The Wall

Blog #3

The Wall Beginning to End 

The Berlin Wall was constructed in the night of August 13, 1961, which was on a weekend when most Berliners slept. In the early morning of that Sunday most of the work was done and the border to West Berlin was closed. East German soldiers teared up streets and installed barbed wire fences throughout Berlin, separating the East and the West. 

The first generation of the wall consisted of concrete elements and square blocks. Early on, there were residential buildings along 23 miles of the wall and people attempted to simply jump over the wall from upstairs windows and roofs. Shortly the second generation of the wall was built to prevent those escapes. Between 1961 and 1988 the estimated number of escape attempts from East to West Germany varies widely. There is a verified figure of close to 5000 escape attempts, but some estimate numbers as high as 100000. Along the Berlin Wall alone, from 1961 to 1989 at least 136 people were killed or died in other ways directly connected to the GDR border regime. The figures vary so widely because of the secretive nature of the East German government and its reluctance to share news that would obviously hurt the country’s political image. Powerful spotlights lit the area between the two fences and it was layered with sand and fine gravel so that footprints would be easily seen. This area became known as the “Death Strip” because so many who tried to defect and made it through the first fence found themselves in an impossible situation and were often shot for their efforts. The dimensions of the Berlin Wall were impressive. It measured 103 miles in length and stood 12 feet tall and at its peak, held 302 watchtowers and 20 bunkers. There were hundreds of armed guards as well as guard dogs. In total there were four generation of the wall. The last one consist of 45 000 segments, which each was 11.81 ft. high, almost 4 ft. wide and weight 2750 kg. The total purchase price was 16 million Mark (nowadays around 8.5 Million Euros/ 11 Million US Dollars).

In Marons story “Place of Birth: Berlin” she mentions how significant the wall was for her. The wall was always in her life, she didn’t know a life in a united Germany. For her, East Germany was all she knew, East Berlin was all she knew and she loved. When the wall came down Monica remembers standing “in the middle of a group of forty or fifty people with a stupid beautiful look on my face and watch as the workers dismantle the wall with pneumatic drills and other machinery.” She remembers “We all stay put, we don’t want to go through the bridge, we could go via Bornholmer Strasse or other crossing points which are already open if we wanted; we want to see the end of world being carried away, meter by meter.” just like Monicas memories many East German citizens had the same. They were happy, smiled at each other, hugged one another, cheered for joy and were excited to cross the border. 

After 28 years as prisoners of their own country, euphoric East Germans streamed to checkpoints and rushed past bewildered guards, many falling tearfully into the arms of West Germans welcoming them on the other side.

Many Berliners grew up not knowing how the West looked like. Monica “really understood for the first time in fact that the two halves of the city were part of a whole and their parts belonged to the same body.”

Work Cited-

Maron, Monica. Place of Birth: Berlin. Berlin Tales. Oxford UP. PrintMarven, Lyn, and Helen Constantine. Berlin Tales: Stories. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

"Part 6: Berlin and the Two Germanies." Homepage: Adolph N. Hofmann. Web. 05 May 2011. <http://art.members.sonic.net/unify90/ber6.html>.

THE FALL OF THE WALL (video)


The day the wall came down 11/9/1989

Work Cited-


"The Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Nov. 2009. Web. 05 May 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmRPP2WXX0U>.

Berlin Before And After The Wall


I found this very cool link online. When you slide over the picture it shows you the same place before and after the wall. How cool is that?


NyTimes


Check it out!!!

Work Cited-


False. "THE BERLIN WALL: 20 YEARS LATER; A Division Through Time." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 Nov. 2009. Web. 05 May 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/09/world/europe/20091109-berlinwallthennow.html>.

Freie Deutsche Jugend

Blog #2


Freie Deutsche Jugend- Seid bereit!(Be Ready!)


In her story, Place of Birth: Berlin, Monika Maron mentions the FDJ "As my parents' child, I was not allowed in the West and was even excluded from leafletting with the FDJ." (page 74). My mother was an active member in the FDJ. Like mentioned before, when people think of East Germany they always think of the negative first. The FDJ, was a Youth Movement with it's pros and cons as well. After talking to my mother I learned that she liked being in the FDJ. She felt a sense of belonging, she was with her friends, and learned many things helping her out in life later and after the Wende.    


 The Freie Deutsche Jugend, FDJ (Free German Youth) was the official socialist youth movement in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and it was meant for boys and girls between the ages of 14 to 25. Nearly 75% of the German population belonged to the FDJ, which was founded in March 7th, 1946. 

     

The political and ideological goal was to influence every aspect of the youth's life in the GDR, distribution of Marxism-Leninism and the indoctrination with socialist behavior. The purpose was to instill Socialist ideology in the children.The East German youth movement was controlled by the Communist Party and promoted the Socialist ideology of the Party. This included some of the universal values like honesty,family and morality. Morality in the Communist world was redefined as whatever promoted the ckass struggle and the defeat of Communism. This meant police state rule and concentration camps. Children were incouraged to report on their parents. The German youth program was highly politicized and involved telling the children how to think about political issues. The FDJ became an instrument for influencing the coming generations. An important part of its influence was that membership in the FDJ soon determined access to institutions of higher learning, recreation and sports facilities, and ultimately career opportunities. The membership was theoretically voluntary, but in practice, however a membership was compulsory. The FDJ was a school- based program so it was very difficult for children to avoid the program. Children had the choice to refuse membership, but most likely their teachers were leaders of the FDJ and could have reported such refusal to the Stasi. By the 1960's an estimate of 98% of all school children were involved in the FDJ.

    The FDJ had regular meeting, mostly after school and always on school campus. Meetings never took place in private homes or churches.

Members of the FDJ wore uniforms, which consist of garison cap, white shirt, and red scarfe worn with dark shirts and pants/skirts.

The FDJ was an effective instrument for influencing the coming generations. An important part of its influence was that membership in the FDJ determined access to institutions of higher learning, recreation and sports facilities, and ultimately career opportunities.

Work Cited-


Maron, Monica. Place of Birth: Berlin. Berlin Tales. Oxford UP. Print.
Marven, Lyn, and Helen Constantine. Berlin Tales: Stories. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

Life in East Germany

Blog #1


It's not always greener on the other side


In her short story "Place of Birth: Berlin," Monika Maron describes her memories, feelings and emotions when she thinks back of her upbringing in East Berlin. She was born when Germany was separated into East and West and "As my parents' child, I was not allowed into the West."

     German children who grew up before 1989 had very different childhoods based on whether they were born in the Western or Eastern part of their country. The general perception of West Germans is, that childhood must have been troublesome in the East. True, East German kids did generally have fewer toys and fewer opportunities to go on holiday. Whether that really made them unhappier remains hard to prove.

The majority of people associate East Germany with the negative site of communism, but there were many positive influences as well.                                

     Eric, who was born in East Germany remembers "I was born in 1978 and spent most of my childhood in Penig, a small town in the Southern part of East Germany. My father worked in a factory, my mother in a shop. We lived in a typical Eastern German apartment block, just like most other ’normal’ people at the time. I was not really aware of any political system. I only started to think about all this later in life, when I realized how much socialism made East Germany different from the West.”

The Spiegel, a very well know and respected magazine in Germany conducted a poll  of two generations of Eastern and Western Germans in order to provide a progress report on the extent to which unification has taken place within the national psyche. A full 92 percent of 35-to 50-year-old East Germans believe that one of the greatest attributes of the former East Germany was its social safety net, with 47 percent of their children in the East believing the same thing. By contrast, only 26 percent of western youth and 48 percent of their parents expressed the view that East Germany had a strong social welfare system compared to today's.

   

  1984, five years before the wall came down I was born in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, one of the five states that belonged to East Germany at the time. The only memories I have from this time is being mesmerized by David Hasselhoff and driving in my uncles baby blue Trabbi every weekend (original picture below). I was too young to realize that Germany was split and we "Ossis" (a slang word from people who were born in the East) were different from the "Wessis" (slang for people from the West). The fall of the wall and the opening of the borders didn't make a difference in my life, but I do remember that the supermarkets looked different on Christmas than the years before. The lights and decoration looked modern compared to the old Santa Claus the year before and I remember our small town grew bigger and more markets and stores opened up quickly. I was born in East Germany, but not until I grew up I noticed the difference or how "the Wende" affected my family and what people think of East Germany and us "Ossis."

      My mother told me once, that she misses certain things about the East. When I was born in 1984 she had a secure day care place for me even before I was born, as well as a secure job which guaranteed her not to fire her, because they knew she has a child and was a single mother. Nowadays day care places are not guaranteed anymore and are sometimes so expensive some people cannot afford a place for their child. She also told me that the government regulated health care, meaning that every six month she had doctors checking up on me while I was a baby and gave her exact nutrition plans and everything else she needed. 

My mother was born in1962, only one year after the wall was built. She only knew how life was in the East part of Germany until 1989. She has good memories and positive experience growing up in East Germany. She grew up in Rostock, which she has lived her whole life and just like Monika Maron she made many memories in that city. My mother remembers her youth in the FDJ (which I will go into details in my second blog) and her work environment where she earned bonuses by being a good worker for the country. When my mother moved away from Rostock seven years ago she experienced that some people to this day still have the "wall in their heads." People still divide "Ossis" and "Wessis" and make jokes of East Germans. Differences between eastern and western German youth are no longer as dramatic as they were within their parents' generation.

 She misses her hometown and cannot wait to return once she retired. Rostock (picture below) is all she knows and all she always felt the most comfortable. 

      "A feeling came over me that I can't explain to this day, a feeling if disquiet and delight in equal measure, for which the only appropriate word is love." Monika remembers her childhood and the city, where she made so many memories. The city, where she was "happy or crying, alone, in company, in love, out of love."

Work Cited-

"East Germany." Spiegel. Web. 05 May 2012. <http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/east_germany/>.

Maron, Monica. Place of Birth: Berlin. Berlin Tales. Oxford UP. Print.

Marven, Lyn, and Helen Constantine. Berlin Tales: Stories. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

Herzlich Wilkommen-


This is my first post and I am trying my blog out. I am new to this, but I am excited on sharing my thoughts, stories, inspirations and experiences with you guys. I created this blog for my Humanities class at SFSU.
I was born and raised in Germany. My hometown is only two hours away from Germany's capital, Berlin.
I've been to Berlin many times, and enjoyed the city a lot. Berlin has many fascinating and interesting neighborhoods, cafes, squares and many interesting points of interest like Brandenburger Gate (pictured above), Alexander Platz (picture below), The Wall, Fernsehturm (TV Tower) and Memorial Church, which is even more stunning to see in person than pictures can show. I also included a picture of Knut, who is Germany's most popular polar bear so far. Knut got his own books, magazines, postcards, stickers and many TV shows and news related stories were aired in Germany and around the world. Unfortunately Knut died after only 2 years, but every German, and especially people in Berlin have Knut in loving memory.


I am excited to read and learn more by reading my peers blogs. Lets explore the city together and enjoy getting to know Berlin!