I lived in Berlin Germany from '87-'91
Here are a few pics from just before and after the wall fell. These pics are all from around our apartment on Osdorfer strasse and near Checkpoint charlie. The infamous crossing from East to West Berlin.
We lived on Osdorfer Strasse. Our apartments was a little over a half mile from the wall. Our street was cut in half by the wall. Here is a picture. You can see where the wall was built right over the street cutting access off.
Here is a shot showing what it look like peering over the wall looking down the strip of land just beyond the fence you can see in the first pic.
At the end of my street adjacent to the wall so that the E. German and Russians could watch was a fake city the Allied (American, French, Britich) armies played war. It was called doughboy city.
Here is a picture taken from the balcony of our house on Osdorfer Strasse as tanks were headed from there base in the Grunewald area on the other side of the American District in West Berlin. The tanks wuld convoy 7-50 deep headed down to Doughboy city to play war. And yes, at nights we would lay in bed and feel like we were living in a war zone as the explosions, tank rounds, flashes small arms fire would go on for hours and hours.
Typical East German "Border Guard"
We were in E Berlin the Day the Wall fell, today, 30 years ago. We went to the East to eat at high dollar restaurant for my 13th Birthday. The day was cut short with news the border was open for free travel. It took until 3 AM on November 10th to get home. The local Military NEWS, CIA, NSA, Military Intel all caught flat footed. They had NOT CLUE the wall was going to fall. Or else they would have never let us travel to East Berlin that day, and the reporting on the local military news would have been of the border opening, NOT a protest as they were reporting.
This is as we were passing the American "hut" at Checkpoint Charlie in an endless line of traffic trying to get to West Berlin on November 9 1989
The American Checkpoint only a few weeks after the fall of the wall was removed. This is a pic my mom took a few weeks after the fall of the wall as we travled back to East Germany for the first time with NO border crossing or harassing stops by the Russians. ..........................You can see the dirt spot where in once used to sit. IT was always a small shack symbolically showing the temporary nature of the divided city from the view of the Allies. Vs the huge permanent structure you can see in the background the Russians built.
A pic of me and my 2 best friends creating an opening in the wall.
My family in front of the wall
And Finally a video of a huge chunk of the wall we brought home with us. We call it the victory garden.
Bottom line.....Socialism / communism suck!
Here are a few pics from just before and after the wall fell. These pics are all from around our apartment on Osdorfer strasse and near Checkpoint charlie. The infamous crossing from East to West Berlin.
We lived on Osdorfer Strasse. Our apartments was a little over a half mile from the wall. Our street was cut in half by the wall. Here is a picture. You can see where the wall was built right over the street cutting access off.
Here is a shot showing what it look like peering over the wall looking down the strip of land just beyond the fence you can see in the first pic.
At the end of my street adjacent to the wall so that the E. German and Russians could watch was a fake city the Allied (American, French, Britich) armies played war. It was called doughboy city.
Here is a picture taken from the balcony of our house on Osdorfer Strasse as tanks were headed from there base in the Grunewald area on the other side of the American District in West Berlin. The tanks wuld convoy 7-50 deep headed down to Doughboy city to play war. And yes, at nights we would lay in bed and feel like we were living in a war zone as the explosions, tank rounds, flashes small arms fire would go on for hours and hours.
Typical East German "Border Guard"
We were in E Berlin the Day the Wall fell, today, 30 years ago. We went to the East to eat at high dollar restaurant for my 13th Birthday. The day was cut short with news the border was open for free travel. It took until 3 AM on November 10th to get home. The local Military NEWS, CIA, NSA, Military Intel all caught flat footed. They had NOT CLUE the wall was going to fall. Or else they would have never let us travel to East Berlin that day, and the reporting on the local military news would have been of the border opening, NOT a protest as they were reporting.
This is as we were passing the American "hut" at Checkpoint Charlie in an endless line of traffic trying to get to West Berlin on November 9 1989
The American Checkpoint only a few weeks after the fall of the wall was removed. This is a pic my mom took a few weeks after the fall of the wall as we travled back to East Germany for the first time with NO border crossing or harassing stops by the Russians. ..........................You can see the dirt spot where in once used to sit. IT was always a small shack symbolically showing the temporary nature of the divided city from the view of the Allies. Vs the huge permanent structure you can see in the background the Russians built.
A pic of me and my 2 best friends creating an opening in the wall.
My family in front of the wall
And Finally a video of a huge chunk of the wall we brought home with us. We call it the victory garden.
Bottom line.....Socialism / communism suck!
