It was an interesting experience to live in Berlin in 1972-73. Wiedervereinigung (reunion of East and West) was part of the vocabulary, but nobody seriously believed it would happen.

My job was to study the East German government, and it was probably the most interesting job I've ever had. The SED (Socialist Unity Party) ran a pretty tight ship. The East German government had its share of normal problems, but it seemed to be a workable government. Life didn't seem to be horrible for most people - it seemed about as regimented as the life I was living in the U.S. Army. But most people seemed to get at least a reasonable amount of enjoyment out of life.

I got very little information about dissent or about security matters, though; so my impression of East German life may have been a bit skewed. The movie The Lives of Others told a very sad story of the STASI, and I have no reason to think it was untrue. but it seemed that if people kept their mouths shut and stayed out of politics, they could have a pretty good life. My area of study was agriculture - not much exciting there, but I knew every brand of tractor and harvesting combine used in East Germany.

I lived in Berlin for twenty months, and got out twenty times, mostly for one-day vacations in West Germany. A few days before departure, we'd have to get "flag orders" cut, printed in English, French, and Russian. The two Duty Trains left at 7:30 PM, and arrived in either Frankfurt am Main or Bremerhaven at 7:30 the next morning. The fare was paid by the West German government, and we had what were considered first-class sleeping cars (aging, but very clean). When we left West Berlin and entered East Germany, the Soviets reviewed our flag orders while East German guards ran dogs under the train to ensure we weren't carrying stowaways.

I made a point of staying awake while we were in East Germany, because it was like being 50 years back in time. The cobblestone streets were quiet, lighted with the yellowish glow of gas lamps. No neon, and very little traffic. The high point of the trip for me was Magdeburg on the West German border, which had a roundhouse that always had six or seven locomotives steamed up and ready to go. We'd stop at the border for the dogs and orders again, and then I'd sleep until we arrived at our destination.

Most of the time I was in Berlin, I forgot I was living in a walled city. The Wall went mostly through quiet parts of town where nobody went very often, so I often didn't see the Wall for weeks. The Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz areas, once very busy places, were usually deserted.

I haven't been back to Berlin since I got out of the Army in 1993, but I hope to get there soon. I'm looking to rent an apartment (with Internet) there for a month - anybody got suggestions for me?

-Joe-


Oh - Bob the Builder wondered about the sturdiness of the hastily-built Wall, which went up in just a few days in 1961. By 1972, most of the Wall had been rebuilt. If I recall correctly, most of it was ten to twelve feet high, built of cast reinforced concrete, with a rounded top that was hard to grip. And behind the wall was a no man's land, about a hundred yards wide, with barbed wire and mines and other defenses.