time. I hope this history doesn't repeat and lessons were learned, but I'm not convinced.
@@Uran_KH-98 yeah. That it was all bad in the GDR is a myth. Also..people could travel like all over the communist World...that was quite large at that time, right?
Absolutely, we're all just people, after all. And people tend to be proud of where they are from, no matter the circumstances. At least a government isn't telling a group of people where they are allowed to travel in this specific circumstance. I think that's good progress.
@@regularyugoslav8188 that doesn't make any sense Solidarność was a political organization from POLAND, Poland was from the eastern block during the cold war, so how would they even get to the west side? and this video is of east berlin, not west EDIT: i accidentally said western instead of western block, fixed
The Polish Embassy is near the Berlin Wall line, and near Unter den Linden, the main avenue. They had a large sign in front , "It started in Gdansk", as a reminder of the star of events that ended with the fall of the wall and the reunification of Germany.
Yeah, it was in the 70s when tech allowed to record footage that it started to become more wide spread. CCTV was being used in the 40s in some military installations.
Germany should bring East Germany back like in a theme park. Could call it East German Land similar to maybe Disney land etc.? One of the features would be guys goose stepping around. Of course they would have to use actors.
And when they got back to West Berlin they went to Burger King, and ordered a Double Whopper with American cheese. And large American french fries, and a great big American chocolate shake. No sauerkraut. No schnitzel.
As part of the agreements that set up the occupation zones in Germany, all military forces were given free access to all the zones in Berlin. US military personnel were actually encouraged to wander around East Berlin in uniform to publically excercise this right.
![The Day BEFORE Berlin Wall Fall 1989 [VHS]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cL_LgjBcRYk/mqdefault.jpg)
As a young man in Germany, my first visit to Berlin was in March 1964. At this time, you could still see some bombed buildings from 2nd world war. The most impressive site was Bernauer Strasse =Street. Houses with 5 floors were East Berlin. The walk way was West Berlin. Along the walk way have been crosses of people which jumped from the roof into theit dead before they have been taking prisoners from the guards. Many made it because they have been discovered from the West Berlin fire Department and jumped in a kind of trampoline. Their was also a high platform maybe 20 ft to take a look at the other side. Later all houses at the Bernauer Strasse have been demolished.
Great info! That's sad and amazing, thanks for watching.
How old are you sir?
Bro was born In 1950 then went to berlin and somehow LIVED and still he says hes a young guu
@@a2a2a2a He said he is young is mean that he iswas young that time
No way your age must be 150
I was stationed in West Berlin in 1979-1981. I never thought i would see the wall come down, you really experienced history. We went to the building where the surrender of WW2 was signed, the second one. It was a KGB listening post in the basement. We also went to the Soviet war memorial, the large shapes at the entrance were covered in marble removed from Hitler's bunker. This brings back a lot of memories, thanks for posting it.
Oh that's interesting, didn't know that. Glad to share, thanks for watching!
Thanks for your service ! Greetings from Germany.
And how old are you now
…At the end the Germans themselves are realizing who are their real enemies, the same criminals who are occupying their territory since 1945 and blowing up their future prosperity and becoming more dependent of their masters Energy sources and establishing the Morgenthau Plan and their desindustrialización and going back to the glory days of the Weimar Republic…🫵🏼🐖💨🇩🇪🇺🇸💩🇪🇺
@@eon1779 Trust me! You don't want to know that.
I lived in West Berlin in the 70's as a kid as my father was posted there as a member of the British Forces. Yes I was an Army brat!! Those sites are still very familiar to me even all those years later. I also visited East Berlin as well. Brings back memories but as a kid I didn't really fully understand the historical and the political implications of The Berlin wall. I remember several times my father was called out from home on alert all but one of those was a practice alert. That one was a standby alert (for about two days) due to some event unknown to me or my family. To this day my father never knew what it was about. He was a Telecoms Tech with the REME attached to a tank regiment (4RTR I think).
Oh wow, same here...As a kid experiencing this, I knew what was happening was important, but I didn't fully understand the historical impact until years later.
@@darkWorkOne Yep same. I recognise Checkpoint Charlie. Went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum on a school trip. I remember the Lipstick and Powder Puff church with the broken church next to it. Brandenburg gate of course. Unless I was mistaken there was a place called Peacock Island someplace that had tons of peacock on it. All those places seem as real as it was last week to me.
@@M2M-matt Pfaueninsel or Peacock Island lay on the Wannsee (lake), it lay just inside Berlin (West), as you correctly stated it was inhabited by many Peacocks. My uncle was stationed at RAF Gatow. I once took a tour on the ferry from Kladow to see the island.
@@Steve14ps Ah yes that's it the Wannsee lake. Thanks for that. Great memories! I just remember being fascinated by these Peacocks. I also remember RAF Gatow as I think I went to a school there on the base. I could be wrong about that though. It just rings some bells. I got a rough memory of an old collection of building for my school and going though some barriers and gates to get to it. This would have been mid 70's. I didn't like school much so my memory might be blocking some of it out.
In case you still don't know: the implications are that the red army was and still is used by the totalitatians on the east block, by any block you want, it doesn't change anything anyway....... And now even using al kaeda as to make more barbary. East germany was raped in many ways by those fanatics. Which for the devil's sake are still wanting the same thing today
Those East German helmets were actually designed in 1943
They were intended to replace the M35 stahlhelm, but Hitler thought they looked too ridiculous so that was the end of that
Not true. While the M56 (as seen in the video) was in the same development line as the M35 the development for this helmet started in 1956 and was first used in 1957. So Hitler for sure didn't see it. Actually Hitler forbid the development of new helmets in 1942 but they still secretly researched new designs as the old ones were prone to injuries. One of the proposed designs looked similar to the M56 design (Typ B II) but was never presented to Hitler
If the wall fell that morning, why did the East German guards stick around especially with tourists going in and out of the East German tomb of unknown soldier ?
The 80s truly is the best decade in history
Agree especially the music
To date....
Why?
Would You care to elaborate?
Thanks in advance
Why?
Would You care to elaborate?
Thanks in advance
50s 60s and 70s and early 80s
I like how this video was an advertisement but it truly is the great decade
I lived in Berlin from 85-89. I just missed the wall coming down. My wife and I both went to Berlin American High School. Thank you for the memories.
Thanks for posting this video. I stood on that same platform overlooking the wall at checkpoint charlie along with visiting East Berlin as well. Was in 1987. It's nice to see videos from these areas and from that time.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I was a preteen when the Wall fell. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and seeing it on tv. It was surreal.
Thanks so much for this! I lived in West Berlin and a military brat. My father was stationed there in the USAF. I was there from ‘81-‘85, and got to do all 4 high school years there. Got to go to East Berlin twice with my father, who like you videotaped, had to be in uniform. I was very aware of everything going on there and old enough to appreciate how lucky I was!
Thanks for watching! We just missed each other, I lived in Germany from 87-90
I had the opportunity to visit East Berlin a half dozen times between 1984 and 1991. I always planned to be there on Wednesdays at 14:30. There was a a full ceremonial parade at that time down Unter Den Linden to the Neue Wache and back with goose-stepping NVA troops and a band playing Prussian march music. It was like going back in time. So cool!
*GDR troops as in "German Democratic Republic" (East Germany) NVA is "North Vietnamese Army" :)
@@bd5av8r1 Auf Deutsch auch Nationale Volksarmee (NVA) genannt.
@@enlightenedguy2565 can only like this once lol :)
@@enlightenedguy2565Yes they used to call them güks I believe
You could easily go to east Germany
If you did a bus tour that goes from west Germany to Berlin you had to go through east Germany
That's what my mum did and everytime she got off the bus on the ddr side they checked her passport
I was born on August 16, 1989. When the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989 I was almost 3 months old at the time. When I watch videos like this I can't help but feel various things. My mother went to live in Germany in the early 1980s when the wall was still up. My sister was born in Germany. I am an American, but I can just feel how significant this moment was.
1989... What a year.
A Good and Interesting film! Thanks for up loading your part of joining history.
Thanks, and thanks for watching!
My wife and I visited Berlin in 2008. It's so strange to see the footage from when the wall was up. In 2008, you could barely tell what was east and what was west. We only saw a few sections of the wall still standing.... Thanks for posting this, this is very interesting.
Thanks for watching! I hope to return to visit Berlin next year...looking forward to see how much has changed
I came to East and then to West Berlin from the opposite direction - from Poland,. on several occasions in the 70s. For a Pole it was an impressive but stiff city. I still remember perfectly synchronised traffic lights - from the Gate to Schoenefeld airport we had all greens! Never seen anything like that afterwards.
those traffic engineers desperately need to come to st Louis and tidy things up we got one street that's in front of a couple hospitals that has 11 lights in a mile and it can take stopping 3 or 4 times sometimes more if your unlucky just traveling through them. they are all on timers too so there is absolutely no reason why they can't be synced except the city government obviously hates its own citizens
@@skeetrix5577
Sure it does! ;-)
Were you allowed to visit West Berlin the 70s?
@@directscientific4550 Yes, we were - Poland was different in this respect. The only catch was that you had to apply for your passport each time and then return it to the police afterwards.
@@karolw.5208 Interesting. Did you have to leave spouse and kids behind?
Thanks for the video. I was stationed In West Germany from 1988 to 1990 (USAF). I separated in April 1990. I never really knew at the time what was going on in Berlin. I did hear a few things about parts of the Wall may be coming down, or the easing of restrictions, or something like that. But I don't know how much I would have appreciated the significance at the time either. I was under the impression (at the time) Berlin was mostly restricted and you had to fill-out a bunch of paperwork if you wanted to visit there. I remember (at the time) I was more interested in visiting Paris than Berlin. I figured Berlin was still mostly being rebuilt after the war. But looking back I can understand things better now.
We lived in West Germany around the same time, near Giessen from 87-90.
@@darkWorkOne I had to look where Giessen was. The Air base I was stationed at was a distance to the west of there. The Air Base is closed now. Sometimes I still say "West Germany" instead of "Germany." I haven't been back since then. I liked West Germany though. I thought it was a nice place. I did visit Frankfurt, Munich, and Koblenz when I was there.
I lived in Ukraine for 20 years. I knew a couple of guys who had served in East Germany for the Soviet Army. They said it was the most boring assignment you could get abroad, with the exception of having access to consumer goods you couldn't get in Ukraine at the time.
They had both told me separately that there were a lot of restrictions placed on Soviet soldiers at the time. They had no freedom of movement anywhere within East Berlin nor East Germany. They were mostly confined to their bases.
This is not only due to the oppressive nature of the Soviet Government at the time, but to control their soldiers who raped and pillaged at will not only right after the war, but for several months, even longer, after.....
Oh wow, great info...Thanks for watching!
@Richard Schiffman korrekt 👍
В 1948 году солдат Советской Армии снял с танка крупнокалиберный пулемёт, залез с ним на кирху посреди немецкой деревни и стал расстреливать все дома и людей вокруг. Погибло и ранено было несколько десятков немцев. Потом выяснилось, что ранее у этого солдата всю его семью немцы живьём сожгли в русской деревне. Вместе со всеми остальными жителями и другими домами. Данный солдат, будучи тогда ребёнком, чудом остался жив.
После всего того,что немцы со своими союзниками сотворили на территории Советского Союза и других оккупированных стран, некоторые горячие головы в Великобритании предлагали всю Германию залить бетоном. Очень жаль,что это предложение осталось фантастическим и не было реализовано. Очень жаль.
Great video. Great channel 🙌 I remember this. Interesting times.
6:46 Statue of a russian soldier kneeling with a machinegun, PPSH-41, at his side
Thanks so much! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for uploading this.
Thanks for watching!
I was stationed in central Germany and my friend and I drove to West Berlin. That was an experience in itself. I was there in 1979 when the wall was still up and also went to East Berlin.
Oh wow, yes just getting to West Berlin was an experience at the time
I was stationed there for two years from 87-89 and never got to travel to Berlin. I was stationed in Bamberg, but traveled to Coburg and Nuremberg a lot. I went to Munich for an Oktoberfest. I probably needed to get my Commander's permission and what not.
Lol. When the wall initially fell a bunch of our guys hoped in a car and sped off to join the party in Berlin. Several days later they called our unit saying they were out of money and gas. After we got them home they had the riot act read to them as technically crossing from west Germany to Berlin by road meant they had crossed the border into East Germany without leaves or passes. A pretty big deal normally but in the chaos and euphoria it was swept under the rug.
The following day, people were already climbing onto the top of the wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate. I know, because I was one of them. It was a weird feeling, unheard of only a few hours earlier. On the eastern side were about 20 angry East German border guards trying to stare us down. In fact they even sprayed us with water. We answered by offering them a drink of the Champaign we'd brought with us. The day after that, the 10th, people were bringing hammers and pickaxes with them and starting to dismantle the wall.
It's utterly mind blowing to know you're in the middle of a history changing event with the whole world watching on.
Did you check out the other video at Brandenburg Gate? Maybe you're in my home video! th-cam.com/video/pOO0A_V0URE/w-d-xo.html
@@darkWorkOne Oh, thanks! Some fantastic footage! I was there that day among the crowds at the wall. Maybe I'm even somewhere in the footage.
The East German border guards shooed the people off the wall for a while, but were later ordered to retreat.
The crowds coming over from the east later got bigger with many still wearing their work overalls. There were so many that they were having difficulty getting into Berlin west. Some people told me it took them 2 hours just to cross into west Berlin.
What amazed me most was that on that day, 10th of Nov., the east Germans were already removing parts of the wall across the streets between east and west. I mean, they had guarded this wall for 28 years with everything they had and then, from one day to the next, they suddenly decided it was in the way and needed to be removed.
That Thursday - that was on the 9th - when I got home (very late) and told my girlfriend what was happening she refused to believe me, she thought I'd spent the evening at a bar and was drunk.
During WW2, that "tomb of the unknown" had a pair of statutes of German Soldiers in WW1 gear (ironically with an early version of the German helmet used in WW2) standing perpetual guard. After the war, because the statues resembled Nazi uniforms, they were destroyed and replaced with the perpetual guard you see here. They also exhumed and cremated the remains of two WW2 German "unknown" soldiers during the de-nazification process.
How ironic considering the NVA wore basically the same uniforms (aside from the helmet) as the Wehrmacht.
Edit: before anyone pointing out that the Wehrmacht soldiers wore closed-collar uniforms instead of what's shown here at 2:30, the NVA only changed to that much later. Early NVA soldiers used to don the same uniform as their Wehrmacht predecessors: th-cam.com/video/pVeu2r85uD0/w-d-xo.html
More like De-germanisation period
originally this was the berlin "night watch" or city guard building and guarded "mitta"
@@omg.mesohungry Actually the NVA helmet was a design that the Wehrmacht had trialled but never put into service. The early Bundesgrenzschutz wore Wehrmacht uniforms including the helmets to avoid being mistaken for Soviets, I think when the Bundeswehr was formed in 1955 they changed to US style uniforms like the BW.
The German "Neue Wache" Did not have statues in front of them. They had soldiers from the Reichwehr perform a similar guard ceremony. It was continued by the Wehrmacht. After the creation of the DDR, the Iron cross center piece was replaced by the eternal flame, an unknown German soldier, a Concentration camp victim and soil from all the lands that Germans died in during WWII. The guard detachment was named after the Bolshevik mass murderer Felix Dzerzhinsky. Today the center piece has been replaced with a weeping mother holding her dead child. On special occasions, The Bundeswehr performs a very similar guard ceremony.
I remember that you could buy all of this East Germany military equipment on E-bay after East Germany dissolved. I bought a pair of these boots, and one of the old great coats they are wearing. I do not have them anymore. Can't remember what happened to them now. Should have held on to them for a collector's item.
I have chunks of the wall and some other small souvenirs like pins, but boots and coats would be great collector items.
It's still easy to get these items in Germany because so many collected them.
You must mean long after East Germany dissovled. There was no E-bay way back then.
E-bay?? Surely that was a while later?
This feels like time-travel, so cool!
Thanks for watching! 80s, Back to the Future style, haha
The Solidarnosc sign was fixed on the Berlin Wall Museum. It was facing east and clearly visible but very few East Germans could see it as on the eastern side there was the restricted border zone, maybe 150 m wide. Access was restricted for service vehicles only, army, police.
According to the description, this video was shot the day before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Did you know that the Berlin Wall was going to fall the very next day while you were filming this breathtaking footage?
Thanks for watching! I think all my dates are off by 1 day. This video is actually the morning OF the Fall (Nov. 9th) before it happened later that same night. In my incorrect memory of the event, I always thought of the next day as the day it was opened since that's when I witnessed all the celebrations. But that was actually Nov. 10th. We had no idea that it would happen, just coincidence that we were there! All my videos in the series span Nov. 8th - Nov. 10th. th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html
In 1989?
@@DarkFalconAnimations yes, 1989
Even the East Germans and Soviets didn't know that the border would open until it happened and that was due to a communications error that night.
@@simonh6371 That's the strangest part about all of it...an accident!
I still get goosebumps when I think of East Berlin. Not to mention standing on the wall at Brandenburg Gate.
I remember that night... the wall literally came down.. the people climb 9nto it
. And the east German guards did nothing. It was amazing night...
Yes, it was!
Joke.
East-german family drove west in their Trabant. However the car broke down just infront of a Mercedes-garage. The workers decided to help them and find out the engine was kaputt. However they were able to change the motor. Family took off, but after 10 metres car stopped and started to reverse, stopped again an repeat this forward-reverse movement. The father then asked "what kind of motor you put there?"
"Well, only motor that we could fit in was Mercedes' wiper-motor."
NICE !!!!!!!!!!!
On Nov 8, 1989, I paid a visit to E Berlin. I got to drinking beer with some young folks there, and missed the closing time for the U Bahn to go back, so I had to pass through Checkpoint Charlie. We ran to get there before it closed for the day, as I would be in significant trouble if I spent the night in the DDR without permission. But we got there, just as it was closing, and I got through. The next day, of course, was the day the wall fell.
It was an interesting experience, part of my gap year in Europe. June 4 I had been in Strasbourg, and there was a massive demonstration on behalf of the Tiananmen Square protesters. Also a wild thing to just run into.
Oh wow, great story! We just missed each other, haha
Ah, so it was your "fault" then? 😂 - the East German people just wanted to follow your great example 😊
@@Bjowolf2 Next day, I stood on the Wall, by Brandenburger Tor.
@@michaelf7093 Why am I not surprised? 😂
Cool, it must have been amazing to witness that very special historic atmosphere there 👍
I was there also.... that morning and by midnight East Germany was defunct. I got to walk into East Berlin by 2am the next morning.... it was historically insane....
Oh wow! That is amazing
@@darkWorkOne 2:30 this is also were Hitler put his nazi buddies as well. All those bullet holes are from WW2.
East Germany was not defunct until October 1990, when reunification of Germany took place. The fall of the Berlin Wall only meant that the border controls have been loosened a lot (although not abandoned completely) and people could move freely between the territory of GDR and West Berlin. However, both German states (and West Berlin as a special territory) still continued to operate separately as before.
Man, that Prussian drill is on point.
Prussians are not longer sadly
Das steckt bei uns im Blut
There is still a chance for Königsberg.
@@GrandTheftChris lmao Russians ruined Konigsberg, for example their castle
With the exception of the fisted arm swing. That reflects Soviet influence.
The last time I was in Berlin, quite by accident my hotel was near the old Stasi, secret police headquarters in eastern Berlin and well worth a visit as it is now a museum , another fact, too if you see tramlines, this was restricted to eastern Berlin under communist rule.
Trams weren't restricted to East Berlin. It was West Berlin who discontinued them in the 60s, in favor of new bus and metro lines.
@@GrandTheftChris do not be too pedantic, overwhelmingly trams were only used in East Berlin up until recent times
@@WILLIAM1690WALES Sorry I'm not trying to be pedantic, rather replying to your incorrect statements. Tram lines have existed in whole Berlin since 1865. After ww2 West Berlin had more tram lines than East Berlin. It was politics that got rid of the tram in the western part of the city whereas they were kept in the east. It has also nothing to do with communism. Just facts.
That goose-stepping looks like something out of Monty Python's Flying Circus! 🤣🤣🤣
Haha, yes it does!
Or Fawlty Towers to be more precise 😂 ( classic and much beloved British TV comedy series from the 70s ).
But John Cleese ( the owner of the small FT hotel ) was a member of the British Monty Python comedy group, and he was indeed the one, who did those silly walks 😂
Check out the FT episode called "The Germans" to see what I mean 😉 - best FT episode alongside "Communication Problems" ( with the deaf woman 😂 ).
@@Bjowolf2 ^_^む
@@yunov1124? 😂
@darkworkone which year? By the way good vlog👍🏼
Thanks so much for watching! The footage in this video is from the morning of Nov. 9 1989, just hours before the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The other videos in the series playlist are from Nov. 10, 1989, just after the Fall of the Wall: th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html
'Do you see the cameras up there?'
'Where?'
Sweetheart, they're the size of buses. Open your damn eyes.
🤣
That was funny.
Меня всегда манило на Запад. Очарование Западом, его свободой, так и осталось навсегда. Слушал в 1980-1990 годы немецкую волну, БиБиСи, Голос Америки, Радио Свобода.. В Июле 1990 я смог сбежать на Запад. Я подделал приглашение себе в ГДР после долгих мытарств. Покинуть СССР по другому легально было невозможно. Я познакомился с несколькими советскими солдатами, которые убежали из Советской Армии в западный Берлин, воспользовавшись, что границы больше не было. Помню, как один рассказывал, как много недель его разыскивали вертолеты. Он скрывался в лесу. По ночам забирался в немецкие летние домики, чтобы там найти что-нибудь съедобное.
I have always been attracted to the West. The charm of the West, its freedom, has remained forever. I listened in 1980-1990 to the Deutsche Welle, BBC, Voice of America, Radio Liberty. In July 1990 I was able to escape to the West. I forged an invitation to myself in the GDR after a long ordeal. It was legally impossible to leave the USSR otherwise. I got to know several Soviet soldiers who had fled the Soviet Army for West Berlin, taking advantage of the fact that there was no longer a border. I remember how one told how many weeks he was searched for by helicopters. He was hiding in the forest. At night he climbed into German summer houses to find something edible there.
Thanks for sharing your story, I'm glad you were able to make it out of the USSR. It's easy to take freedoms for granted and forget how difficult and restrictive life can be for many. I have some additional videos of a trip we took to the Soviet Union as well: th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOZyuca0Bf4-VBbqE6BzQJN.html
At 3:05 is the "Neue Wache" that now is dedicated to victims of all wars. Back then it was dedicated to the victims of fascism and militarism and it enshrined not only an unknown soldier but also a concentration camp victim. It now holds a Käthe Kollwitz sculpture of a mother holding her dead son.
Great info, thanks!
I remember these places to this day from my time in Berlin with the Berlin Brigade, 84-87
thank you!
We used to laugh when we saw those cameras on the news saying that'll never happen here in the states. Pffffff
Now their every were
On the main door to the Wall Museum there was a sign with tickets prices:
2 DM Adults
1 DM schoolchildren and pensioners.
Visitors from East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea enter FREE of CHARGE upon showing their passports.
Poor Yugos lol.
Brings back memories
I wanted to spend my Birthday (Nov 5th) in Berlin that year. Little did I know the party that would happen only 4 days later!
Oh wow, you just missed it!
Amazing. 1 month later revolution started in my native country of Romania which ended the most brutal communist regime in Eastern Europe
I remember when the Wall was opened up. I never thought i would see that happen. I have a little piece of the Berlin Wall. They were selling them at K Mart.
Been in Berlin since 1974. Worked for brits in NAAFI 10 years. Then 1984 to 1991 lived in the west but worked in the east commuting daily. Very interesting years. Now retired and still in berlin
I lived in Germany (near Giessen) in the late 80s/early 90s. At the time, we just happened to be visiting Berlin when the Wall fell in the middle of our trip. I hope to travel to Berlin next year and revisit some of the sights to see how much has changed.
Imagine wanting to build a wall around a country, you are on the wrong side of history.
Absolutely!
@@darkWorkOne bloody that day !!!
I was in my early teens then. When I left, it was still West Germany. After I graduated highschool, I came back to another country, a united Germany with no more DDR.
so were you there on the 9th, the morning before the fall that would happen that evening? or the 10th, the morning after the fall?
We were in Berlin the 8th - 11th. This specific video was Nov. 9th, just hours before the Wall fell later that same day. The playlist has videos from the 10th as well: th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html
Ich finde das Konzept der Mauer einfach surreal als 2000er geborener geht das nicht in meinen Kopf rein das man einfach da nicht lang konnte oder rüber durfte
Oder auf einen geschossen wurden durfte beim überqueren
Visited Berlin last summer. It was a shock seeing the capital of German not fully recovered after WWII yet.
When you fight fascism be careful not to install another one.
What on earth do you mean
@@urbandiscount I mean, look what happened in Russia. They were so proud they fought and destroyed fascism, yet they did succeed to reinstall the same fascism in their motherland.
Conservar para nunca esquecer !
This is a lot of good source. Based man
Thanks, glad to share. Thanks for watching!!
There happens to be a small portion of the Berlin wall in Eureka Springs, Arkansas at the Passion Play grounds. It still has the graffiti written on it.
Oh, nice info!
I saw the whole event in TV back then, I was just 7 years old
I was only 8 in this video!
@@tatumergo3931 🕵️♂️
@tatum ergo I think that's why my dad initially took us kids to the berlin zoo on Nov 10th, out of caution (shown in one of my other videos). My mom and her friend didn't go to the zoo, and I think they were seeing if it was safe to have us kids at Checkpoint Charlie, which we went to after.
2:25 When I visited East Germany in 1985 as a backpacker this 19th century Kaiser era memorial had been renamed a memorial against "Militarism and Fascism" by the Erich Honecker East German (DDR) Communist government.
Erich Honecker😆
There was an even better picture of Honecker and Forby celebrating the anniversary of the wall with a banner describing the wall as antifascist.. things fell apart soon after that trip
Sorry Gorby I mean
I was 10 months old when they pulled down the wall. Joegoslavia war, Cold war and Yasser Arafat, Palestina and Israel was the first thing I can remember to watch on the news back then. Way too young to understand. These happenings are all remnants and devastating consequences of WW2, well over 4 decades later.
I'm shocked that the STASI or Volkspolizei would allow anyone, let along foreigners from across the wall, to bring in camera equipment and record in the DDR. Granted, this is under Egon Krenz's SED but still...
It is pretty shocking in retrospect, but surprisingly we also had no problems filming in Moscow and Leningrad (USSR) a couple months later in 1990 (still editing those videos to upload).
There were buildings with the East German flag symbol that if you took pictures of they would arrest you
The GDR wanted tourists and tourists' money. Even before 1989 tourists could travel around the GDR, and take pictures and film. I traveled throughout the GDR taking pictures. Sometimes I took trains, other times I drove a rental car. You had to pay for your hotels ahead of time and they gave you a visa when you arrived.
@@robn8726 East German tour guides would halt the tours so people could take pictures of buildings and other sights. They wanted you to take pictures of GDR symbolism.
East Germany, like all of the east bloc countries, had a list of things not to be photographed. Rail stations, government buildings notably. As a westerner you had to be careful what you photographed, but war memorials and such were usually ok.
🤣 the funniest part - it was western world that first insisted on dividing germany in half and then deliberately forced communists to separate Western Berlin by the Wall.
but blamed, successfully, USSR.
Look kids, Germans goose-stepping in Berlin!
😂
@@jasonscott6174 Thanks for the insights. Was the marching at the GDR 40 parade (FF to 14m30s) more Prussian?
th-cam.com/video/6vBGYe19Ibk/w-d-xo.html
I lived in Germany from 1984 until 1992...so many happy times, when we knew the wall was about to fall and hopes for the future, with freedom. Sadly look at it now, another enemy is closing in and taking away our hopes rights to freedom. When the wall was still there, we had stability, now we have chaos and a terrifying future...I wish the damn thing was back. We had a stalemate, but it felt " secure" now we have danger and uncertainty...I seriously never thought I would write such comments, as truly believed that when the wall was gone, peace would reign...how wrong I was!! 😢
This is so cool
Glad to share, thanks for watching!
*The boys who saw the changing of the guard would have been impressed and inspired to become soldiers one day to fight fascism and its economic system of capitalism.*
east german helmets are excellent cookware for central asian rice dish pilaf
🤣
The helmets at 4:52 look like those in Star Wars
🤣
Where do you think Star War's got the idea of the Empire?
I miss the Berlin wall.
Why?
Why were East German guards still there knowing the wall was basically gone? If anyone now can go see the East German tomb of unknown soldier due to fall of wall, what was the point of changing the guard?
This video was taken on the morning of Nov 9th. The wall was still up at this point. It didn't "fall" until later that same night.
@@darkWorkOne ok thanks. How come the East German guards let western tourists go inside the tomb if they didn’t know until later that it was gonna “fall”? So the communist regime was technically already overthrown. The wall falling that night was just a foregone conclusion?
@Inquisitve m I'm not sure why they allowed western tourists, maybe for propaganda purposes? I'm not sure, but they allowed it. I don't think anyone knew the wall was coming down that night, even the guards.
I don’t think anybody had any idea what would be going on 12 hours later
Definitely not us!
The Russian guards foot and rifle drill was so much more impressive than that of the brits, I think most will agree.
I think all guard changing rituals are bizarre and goofy, regardless of country. But I do have video of Welsh guards from the same time in another video on my channel: th-cam.com/video/NjBQyDf-7n4/w-d-xo.html
ugh, ossis nostalgic for this
The calm before the storm 😉
Basil Fawlty ( from the famous British TV comedy series Fawlty Towers ) can do those silly goose steps way better than those East German guards 😂 - but it's a bit weird how they kept on marching like that in the GDR; I guess that is telling us a lot about that political system ( a combination of communism and fascism / nazism ).
That building at 2:30 was NOT a "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". The building is called "Neue Wache" in German, which translates to "New Guardhouse". Before WW2 it was a memorial of the victims of the Napoleonian wars 1813-1815. After WW2, GDR turned it into memorial of the victims of Nazism - and that's what we see in the video. After reunification of Germany in 1990, it has been changed again and now it is a memorial of victims of WW1 and WW2.
That's wrong. Neue Wache has inside a tomb of 2 people - an unknown soldier and concentration camp inmate. They were laid to rest there in 1969.
@@darkWorkOne Well, maybe it has, I didn't know about it. But it was at the times primarily intended to serve as memorial of the victims of Nazism, and has been labeled as such in tourist guides, city maps etc. and signs on the building itself. The tomb was not mentioned much. I was in that building a few years earlier than you and don't remember anything written there about the tomb, but the inscription "Mahnmal für die Opfer des Faschismus und Militarismus" was displayed very prominently.
So we are both right to some extent... ;)
i've actually seen checkpoint charlie
I still remember checkpoint Charly from the 1980‘s😊
So for me it’s not history but something recent 😅
Seems not that long ago, but also a lifetime, haha
@@briesn7004 That's your takeaway from the video? You cared enough to comment...?
@@briesn7004 💔Watch other videos from berlin on my playlist! th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html
@@briesn7004 Thanks buddy! I appreciate you engaging with my content. Hope your day gets better! Watch my other videos and engage more!! th-cam.com/play/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY.html I love you
@@briesn7004 Ah yes, my psychological condition and my bullshit, I keep forgetting about that. I am so relaxed now, thank you. As an idiot, it's easy to stay relaxed. I don't know much, and my ignorance keeps me nice and relaxed. Nice and relaxed, oh yeah. I hope your psychological condition is nice and relaxed as well. I'm going to go take a bath and stay relaxed and forget about all my bullshit from before when I said, "Seems not that long ago, but also a lifetime, haha". I was such a bullshit idiot with a bad pschological condition when I said those idiotic words.
00:29 just like Britain today!
Absolutely nothing like present day Britain, if you want to leave just get on a plane, no wall keeping you in.
Love my country. Don't care much for all the surveillance. Good to see that you're down with it. 🇬🇧
Yep right down to the shabby buildings. I've been around the world including to a lot of 3rd world countries but this is the only country where you see plants growing out of the roofs of buildings which are still in use.
Interesting how this soldier kid was so curious toward the sound of American language...probably he was well aware that he was serving a losing nation....can imagine him later telling his friends down in Zeulenroda how cool it was to work in these vibrant international enviromnents of Berlin :-)
@@teamgeist3328 well, these were consrcipts and certainly in the course of the year 1989 the felt how the authorities were eroding...furhermore the army remained strong in the east....and sport and military remain the only two areas where East Germans continue to be overrepresented in reunited German...
American language, Was that anything similar to the English spoken by British forces in the British sector in West Berlin ?
@@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe Not really. American English and British English sound different. Even British civilians cant understand a lot when British soldiers talk amongst each other lol.
@@simonh6371 While I was Based in West Berlin, Royal Engineers
Jan Smut Barracks. In 1989
I regularly spoke with British Civilians on a Weekly basis In the NAAFI ,And Tourists and 🇬🇧 Expats I never had a problem understanding them or they understanding myself or my Brothers & Sisters in Arms (Even the Glaswegians And one fellow from the Shetland islands Hello Derick if you ever read this. And Yorkshire And Cumbrians, . In fact the Thursday before the Berlin Wall came down ((9th/10th November 1989.
I had a pleasant evening in a Chinese restaurant (SUCCELENT CHINESE MEAL)
with 20 people from many areas of the UK And understood them all. Yes a lot of alcohol was taken but I was aware what they were yapping about.
@Teamgeist 57% of east germans said lige was beter under communism and want it back
So 1989..... 1989....my guess is we'll SOON see V2.0 of this saga.... Just 10X bigger thought and defiantly before the end of 2025....
Nice
Noice
Хорошо жил Берлин нельзя им ныть, напряжение было место где проходила граница 2 полюсного мира личнокорыстно мелко похабного капиталистического и идейно народного социалистического. Мир уже не станет как раньше и везде будет своя АМЕРИКА как в песне Рамштейн хоть в Африке хоть в Крайнем Севере. Солдаты на видео последние немецкие солдаты вот так умерла Германия остатки от той старой гордой. И там сейчас своя АМЕРИКА но люди люди помнят свою жизнь кто то с радостью вспомнит а кто то осуждает. Спасибо автору за видео а мы простые дети тогдашнего соцлагеря 80 х с радостью переписывались по почте с детьми из других стран и мы ждали эти письма от своих камерад товарищей от Польши СССР Венгрии ну и конечно очень ждали письма от своих друзей с ГДР
My great uncle was stationed is western Berlin
Do you know what years?
Ich vermisse Ostberlin
Die NVA-Soldaten hätten in schwarzen Uniformen mit dem altmodischen Stahlhelm besser ausgesehen.
I was in Berlin in late Summer of 1989 I SWORE THAT WALL WOULD HAVE REMAINED UP TILL TODAY!! But History as always would see it change just 3 months after I left!! I been back many times especially in 1994 when I worked and Lived in Berlin and last in 2006 how the city had changed! I always say the day the Wall came down was the true end of WWII
Absolutely! I was only a child then and didn't realize the full historical impact of the events at the time. I hope this history doesn't repeat and lessons were learned, but I'm not convinced.
There is one last chapter to be closed as we see now.
It did not end, just land owners are others now in control - power...same shit different envelope....
Heard on passing of guard, "Eine kliner poff", said by a bystander.
A bad day indeed for Soviet Bloc & Germany is back to Lebensraum along with US Paperclip Support.
I feel so bad for the German people who were trapped in East Germany. 😢💔
Feel bad better for yourself. Some germans from east side still have a lot happy memories from those days. 🖕
@@Uran_KH-98 yeah. That it was all bad in the GDR is a myth.
Also..people could travel like all over the communist World...that was quite large at that time, right?
Absolutely, we're all just people, after all. And people tend to be proud of where they are from, no matter the circumstances. At least a government isn't telling a group of people where they are allowed to travel in this specific circumstance. I think that's good progress.
@@lolvondgf East Germany was so wonderful that a wall had to be built to keep people from running away
@@Elcicikos i didn't say that everything Was good there and that the government they was that good or in anyway democratic.
Kaiser wilhelm move to the netherlands but he died of old age then his grave is in Germany
1:02 Why is the Solidarność logo in germany? They were a Polish organization
also there are names underneath "Ghandi" "Marthin Luther King" "Wałęsa"
It's a memorial plate put up by the west on the border in order to convey a political message to whoever from the East could see it I presume
@@regularyugoslav8188 that doesn't make any sense
Solidarność was a political organization from POLAND, Poland was from the eastern block during the cold war, so how would they even get to the west side?
and this video is of east berlin, not west
EDIT: i accidentally said western instead of western block, fixed
The Polish Embassy is near the Berlin Wall line, and near Unter den Linden, the main avenue. They had a large sign in front , "It started in Gdansk", as a reminder of the star of events that ended with the fall of the wall and the reunification of Germany.
@@Dutch_Uncle thanks, very interesting :)
The Nonviolent Struggle:
strongest force for peace in freedom.
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Sakharov, Walesa are master builders for YOUR future too.
Wait 0:38 are those cctv , we’re they invented back then ?
It's so common today, I didn't consider that...I'm not sure when they were invented
Yeah, it was in the 70s when tech allowed to record footage that it started to become more wide spread. CCTV was being used in the 40s in some military installations.
CCTV is almost as old as television itself.
It was beautiful times for Germany ✋
Los soviéticos debieron pasarla bien durante la Operación Barbarroja.
@@A.B376 Germans must have had a good time during operation bagration
@@reginaldcopperbottom1738 Tuviste mucha suerte de que hitler no escuchara a sus generales, de lo contrario no existirías
Germany should bring East Germany back like in a theme park. Could call it East German Land similar to maybe Disney land etc.? One of the features would be guys goose stepping around. Of course they would have to use actors.
A North Korea Theme Park with the surpreme leader Kim (im)possible!😆
both of you are obviously usaians
Such strange comments...but I guess some people drunk comment. At least I hope they were drunk, haha.
Shout out to BAHS Class of 90....
And when they got back to West Berlin they went to Burger King, and ordered a Double Whopper with American cheese. And large American french fries, and a great big American chocolate shake. No sauerkraut. No schnitzel.
someone mad at strangers
Showing American's what soldiers look like.
Like soldiers?
where Russia rules, nothing good happens, only hell😂
Z - 4я полицейская дивизия СС!
V - нарукавный знак СС, Абвера, Люфтваффе, Вермахта - построили 4 русорейх !
Hmm, didn't know western military personnel toured East Berlin in uniform.
Military personnel? We were civilians
As part of the agreements that set up the occupation zones in Germany, all military forces were given free access to all the zones in Berlin. US military personnel were actually encouraged to wander around East Berlin in uniform to publically excercise this right.
@@darkWorkOne It's in reference to the US military personnel watching the guard change ceremony.
@@AML2000 Ah, that's so interesting...didn't know, thanks for the info!
Ah back when the soldiers were real.
Are soldiers not real anymore?
@@darkWorkOne Im talking about the guys who hang around the old checkpoint in uniform today trying to make money off tourists.
@@middler5 Oh...wow, I didn't realize that was a thing. Thanks for the info