Some time ago I told you that the blog name is based on the famous movie Paul & Paula, read it here, so I thought that it would be a good moment to tell you a bit more about East Berlin and how I experienced it…
I was nearly 11 years old when the wall collapsed – 9th of November 1989. I still believe that it was a really good age. Old enough to realize and understand, young enough to just go with the abrupt changes.
Plus it fall together with a change of schools, change from child to teenager…it was ok and nothing dramatic.
My family was always split between the East and the West side so I was used to the fact that there is a border and that you cannot just take the car and visit your uncle. My mum’s sister lived on the other side as well. {she left hidden in the trunk of a car}
It was a big act to be approved to visit the West, nearly impossible even. I remember my mum could go once because my great-grandfather turned 90.
The only person who went more or less regurlarly was my grandma, because it was much easier to get an approval at 60+… everyone else got the stamp “will not come back”…
But back to me and how I experienced it as a little girl and please keep this in mind as you might hear a very different view from people who were adults then…
I do not want to use the word paradise as it does not fit at all however as a kid… it felt a bit like that. You go to Kindergarten and when you turn 6 you start school and become a Pionier. {more about Pioniere here, but in German, could not find anything in English sorry}
Your afternoons were filled with sport or crafty clubs that cost your parents a few pennies a year and after school care was FREE.
Your parents went to work – everything was nationalized and people had the right for work – unemployment did not exist.
I was not really aware of the political system in which I lived. I did not start to think about it until later in my life when I realized how much the socialist East differed from the West.
The state-owned enterprises (VEB) entertained sports clubs and had spaces for holidays available. They also organized summer camps for the children of their employees.
You maybe could not go very far, countries included Czechoslovakia, Poland and if lucky Hungary, Russia and Bulgaria, but you went on holidays – for sure.
Maybe it is because of this background that I could travel all the time, that I want to discover the world and move. My mum totally understands me, supports me and is happy for me because she could not…
After the fall of the wall we too took the car and went to visit the family in the West and yes me too, I stared at all the colours and flashy lights from shop windows and supermarkets. I tried McDonalds and had a coke.
There is still a “border” between the two German parts and I wonder how long it will take to become really one…
Here is a list of a few movies I would recommend if you are interested to learn a bit more about this topic:
Paul & Paula
One of the best-known East German films and due to the film’s political overtones it was almost not released.
Der Tunnel
Based on a true story a group of East Berliners escaping to the West.
Helden wie wir
On November 9 in 1989 {the day of the fall of the Berlin Wall} Klaus Uhltzscht crosses the border to the West – naked. No one wants to believe him, that he is responsible that the wall has fallen, so he now tells his story.
Good Bye, Lenin
Mixes comedy and tragedy, disappointment and joy, despair and hope. Set against the collapse of the Berlin Wall…
Coming out
Premiering in Berlin on the very night that the wall collapsed, Coming Out was the first and last East German feature film that dealt centrally with the lives of gay men.
PS: If you want to ask me something about this topic please go ahead, I am looking forward to hear your questions … and of course share your thoughts…
