West Berlin (German: Berlin (West) or colloquially
West-Berlin) was a political enclave which
comprised the western part of Berlin during
the years of the Cold War.
There was no specific date on which the sectors
of Berlin occupied by the Western Allies became
"West Berlin", but 1949 is widely accepted
as the year in which the name was adopted.
West Berlin aligned itself politically with
the Federal Republic of Germany ("the Bonn
Republic") and was directly or indirectly
represented in its federal institutions.
West Berlin was formally controlled by the
Western Allies and was entirely surrounded
by the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East
Germany.
West Berlin had great symbolic significance
during the Cold War, as it was widely considered
by westerners as an "island of freedom".
It was heavily subsidised by West Germany
as a "showcase of the West".
A wealthy city, West Berlin was noted for
its distinctly cosmopolitan character, and
as a centre of education, research and culture.
With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin
had the largest population of any city in
Germany during the Cold War era.West Berlin
was 100 miles (161 kilometres) east and north
of the Inner German border and only accessible
by land from West Germany by narrow rail and
highway corridors.
It consisted of the American, British, and
French occupation sectors established in 1945.
The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically
separated West Berlin from its East Berlin
and East German surroundings until it fell
in 1989.
== Origins ==
The Potsdam Agreement established the legal
framework for the occupation of Germany in
the wake of World War II.
According to this agreement, Germany would
be formally under the administration of the
four major wartime Allies (the United States,
the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet
Union) until a German government "acceptable
to all parties" could be established.
The territory of Germany, as it existed in
1937, would be reduced by most of Eastern
Germany thus creating the former eastern territories
of Germany.
The remaining territory would be divided into
four zones, each administered by one of the
four allied countries.
Berlin, which was surrounded by the Soviet
zone of occupation—newly established in
most of Middle Germany—would be similarly
divided, with the Western Allies occupying
an enclave consisting of the western parts
of the city.
According to the agreement, the occupation
of Berlin could end only as a result of a
quadripartite agreement.
The Western Allies were guaranteed three air
corridors to their sectors of Berlin, and
the Soviets also informally allowed road and
rail access between West Berlin and the western
parts of Germany (see section on traffic).At
first, this arrangement was intended to be
of a temporary administrative nature, with
all parties declaring that Germany and Berlin
would soon be reunited.
However, as the relations between the Western
Allies and the Soviet Union soured and the
Cold War began, the joint administration of
Germany and Berlin broke down.
Soon, Soviet-occupied Berlin and western-occupied
Berlin had separate city administrations.
In 1948, the Soviets tried to force the Western
Allies out of Berlin by imposing a land blockade
on the western sectors—the Berlin Blockade.
The West responded by using its air corridors
for supplying their part of the city with
food and other goods through the Berlin Airlift.
In May 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade,
and West Berlin as a separate city with its
own jurisdiction was maintained.Following
the Berlin Blockade, normal contacts between
East and West Berlin resumed.
This was temporary until talks were resumed.
In 1952, the East German government began
sealing its borders, further isolating West
Berlin.
As a direct result, electrical grids were
separated and phone lines were cut.
The Volkspolizei and Soviet military personnel
also continued the process of blocking all
the roads leading away from the city, resulting
in several armed standoffs and at least one
skirmish with the French Gendarmerie and the
Bundesgrenzschutz that June.
However, the culmination of the schism did
not occur until 1961 with the construction
of the Berlin Wall.
== Legal status ==
From the legal theory followed by the Western
Allies, the occupation of most of Germany
ended in 1949 with the establishment of the
Federal Republic of Germany (23 May 1949)
and of the German Democratic Republic (7 October
1949).
Under Article 127 of the Basic Law (or constitution)
of the Federal Republic, provision was made
for federal laws to be extended to Greater
Berlin (as West Berlin was officially known)
as well as Baden, Rhineland-Palatinate and
Württemberg-Hohenzollern within one year
of its promulgation.
However, because the occupation of Berlin
could only be ended by a quadripartite agreement,
Berlin remained an occupied territory under
the formal sovereignty of the allies.
Hence, the Basic Law was not fully applicable
to West Berlin.On 4 August 1950 the House
of Representatives (the city's legislature)
passed a new constitution, declaring Berlin
to be a state of the Federal Republic and
the provisions of the Basic Law as binding
law superior to Berlin state law (Article
1, clauses 2 and 3).
However, this became statutory law only on
1 September and only with the inclusion of
the western Allied provision according to
which Art.
1, clauses 2 and 3, were deferred for the
time being; the clauses became valid law only
on 3 October 1990 (the day of Germany's unification).
It stated that:
Article 87 is interpreted as meaning that
during the transitional period Berlin shall
possess none of the attributes of a twelfth
Land.
The provision of this Article concerning the
Basic Law will only apply to the extent necessary
to prevent a conflict between this Law and
the Berlin Constitution...
Thus civic liberties and personal rights (except
for the privacy of telecommunications) guaranteed
by the Basic Law were also valid in West Berlin.
In addition, West German federal statutes
could only take effect in West Berlin with
the approval of the city's legislature.
The ambiguous legal status of the city, then
still legally styled as Greater Berlin (although
technically only comprising the western sectors),
meant that West Berliners were not eligible
to vote in federal elections.
In their notification of permission of 12
May 1949 the three western military governors
for Germany explained their proviso in No.
4, as follows:
A third reservation concerns the participation
of Greater Berlin in the Federation.
We interpret the effect of Articles 23 and
144 (2) of the Basic Law as constituting acceptance
of our previous request that while Berlin
may not be accorded voting membership in the
Bundestag or Bundesrat nor be governed by
the Federation she may, nevertheless, designate
a small number of representatives to the meetings
of those legislative bodies.
Consequently, West Berliners were indirectly
represented in the Bundestag in Bonn by 22
non-voting delegates chosen by the House of
Representatives.
Similarly, the Senate (the city's executive)
sent four non-voting delegates to the Bundesrat.
In addition, when the first direct elections
to the European Parliament were held in 1979,
West Berlin's three members were instead indirectly
elected by the House of Representatives.However,
as West German citizens, West Berliners were
able to stand for election in West Germany.
For example, Social Democrat Willy Brandt,
who eventually became Chancellor, was elected
via his party's list of candidates.
It should be noted that the West German government
considered all West Berliners as well as all
citizens of the GDR to be citizens of West
Germany.
Also, male residents of West Berlin were exempt
from the Federal Republic's compulsory military
service; this exemption made the city a popular
destination for West German young people,
which resulted in a flourishing counterculture,
which in turn became one of the defining features
of the city.
The Western Allies remained the ultimate political
authorities in West Berlin.
All legislation of the House of Representatives,
whether of the West Berlin legislature or
adopted federal law, only applied under the
proviso of confirmation by the three Western
Allied commanders-in-chief.
If they approved a bill, it was enacted as
part of West Berlin's statutory law.
If the commanders-in-chief rejected a bill,
it did not become law in West Berlin; this,
for example, was the case with West German
laws on military duty.
West Berlin was run by the elected Governing
Mayor and Senate seated at Rathaus Schöneberg.
The Governing Mayor and Senators (ministers)
had to be approved by the Western Allies and
thus derived their authority from the occupying
forces, not from their electoral mandate.
The Soviets unilaterally declared the occupation
of East Berlin at an end along with the rest
of East Germany.
This move was, however, not recognised by
the Western Allies, who continued to view
all of Berlin as a jointly occupied territory
belonging to neither of the two countries.
This view was supported by the continued practice
of patrols of all four sectors by soldiers
of all four occupying powers.
Thus, occasionally Western Allied soldiers
were on patrol in East Berlin as were Soviet
soldiers in West Berlin.
After the Wall was built, East Germany wanted
to control Western Allied patrols upon entering
or leaving East Berlin, a practice that the
Western Allies regarded as unacceptable.
So, after protests to the Soviets, the patrols
continued uncontrolled on both sides, with
the tacit agreement that the western Allies
would not use their patrolling privileges
for helping Easterners to flee to the West.
In many ways, West Berlin functioned as the
de facto 11th state of West Germany, and was
depicted on maps published in the West as
being a part of West Germany.
There was freedom of movement (to the extent
allowed by geography) between West Berlin
and West Germany.
There were no separate immigration regulations
for West Berlin, all immigration rules for
West Germany being followed in West Berlin.
West German entry visas issued to visitors
were stamped with "for the Federal Republic
of Germany, including Land Berlin", in German
"für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland einschl.
[einschließlich] des Landes Berlin", prompting
complaints from the Soviet Union.
However, this wording remained on the visas
throughout the rest of the entire period of
West Berlin's existence.West Berlin remained
under military occupation until 3 October
1990, the day of unification of East Germany,
East and West Berlin with Federal Republic
of Germany.
The West German Federal Government, as well
as the governments of most western nations,
considered East Berlin to be a "separate entity"
from East Germany, and while the Western Allies
later opened embassies in East Berlin, they
recognised the city only as the seat of government
of the GDR, not as its capital.Communist countries,
however, did not recognise West Berlin as
part of West Germany and usually described
it as a "third" German jurisdiction, called
in German selbständige politische Einheit
("independent political unit").
On maps of East Berlin, West Berlin often
did not appear as an adjacent urban area but
as a monochrome terra incognita, sometimes
showing the letters WB, meaning West Berlin,
or overlaid with a legend or pictures.
It was often labelled "Besonderes politisches
Gebiet Westberlin" (West Berlin special political
area).
== Immigration ==
The Federal Republic of Germany issued West
German passports to West Berliners on request
that showed West Berlin as their place of
residence.
However, West Berliners could not use their
passports for crossing East German borders
and were denied entrance by any country of
the Eastern Bloc, since governments of these
countries held the view that West Germany
was not authorized to issue legal papers for
West Berliners.Since West Berlin was not a
sovereign state, it did not issue passports.
Instead, West Berliners were issued with "auxiliary
identity cards" by the West Berlin authorities.
These differed visually from the regular West
German identity cards, with green bindings
instead of the grey standard, they did not
show the "Federal Eagle" or coat of arms,
and did not contain any indications as to
the issuing State.
However, they did have a statement that the
holder of the document was a German citizen.
From 11 June 1968, East Germany made it mandatory
that West Berlin and West German "transit
passengers" obtain a transit visa, issued
upon entering East Germany, because under
its second constitution East Germany considered
West Germans and West Berliners as foreigners.
Since identity cards had no pages to stamp
visas, issuers of East German visas stamped
their visas onto separate leaflets which were
loosely stuck into the identity cards, which,
until the mid-1980s, were little booklets.
Although the West German government subsidized
visa fees, they were still payable by individual
travellers.In order to enter visa-requiring
Western countries, such as the US, West Berliners
commonly used West German passports.
However, for countries which did not require
stamped visas for entry, including Switzerland,
Austria, and many members of the then European
Economic Community, including the United Kingdom,
West Berlin identity cards were also acceptable
for entry.Active immigration and asylum politics
in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration
in the 1960s and 1970s.
Currently, Berlin is home to at least 178,000
Turkish and Turkish German residents, making
it the largest Turkish community outside of
Turkey.
== Naming conventions ==
Most Westerners called the Western sectors
"Berlin", unless further distinction was necessary.
The West German Federal government officially
called West Berlin "Berlin (West)", although
it also used the hyphenated "West-Berlin",
whereas the East German government commonly
referred to it as "Westberlin".
Starting from 31 May 1961, East Berlin was
officially called Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR
(Berlin, Capital of the GDR), replacing the
formerly used term Demokratisches Berlin,
or simply "Berlin", by East Germany, and "Berlin
(Ost)" by the West German Federal government.
Other names used by West German media included
"Ost-Berlin", "Ostberlin", or "Ostsektor".
These different naming conventions for the
divided parts of Berlin, when followed by
individuals, governments, or media, commonly
indicated their political leanings, with the
centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
using "Ost-Berlin" and the centre-left Süddeutsche
Zeitung using "Ostberlin".
== Period following the building of the Berlin
Wall ==
After the Berlin Wall was constructed, West
German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer suggested
to U.S. President John F. Kennedy that the
United States propose a swap of West Berlin
with Thuringia and parts of Saxony and Mecklenburg;
the city's population would have been relocated
to West Germany.
While the Kennedy administration seriously
considered the idea, it did not make the proposal
to the Soviet Union.NATO also took an increased
interest in the specific issue related to
West Berlin, and drafted plans to ensure to
defend the city against an eventual attack
from the East.
A tripartite planning group known as LIVE
OAK, working together with NATO, was entrusted
with potential military responses to any crisis.On
26 June 1963, President Kennedy visited West
Berlin and gave a public speech known for
its famous phrase "Ich bin ein Berliner".
The Four Power Agreement on Berlin (September
1971) and the Transit Agreement (May 1972)
helped to significantly ease tensions over
the status of West Berlin.
While many restrictions remained in place,
it also made it easier for West Berliners
to travel to East Germany and it simplified
the regulations for Germans travelling along
the autobahn transit routes.
At the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, U.S. President
Ronald Reagan provided a challenge to the
then Soviet leader:
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace,
if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization:
Come here to this gate!
Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
On 9 November 1989, the Wall was opened, and
the two parts of the city were once again
physically—though at this point not legally—united.
The Two Plus Four Treaty, signed by the two
German states and the four wartime allies,
paved the way for German reunification and
an end to the Western Allies' occupation of
West Berlin.
On 3 October 1990—the day Germany was officially
reunified—East and West Berlin formally
reunited as the city of Berlin, which then
joined the enlarged Federal Republic as a
city-state along the lines of the existing
West German city-states of Bremen and Hamburg.
Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became
the first mayor of the reunified city.
== Boroughs of West Berlin ==
West Berlin comprised the following boroughs:
In the American Sector:
Neukölln
Kreuzberg
Schöneberg
Steglitz
Tempelhof
ZehlendorfIn the British Sector:
Charlottenburg
Tiergarten
Wilmersdorf
SpandauIn the French Sector:
Reinickendorf
Wedding
== 
Exclaves ==
West Berlin's border was identical to the
municipal boundary of Berlin as defined in
the Greater Berlin Act of 1920 and amended
in 1938, and the border between the Soviet
sector and the French, British, and American
sectors respectively, which followed the boundaries
of Berlin administrative boroughs as defined
in the same years.
Another amendment was added in 1945 at the
border between the British sector of Berlin
(ceding West-Staaken) and the Soviet zone
(ceding the Seeburg Salient) so that the Wehrmacht
airfield at Berlin-Gatow became part of the
British sector and the airfield at Berlin-Staaken
became part of the Soviet sector.
The resulting borderline was further complicated
with a lot of geographical oddities, including
a number of exclaves and enclaves that Greater
Berlin had inside some neighbouring municipalities
since 1920, all of which happened to become
part of the British or American sectors after
1945, so that parts of West Berlin came to
be surrounded by East Germany.Furthermore,
the Gatow/Staaken exchange in August 1945
resulted in the geographically western half
of Berlin-Staaken, which was located in the
western outskirts of the city, becoming de
jure Soviet occupied.
However, the de facto administration remained
with the Borough of Spandau in the British
sector.
Therefore, all inhabitants of Staaken could
vote in West Berlin's city state elections
in 1948 and 1950.
On 1 February 1951, East German Volkspolizei
surprised the people of western Staaken by
occupying the area and ended its administration
by the Spandau Borough; instead, western Staaken
became an exclave of the Soviet occupied borough
Berlin-Mitte in the city centre.
However, on 1 June 1952, western Staaken's
de facto administration was placed with neighbouring
East German Falkensee in the East German district
Nauen.
This situation was undone on 3 October 1990,
the day of German unification, when western
Staaken was reincorporated into united Berlin.
== Post and telecommunications ==
West Berlin had its own postal administration
first called Deutsche Post Berlin (1947–1955)
and then Deutsche Bundespost Berlin, separate
from West Germany's Deutsche Bundespost, and
issuing its own postage stamps until 1990.
However, the separation was merely symbolic;
in reality West Berlin's postal service was
completely integrated with West Germany's,
using the same postal code system.West Berlin
was also integrated into the West German telephone
network, using the same international dialling
code as West Germany, +49, with the area code
030.
As in West Germany, calls to East Berlin from
West Berlin were made using the prefix 00372
(international access code 00, East German
country code 37, area code 2).In order to
reduce eastern tapping of telecommunications
between West Berlin and West Germany, microwave
radio relay connections were built, which
transmitted telephone calls between antenna
towers in West Germany and West Berlin by
radio.
Two such towers were built, one antenna in
Berlin-Wannsee and later a second in Berlin-Frohnau,
finished on 16 May 1980 with a height of 358
m (1,175 ft) (this tower was demolished on
8 February 2009).
== Transport and transit travel ==
West Berliners could travel to West Germany
and all Western and non-aligned states at
all times, except during the Berlin Blockade
by the Soviet Union (24 June 1948 to 12 May
1949) when there were restrictions on passenger
flight capacity imposed by the airlift.
Travelling to and from West Berlin by road
or train always required passing through East
German border checks, since West Berlin was
an enclave surrounded by East Germany and
East Berlin.
On 2 October 1967, six years after the Wall
was constructed, tram tracks in West Berlin
were lifted because the authorities wanted
to promote car usage, meaning that the tram
system remaining today runs almost entirely
within the former East Berlin.
=== Road traffic ===
For travel from West Berlin through East Germany
by car or rail a valid passport was required
for citizens of West Germany and other western
nationals to be produced at East German border
checks; West Berliners could get admission
only through their identity cards (see above).
For travel from West Berlin to Denmark, Sweden
and West Germany via dedicated East German
transit routes (German: Transitstrecke), East
German border guards issued a transit visa
for a fee of 5 Western Deutsche Mark.
For journeys between West Berlin and Poland
or Czechoslovakia through East Germany, each
traveller was also required to present a valid
visa for the destination country.The transit
routes for road travel connecting West Berlin
to other destinations usually consisted of
autobahns and other highways, marked by Transit
signs.
Transit travellers (German: Transitreisende)
were prohibited to leave the transit routes,
and occasional traffic checkpoints would check
for violators.
There were four transit routes between West
Berlin and West Germany:
One between West Berlin's Heerstraße with
the East German checkpoint in Dallgow until
1951, then replaced by Staaken for destinations
in Northern Germany (originally via highway
F 5) at the Eastern checkpoint in Horst (a
part of today's Nostorf) and the Western Lauenburg
upon Elbe.
These were replaced on 20 November 1982 by
a new autobahn crossing at Zarrentin (E)/Gudow
(W).
On 1 January 1988, the new Stolpe checkpoint
opened on this route to West Berlin.
This is part of today's Hohen Neuendorf (E)/Berlin-Heiligensee
(W).
A second transit route led to Northwestern
and Western Germany – following today's
A 2 – crossing the inner German border at
Marienborn (E)/Helmstedt (W), also called
Checkpoint Alpha.
A third route to Southwestern Germany consisted
of today's A 9 and A 4 with border crossing
at Wartha (E)/Herleshausen (W).
A fourth (via today's A 9) to Southern Germany
had border crossings originally at Mount Juchhöh
(E)/Töpen (W) and later at Hirschberg upon
Saale (E)/ Rudolphstein (a part of today's
Berg in Upper Franconia) (W).
The latter three routes used autobahns built
during the Nazi era.
They left West Berlin at Checkpoint Dreilinden,
also called Checkpoint Bravo (W)/Potsdam-Drewitz
(E).
Transit routes to Poland were via today's
A 11 to Nadrensee-Pomellen (East Germany,
GDR)/Kołbaskowo (Kolbitzow) (PL), eastwards
via today's A 12 to Frankfurt upon Oder (GDR)/Słubice
(PL), or southeastwards via today's A 13 and
A 15 to Forst in Lusatia/Baršć (GDR)/Zasieki
(Berge) (PL).
Additional routes led to Denmark and Sweden
by ferry between Warnemünde (GDR) and Gedser
(DK) and by ferry between Sassnitz (GDR) and
Rønne (DK) or Trelleborg (S).
Routes to Czechoslovakia were via Schmilka
(GDR)/Hřensko (Herrnskretschen) (ČSSR) and
via Fürstenau (a part of today's Geising)
(GDR)/Cínovec (Cinvald/Böhmisch Zinnwald)
(ČSSR).
The transit routes were also used for East
German domestic traffic.
This meant that transit passengers could potentially
meet with East Germans and East Berliners
at restaurants at motorway rest stops.
Since such meetings were deemed illegal by
the East German government, border guards
would calculate the travel duration from the
time of entry and exit of the transit route.
Excessive time spent for transit travel could
arouse their suspicion and prompt questioning
or additional checking by the border guards.
Western coaches could stop only at dedicated
service areas, since the East German government
was concerned that East Germans might potentially
use coaches to escape into the West.On 1 September
1951 East Germany, because of a shortage in
foreign currencies, started to levy road tolls
on cars using the transit routes.
At first the toll amounted to 10 Ostmark per
passenger car and 10 to 50 for trucks, depending
on size.
Ostmarks had to be exchanged at Deutsche Mark
a rate of 1:1.
On 30 March 1955, East Germany raised the
toll for passenger cars to 30 Deutsche Marks,
but after West German protests, in June of
the same year it changed it back to the previous
rate.
Following a new agreement between East and
West Germany, starting from 1 January 1980
the Federal Government in Bonn paid an annual
lump sum (German: Transitpauschale) of 50
million Deutsche Marks to the Eastern government,
so that transit passengers no longer had to
pay tolls individually.
=== Railway ===
Four transit train connections—earlier also
called interzonal train (German: Interzonenzug)—connected
West Berlin with Hamburg via Schwanheide (E)/Büchen
(W) in the North, with Hanover via Marienborn
(E)/Helmstedt (W) in the West, with Frankfurt
upon Main via Gerstungen (E)/Hönebach (W)
in the Southwest, and with Nuremberg via Probstzella
(E)/Ludwigsstadt (W) in the South of West
Germany.
These transit trains did not service domestic
passengers of East Germany and made stops
in East Germany almost exclusively for East
German border guards upon entering and leaving
the country.
Until the construction of the Berlin Wall,
interzonal trains would also stop once on
their way within East Germany for travellers
having a visa for entering or leaving East
Germany.
Train travel from West Berlin to Czechoslovakia,
Denmark (by ferry), Poland and Sweden (by
ferry) required a visa to enter East Berlin
or East Germany to allow transfer to an international
train—which also carried domestic passengers—bound
for an international destination.
One railway connection between West Berlin
and Oebisfelde (E)/Wolfsburg (W) was reserved
for freight trains only.In July and August
1945, the three Western Allies and the Soviet
Union decided that the railways, previously
serviced by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German
Reich Railways), should continue to be operated
by one railway administration to service all
four sectors.
So West Berlin had – with the exception
of a few small private railway lines – no
separate railway administration.
Furthermore, the operation of the Reichsbahn's
Berlin S-Bahn electric metropolitan transport
network, consisting of commuter trains, was
also maintained.
After the founding of East Germany on 7 October
1949 it gained responsibility for the Reichsbahn
in its territory.
East Germany continued to run its railways
under the official name Deutsche Reichsbahn,
which thus maintained responsibility for almost
all railway transport in all four sectors
of Berlin.
The GDR-controlled 'Bahnpolizei', the Reichsbahn's
railway police, were authorised to patrol
station premises and other railway property
in the whole city including West Berlin.
The legal necessity of keeping the term 'Deutsche
Reichsbahn' explains the surprising use of
the word 'Reich' (with its Imperial and Nazi
connotations) in the name of an official organisation
of the communist GDR.
After the Berlin Blockade transit trains (German:
Transitzüge) would leave and enter West Berlin
only via one line through Berlin-Wannsee railway
station (W) and Potsdam Griebnitzsee railway
station (E).
All transit trains would start or end in East
Berlin, passing through West Berlin with only
one stop in the Western Berlin Zoologischer
Garten railway station, which became West
Berlin's main railway station.
Until 1952, the Reichsbahn also permitted
stops at other stations on the way through
the Western sectors.
After easing of tensions between East and
West Germany, starting on 30 May 1976 transit
trains going westwards, southwestwards, or
southwards stopped once again at Wannsee.
For transit trains going northwestwards, a
shorter line was reopened on 26 September
1976 with an additional stop at the then Berlin-Spandau
railway station, entering East Germany at
Staaken.Many Reichsbahn employees working
in West Berlin were West Berliners.
Their East German employer, whose proceeds
from ticket sales for Western Deutsche Marks
contributed to East Germany's foreign revenues,
tried to hold down wage social security contributions
in Western Deutsche Mark.
Therefore, West Berlin employees of the Reichsbahn
were paid partly in Eastern German currency.
They could spend this money in East Germany
and take their purchases to West Berlin, which
other Westerners could not do to the same
extent.
West Berlin employees were trained in East
Germany and employed under East German labour
laws.
West Berliners employed by the Reichsbahn
were not included in the Western health insurance
system either.
The Reichsbahn ran its own hospital for them
in West Berlin, the building of which is now
used as the headquarters of Bombardier Transportation.
For certain patients, the Reichsbahn would
facilitate treatment in a hospital in East
Berlin.
In medical emergencies, the employees could
use West Berlin doctors and hospitals, which
would then be paid for by the Reichsbahn.The
GDR used the western stations to distribute
propaganda and display posters with slogans
like "Americans Go Home."
On 1 May, May Day, a state holiday in East
and West, S-Bahn trains were sometimes decorated
with the East German banner and a red flag.
=== Waterways ===
Two waterways via the rivers and canals Havel
and Mittellandkanal were open for inland navigation,
but only freight vessels were allowed to cross
from West Berlin into East German waters.
The Havel crossed at the East German border
in Nedlitz (a part of Potsdam-Bornstedt),
continuing through the Elbe-Havel Canal and
then either taking the Elbe northwestwards
crossing the border again at Cumlosen (E)/Schnackenburg
(W) or westwards following the Mittellandkanal
to Buchhorst (Oebisfelde) (E)/Rühen (W).
Western freight vessels could stop only at
dedicated service areas, because the East
German government wanted to prevent any East
Germans from boarding them.
Through these waterways, West Berlin was linked
to the western European inland navigation
network, connecting to seaports like Hamburg
and Rotterdam, as well as to industrial areas
such as the Ruhr Area, Mannheim, Basel, Belgium,
and eastern France.In July and August 1945,
the Western Allies and the Soviet Union decided
that the operation and maintenance of the
waterways and locks, which were previously
run by the national German directorate for
inland navigation (German: Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt
Berlin), should be continued and reconstructed
in all four sectors.
So, except for the originally city-owned Neukölln
Ship Canal and some canals built later (e.g.
Westhafen Canal) and locks, West Berlin had
no separate inland navigation authority, but
the East Berlin-based authority operated most
waterways and locks, their lockmasters were
employed by the East.
Because of their negligent maintenance, the
western Allies later transferred their control
to the Senate of Berlin (West).The western
entrance to the Teltowkanal, connecting several
industrial areas of West Berlin for heavy
freight transport, was blocked by East Germany
in Potsdam-Klein Glienicke.
Therefore, vessels going to the Teltowkanal
had to take a detour via the river Spree through
West and East Berlin's city centre to enter
the canal from the East.
On 20 November 1981, East Germany reopened
the western entrance, which required two more
vessel border checkpoints – Dreilinden and
Kleinmachnow – because the waterway crossed
the border between East Germany and West Berlin
four times.
Another transit waterway connected West Berlin
via the East German vessel checkpoint at Hennigsdorf
and the Oder-Havel Canal with the Oder river
and Polish Szczecin (Stettin).
=== Air traffic ===
Air traffic was the only connection between
West Berlin and the Western world that was
not directly under East German control.
On 4 July 1948, British European Airways opened
the first regular service for civilians between
West Berlin and Hamburg.
Tickets were originally sold for pounds sterling
only.
West Berliners and West Germans who had earlier
fled East Germany or East Berlin, and thus
could face imprisonment on entering East Germany
or East Berlin, could only take flights for
travel to and from West Berlin.
To enable individuals threatened by East German
imprisonment to fly to and from West Berlin
the West German government subsidised the
flights.Flights between West Germany and West
Berlin were under Allied control by the quadripartite
Berlin Air Safety Center.
According to permanent agreements, three air
corridors to West Germany were provided, which
were open only for British, French, or U.S.
military planes or civilian planes registered
with companies in those countries.The airspace
controlled by the Berlin Air Safety Center
comprised a radius of 20 miles (32.12 km)
around the seat of the Center in the Kammergericht
building in Berlin-Schöneberg – thus covering
most of East and West Berlin and the three
corridors, of the same width – one northwestwards
to Hamburg (Fuhlsbüttel Airport), one westwards
to Hanover, and one southwestwards to Frankfurt
upon Main (Rhein-Main Air Base).
The airspace expanding to a width of 20 miles
(32 km) over the German–German border was
subject to the control by the Berlin Air Safety
Center.The West German airline Lufthansa and
most other international airlines were not
permitted to fly to West Berlin.
Flights by Lufthansa or the East German airline
Interflug servicing connections between East
and West Germany (such as between Düsseldorf
and Hamburg in West Germany and the East German
city of Leipzig) began in August 1989, but
these routes had to go through Czechoslovak
or Danish airspace.
=== Traffic between West Berlin and East Germany
===
Until 1953, travelling from West Berlin into
East Germany (German Democratic Republic (GDR))
fell under Interzonal traffic regulations
overseen by the three Allied military governments
(the Soviet Military Administration in Germany
(SVAG), the Control Commission for Germany
– British Element, and the Office of Military
Government/United States (OMGUS)).
On 27 May 1952, East Germany closed its border
with West Germany and its 115-kilometre (71
mi)-long border with West Berlin.
From then on West Berliners required a permit
to enter East Germany.
East German border checkpoints were established
in East German suburbs of West Berlin, and
most streets were gradually closed for interzonal
travel into East Germany.
The last checkpoint to remain open was located
at the Glienicker Brücke near Potsdam, until
it was also closed by East Germany on 3 July
1953.
The checkpoint at Staaken's Heerstraße remained
open only for transit traffic to West Germany.
This caused hardship for many West Berlin
residents, especially those who had friends
and family in East Germany.
However, East Germans could still enter West
Berlin.
A number of cemeteries located in East Germany
were also affected by the closure.
Many church congregations in Berlin owned
cemeteries outside the city, so many West
Berlin congregations had cemeteries that were
located in East Germany.
For example, the Friedhof vor Charlottenburg
(in Cemetery in front/outside of Charlottenburg)
was located in the East German suburb of Dallgow,
yet belonged to Catholic congregations in
Berlin-Charlottenburg.
So many West Berliners wishing to visit the
grave of a relative or friend on cemeteries
located in East Germany were now unable to
do so.
Until 1961, East Germany sparsely issued permits
to West Berliners to visit the cemeteries
on the Catholic feast of All Saints on 1 November
and on the Protestant Day of Repentance and
Prayer.In 1948–1952, the Reichsbahn connected
the western suburbs of West Berlin to its
S-Bahn network.
Train routes servicing these suburbs formerly
went through West Berlin stations, but ceased
to make stops in the western stations or terminated
service before entering West Berlin.
Private West Berlin railway lines like the
Neukölln–Mittenwalde railway (Neukölln-Mittenwalder
Eisenbahn, NME), connecting the East German
Mittenwalde with West Berlin-Neukölln and
the Bötzowbahn between West Berlin-Spandau
and East German Hennigsdorf, were disrupted
at the border between West Berlin and East
Germany on 26 October 1948 and August 1950,
respectively.
Tramways and bus routes that connected West
Berlin with its East German suburbs and were
operated by West Berlin's public transport
operator Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe Gesellschaft
(BVG West) ceased operation on 14 October
1950, after West Berlin tram and bus drivers
had been repeatedly stopped and arrested by
East German police for having western currency
on them, considered a crime in the East.
The BVG (West) terminated route sections that
extended into East Germany, like the southern
end of tram line 47 to Schönefeld, the southwestern
end of tram line 96 to Kleinmachnow, as well
as two bus lines to Glienicke at the Nordbahn,
north, and to Falkensee, northwest of West
Berlin.
The East German section of tram line 96 continued
operating with eastern personnel and cars,
obliging the eastern passengers – rarely
westerners who needed special permits to enter
East Germany - to change from eastern into
western trains crossing the border by foot,
until it was closed by the Wall.The Reichsbahn
shut down all of its West Berlin terminal
stations and redirected its trains to stations
in East Berlin, starting with Berlin Görlitzer
Bahnhof – closed on 29 April 1951 – before
serving rail traffic with Görlitz and the
southeast of East Germany.
On 28 August 1951, trains usually serving
Berlin Lehrter Bahnhof were redirected to
stations in East Berlin, while trains from
West Germany were redirected to the Western
Berlin Zoologischer Garten.
The Reichsbahn also closed down both Berlin
Anhalter Bahnhof and Berlin Nordbahnhof, on
18 May 1952.On 28 August 1951, the Reichsbahn
opened a new connection – from Spandau via
Berlin Jungfernheide station – for the S-Bahn
lines connecting East German suburbs to the
west of West Berlin (namely Falkensee, Staaken)
with East Berlin, thus circumventing the centre
of West Berlin.
In June 1953, the Reichsbahn further cut off
West Berlin from its East German suburbs by
the introduction of additional express S-Bahn
trains (German: Durchläufer).
These routes originated from several East
German suburbs bordering West Berlin (such
as Falkensee, Potsdam, Oranienburg, Staaken,
and Velten), crossing West Berlin non-stop
until reaching its destinations in East Berlin.
However, the regular S-Bahn connections with
West Berlin's East German suburbs, stopping
at every Western station, continued.
From 17 June to 9 July 1953, East Germany
blocked off any traffic between East and West
due to the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany.
From 4 October 1953, all S-Bahn trains crossing
the border between East Germany and Berlin
had to pass a border checkpoint in East Germany.
Travellers from East Germany were checked
before entering any part of Berlin, to identify
individuals intending to escape into West
Berlin or smuggling rationed or rare goods
into West Berlin.
S-Bahn trains were checked at Hoppegarten,
Mahlow, and Zepernick in East Germany bordering
East Berlin and in Hohen Neuendorf, Potsdam-Griebnitzsee,
and Staaken-Albrechtshof in East Germany bordering
West Berlin.
On 4 June 1954, the Bahnhof Hennigsdorf Süd
station located next to West Berlin was opened
solely for border controls, also to monitor
West Berliners entering or leaving East Berlin,
which they could still do freely, while they
were not allowed to cross into East Germany
proper without a special permit.
In 1951, the Reichsbahn began construction
work on the Berlin outer-circle railway line.
This circular line connected all train routes
heading for West Berlin and accommodated all
domestic GDR traffic, thus directing railway
traffic into East Berlin while by-passing
West Berlin.
Commuters in the East German suburbs around
West Berlin now boarded Sputnik express trains,
which took them into East Berlin without crossing
any western sectors.
With the completion of the outer-circle railway,
there was no further need for express S-Bahn
trains crossing the West Berlin border and
thus their service ended on 4 May 1958, while
stopping S-Bahn trains continued service.
However, while East Germans could get off
in West Berlin, West Berliners needed the
hard-to get permits to enter East Germany
by S-Bahn.
With the construction of the Berlin Wall on
13 August 1961, any remaining railway traffic
between West Berlin and its East German suburbs
ended.
Rail traffic between East and West Berlin
was sharply reduced and restricted to a small
number of checkpoints under GDR control.
East Berliners and East Germans were then
unable to freely enter and leave West Berlin.
However, international visitors could obtain
visas for East Berlin upon crossing one of
the checkpoints at the Wall.Following the
policy of détente of the Federal Government
under Chancellor Willy Brandt, West Berliners
could again apply for visas to visit East
Germany, which were granted more freely than
in the period until 1961.
On 4 June 1972, West Berlin's public transport
operator BVG could open its first bus line
into the East German suburbs since 1950 (line
E to Potsdam via Checkpoint Bravo as it was
known to the US military).
This route was open only to persons bearing
all the necessary East German permits and
visas.
For visits to East Germany, West Berliners
could use four checkpoints along the East
German border around West Berlin: The two
road transit checkpoints Dreilinden (W)/Drewitz
(E) and Berlin-Heiligensee (W)/Stolpe (E)
as well as the old transit checkpoint at Heerstraße
(W)/Staaken (E) and the checkpoint at Waltersdorfer
Chaussee (W)/Schönefeld (E), which was also
open for travellers boarding international
flights at Schönefeld Airport.
=== Traffic between East and West Berlin ===
While East and West Berlin became formally
separate jurisdictions in September 1948,
and while there were travel restrictions in
all other directions for more than a decade,
freedom of movement existed between the western
sectors and the eastern sector of the city.
However, time and again Soviet and later East
German authorities imposed temporary restrictions
for certain persons, certain routes, and certain
means of transport.
Gradually the eastern authorities disconnected
and separated the two parts of the city.While
the Soviets blocked all transport to West
Berlin (Berlin Blockade between 24 June 1948
to 12 May 1949), they increased food supplies
in East Berlin in order to gain the compliance
of West Berliners who at that time still had
free access to East Berlin.
West Berliners buying food in East Berlin
were regarded as approving of the Soviet attempt
to get rid of the Western Allies in West Berlin.
This was seen as support by the communists
and as treason by most Westerners.
Until that time all over Germany food and
other necessary supplies had been available
only with ration stamps issued by one's municipality.
This was so in East Berlin until the Communist
putsch in Berlin's city government in September
1948 – the unitary City Council of Greater
Berlin (German: Magistrat von Groß Berlin)
for East and West.By July 1948 a mere 19,000
West Berliners out of a total of almost 2
million covered their food requirements in
East Berlin.
Thus, 99% of West Berliners preferred to live
on shorter supplies than before the Blockade,
to show support for the Western Allies' position.
In West Germany rationing of most products
ended with the introduction of the Western
Deutsche Mark on 21 June 1948.
The new currency was also introduced in West
Berlin on 24 June and this, at least officially,
was the justification for the Soviet Blockade
due to which rationing in West Berlin had
to continue.
However, in the course of the Berlin Air Lift
some supplies were increased beyond the pre-Blockade
level and therefore rationing of certain goods
in West Berlin was stopped.While West Berliners
were officially welcome to buy food in East
Berlin, the Soviets tried to prevent them
from buying other essential supplies, particularly
coal and other fuel.
For this reason, on 9 November 1948, they
opened checkpoints on 70 streets entering
West Berlin and closed the others for horse
carriages, lorries and cars, later (16 March
1949) the Soviets erected roadblocks on the
closed streets.
From 15 November 1948 West Berlin ration stamps
were no longer accepted in East Berlin.
All the same, the Soviets started a campaign
with the slogan The smart West Berliner buys
at the HO (German: Der kluge West-Berliner
kauft in der HO), the HO being the Soviet
zone chain of shops.
They also opened so-called "Free Shops" in
the Eastern Sector, offering supplies without
ration stamps, but denominated at extremely
high prices in Eastern Deutsche Marks.
Ordinary East and West Berliners could only
afford to buy there if they had income in
Western Deutsche Mark and bartered the needed
Eastern Deutsche Mark on the spontaneous currency
markets, which developed in the British sector
at the Zoo station.
Their demand and supply determined a barter
ratio in favour of the Western Deutsche Mark
with more than 2 Eastern Deutsche Marks offered
for one Western Deutsche Mark.
After the Blockade, when holders of Western
Deutsche Marks could buy as much they could
afford, up to five and six east marks were
offered for one west mark.
In the East, however, the Soviets had arbitrarily
decreed a rate of 1 for 1 and exchanging at
other rates was criminalised.
On 12 May 1949 the Blockade ended and all
roadblocks and checkpoints between East and
West Berlin were removed.
The Berlin Airlift, however, continued until
30 September 1949 in order to build up supplies
in West Berlin (the so-called Senate Reserve),
in readiness for another possible blockade,
thus ensuring that an airlift could then be
restarted with ease.
On 2 May 1949 power stations in East Berlin
started again to supply West Berlin with sufficient
electricity.
Before then, electricity supplies had to be
reduced to just a few hours a day after the
normal supplies had been interrupted at the
start of the Blockade.
However, the Western Allies and the West Berlin
City Council decided to be self-sufficient
in terms of electricity generation capacity,
to be independent of Eastern supplies and
not to be held to ransom by the eastern authorities.
On 1 December 1949 the new powerhouse West
(German: Kraftwerk West, in 1953 renamed after
the former Governing Mayor of West Berlin
into Kraftwerk Reuter West) went online and
West Berlin's electricity board declared independence
from Eastern supplies.
However, for a time Eastern electricity continued
to be supplied albeit intermittently.
Supply was interrupted from 1 July until the
end of 1950 and then started again until 4
March 1952, when the East finally switched
it off.
From then on West Berlin turned into an 'electricity
island' within a pan-European electricity
grid that had developed from the 1920s, because
electricity transfers between East and West
Germany never fully ceased.
The 'electricity island' situation was noticed
most in situations of particularly high demand;
in other areas of Europe peaks in demand could
be met by tapping into electricity supplies
from neighbouring areas, but in West Berlin
this was not an option and for certain users
the lights would go out.In 1952 West Berliners
were restricted entry to East Germany proper
by means of a hard-to-obtain East German permit.
Free entry to East Berlin remained possible
until 1961 and the building of the Wall.
Berlin's underground (Untergrundbahn, U-Bahn)
and Berlin's S-Bahn (a metropolitan public
transit network), rebuilt after the war, continued
to span all occupation sectors.
Many people lived in one half of the city
and had family, friends, and jobs in the other.
However, the East continuously reduced the
means of public transport between East and
West, with private cars being a very rare
privilege in the East and still a luxury in
the West.
Starting on 15 January 1953 the tram network
was interrupted.
East Berlin's public transport operator Berliner
Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG-East, BVB as of 1 January
1969) staffed all trams, whose lines crossed
the sectorial border, with women drivers,
who were not permitted as drivers by the BVG
(West), West Berlin's public transport operator.
Instead of changing the Western rules, so
that the Easterly intended interruption of
the cross-border tram traffic would not happen,
the BVG (West) insisted on male drivers.
So cross-border tram traffic ended on 16 January.
In East German propaganda this was a point
for the East, arguing that the West did not
allow drivers coming with their trams from
the East to continue along their line into
the West, but remaining silent on the fact
that the end of cross-border tram traffic
was most welcome to the East.
The underground and the S-Bahn networks, except
the above-mentioned traverse S-Bahn trains,
continued to provide services between East
and West Berlin.
However, occasionally the East Berlin police
– in the streets and on cross-border trains
in East Berlin – identified suspicious behaviour
(such as carrying heavy loads westwards) and
watched out for unwelcome Westerners.
Occasionally, West Germans were banned from
entering East Berlin.
This was the case between 29 August and 1
September 1960, when ex prisoners of war and
deportees, homecomers (German: Heimkehrer),
from all around West Germany and West Berlin
met for a convention in that city.
The homecomers released mostly from a long
detention in the Soviet Union were unwelcome
in East Berlin.
As they could not be recognised through their
identification papers, all West Germans were
banned from East Berlin during those days.
West Berliners were allowed, since the quadripartite
Allied status quo provided for their free
movement around all four sectors.
From 8 September 1960 on, the East subjected
all West Germans to apply for a permit before
entering East Berlin.As the communist government
in the East gained tighter control, and the
economic recovery in the West significantly
outperformed the East, more than a hundred
thousand East Germans and East Berliners left
East Germany and East Berlin for the West
every year.
East Germany closed the borders between East
and West Germany and sealed off the border
with West Berlin in 1952; but because of the
quadripartite Allied status of the city, the
46-kilometre (29 mi)-long sectorial border
between East and West Berlin remained open.
As there was freedom of movement between West
Berlin and West Germany, Easterners could
use the city as a transit point to West Germany,
usually travelling there by air.To stop this
drain of people defecting, the East German
government built the Berlin Wall, thus physically
closing off West Berlin from East Berlin and
East Germany, on 13 August 1961.
All Eastern streets, bridges, paths, windows,
doors, gates, and sewers opening to West Berlin
were systematically sealed off by walls, concrete
elements, barbed wire, and/or bars.
The Wall was directed against the Easterners,
who by its construction were no longer allowed
to leave the East, except with an Eastern
permit, not usually granted.
Westerners were still granted visas on entering
East Berlin.
Initially eight street checkpoints were opened,
and one checkpoint in the Berlin Friedrichstraße
railway station, which was reached by one
line of the Western underground (today's U
6), two Western S-Bahn lines, one under and
one above ground (approximately today's S
2 and S 3, however, lines changed significantly
from 1990 onwards), and transit trains between
West Germany and West Berlin started and ended
there.
The eight street checkpoints were – from
North to South along the Wall – on Bornholmer
Straße, Chausseestraße, Invalidenstraße,
Berlin Friedrichstraße station, Friedrichstraße
(Checkpoint Charlie in US military denomination,
since this crossing was to their sector),
Heinrich-Heine-Straße, Oberbaumbrücke, and
Sonnenallee.
When the construction of the Wall started
after midnight early on 13 August, West Berlin's
Governing Mayor Willy Brandt was on a West
German federal election campaigning tour in
West Germany.
Arriving by train in Hanover at 4 am he was
informed about the Wall and flew back to West
Berlin's Tempelhof Central Airport.
In the course of the day he protested along
with many other West Berliners on Potsdamer
Platz and at the Brandenburg Gate.
On 14 August, under the pretext that Western
demonstrations required it, the East closed
the checkpoint at the Brandenburg Gate 'until
further notice', a situation that was to last
until 22 December 1989, when it was finally
reopened.
On 26 August 1961 East Germany generally banned
West Berliners from entering the Eastern sector.
West Germans and other nationals, however,
could still get visas on entering East Berlin.
Since intra-city phone lines had been cut
by the East already in May 1952 (see below)
the only remaining way of communication with
family or friends on the other side was by
mail or at meeting in a motorway restaurant
on a transit route, because the transit traffic
remained unaffected throughout.On 18 May 1962
East Germany opened the so-called Tränenpalast
checkpoint hall (Palace of Tears) at Berlin
Friedrichstraße station, where Easterners
had to say a sometimes tearful farewell to
returning Westerners as well as the few Easterners
who had managed to get a permit to visit the
West.
Until June 1963 the East deepened its border
zone around West Berlin in East Germany and
East Berlin by clearing existing buildings
and vegetation to create an open field of
view, sealed off by the Berlin Wall towards
the West and a second wall or fence of similar
characteristics to the East, observed by armed
men in towers, with orders to shoot at escapees.
Finally, in 1963, West Berliners were again
allowed to visit East Berlin.
On this occasion a further checkpoint for
pedestrians only was opened on the Oberbaumbrücke.
West Berliners were granted visas for a one-day
visit between 17 December 1963 and 5 January
the following year.
1.2 million out of a total 1.9 million West
Berliners visited East Berlin during this
period.
In 1964, 1965, and 1966 East Berlin was opened
again to West Berliners, but each time only
for a limited period.
East Germany assigned different legal statuses
to East Germans, East Berliners, West Germans,
and West Berliners, as well as citizens from
other countries in the world.
Until 1990 East Germany designated each Border
crossings in East Berlin for certain categories
of persons, with only one street checkpoint
being open simultaneously for West Berliners
and West Germans (Bornholmer Straße) and
Berlin Friedrichstraße railway station being
open for all travellers.On 9 September 1964,
the East German Council of Ministers (government)
decided to allow Eastern pensioners to visit
family in West Germany or West Berlin.
According to the specified regulations valid
from 2 November on Eastern pensioners could
apply, and were usually allowed, to travel
into the West to visit relatives once a year
for a maximum of four weeks.
If pensioners decided not to return, the government
did not miss them as manpower, unlike younger
Easterners, who were subject to a system of
labour and employment, which demanded that
almost everybody work in the Eastern command
production system.
On 2 December 1964 East Germany, always short
of hard currency, decreed that every Western
visitor had to buy a minimum of 5 Eastern
Mark der Deutschen Notenbank per day (MDN,
1964–1968 the official name of the East
German mark, to distinguish it from the West
Deutsche Mark) at the still held arbitrary
compulsory rate of 1:1.
The 5 marks had to be spent, as exporting
Eastern currency was illegal, which is why
importing it after having bargained for it
at the currency market at Zoo station was
also illegal.
Western pensioners and children were spared
from the compulsory exchange (officially in
German: Mindestumtausch, i.e. minimum exchange).
Not long after East Germany held the first
cash harvest from the new compulsory exchange
rules by allowing West Berliners to visit
East Berlin once more for a day during the
Christmas season.
The following year, 1965, East Germany opened
the travelling season for West Berliners on
18 December.
In 1966 it opened for a second harvest of
Western money between the Easter (10 April)
and Pentecost (29 May) holidays and later
again at Christmas.The situation only changed
fundamentally after 11 December 1971 when,
representing the two German states, Egon Bahr
from the West and Michael Kohl from the East
signed the Transit Agreement.
This was followed by a similar agreement for
West Berliners, once more allowing regular
visits to East Germany and East Berlin.After
ratification of the Agreement and specifying
the relevant regulations, West Berliners could
apply for the first time again for visas for
any chosen date to East Berlin or East Germany
from 3 October 1972 onwards.
If granted, a one-day-visa entitled them to
leave the East until 2 am the following day.
West Berliners were now spared the visa fee
of 5 Western Deutsche Marks, not to be confused
with the compulsory exchange amounting to
the same sum, but yielding in return 5 Eastern
marks.
This financial relief did not last long, because
on 15 November 1973 East Germany doubled the
compulsory exchange to 10 Eastern marks, payable
in West German Deutsche Marks at par.
One-day-visas for East Berlin were now issued
in a quickened procedure; visas for longer
stays and visas for East Germany proper needed
a prior application, which could be a lengthy
procedure.
To ease the application for West Berliners
seeking such Eastern visas, the GDR Foreign
Ministry was later allowed to open Offices
for the Affairs of Visits and Travelling (German:
Büros für Besuchs- und Reiseangelegenheiten)
in West Berlin, but were not allowed to show
any official symbols of East Germany.
The Eastern officials working commuted every
morning and evening between East and West
Berlin.
Their uniforms showed no official symbols
except the name Büro für Besuchs- und Reiseangelegenheiten.
They accepted visa applications and handed
out confirmed visas issued in the East to
the West Berlin applicants.
A shed formerly housing one such Büro für
Besuchs- und Reiseangelegenheiten can be found
on Waterlooufer 5–7 in Berlin-Kreuzberg,
close to Hallesches Tor underground station.
The disagreement about Berlin's status was
one of the most important debates of the Cold
War.
Another form of traffic between East and West
Berlin was the transfer of West Berlin's sewage
into East Berlin and East Germany through
the sewer pipes built in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries.
The sewage flowed into the East because most
of the pre-war premises for sewage treatment,
mostly sewage farms, happened to be in the
East after the division of the city.
Sewer pipes, however, once discovered as a
way to flee the East, were blocked by bars.
West Berlin paid for the treatment of its
sewage in Western Deutsche Marks which were
desperately needed by the East German government.
Since the methods used in the East did not
meet Western standards, West Berlin increased
the capacity of modern sewage treatment within
its own territory, so that the amount of its
sewage treated in the East had been considerably
reduced by the time the Wall came down.
The situation with refuse was similar.
The removal, burning or disposal of the ever-growing
amount of West Berlin's rubbish became a costly
problem, but here too an agreement was found,
since West Berlin would pay in Western Deutsche
Marks.
On 11 December 1974 East Germany and West
Berlin's garbage utility company BSR signed
a contract to dispose of refuse on a dump
right beside the Wall in East German Groß-Ziethen
(today a part of Schönefeld).
An extra checkpoint, solely open for Western
bin lorries (garbage trucks), was opened there.
Later on, a second dump, further away, was
opened in Vorketzin, a part of Ketzin.As for
the S-Bahn, operated throughout Berlin by
the East German Reichsbahn, the construction
of the Wall meant a serious disruption of
its integrated network, especially of the
Berlin's circular S-Bahn line around all of
the Western and Eastern inner city.
The lines were separated and those mostly
located in West Berlin were continued, but
only accessible from West Berlin with all
access in East Berlin closed.
However, even before the Wall had been built,
West Berliners increasingly refrained from
using the S-Bahn, since boycotts against it
were issued, the argument being that every
S-Bahn ticket bought provided the GDR government
with valuable Western Deutsche Marks.
Usage dropped further as the Western public
transport operator BVG (West) offered parallel
bus lines and expanded its network of underground
lines.
After the construction of the Wall usage dropped
so much that running the S-Bahn lines in West
Berlin turned into a loss-making exercise:
wages and maintenance – however badly it
was carried out – cost more than income
from ticket sales.
Finally, the Reichsbahn agreed to surrender
operation of the S-Bahn in West Berlin, as
had been determined by all Allies in 1945,
and on 29 December 1983 the Allies, the Senate
of Berlin (West; i.e. the city state government)
and the Reichsbahn signed an agreement to
change the operator from Reichsbahn to BVG
(West) which took effect on 9 January 1984.On
9 November 1989 East Germany opened the borders
for East Germans and East Berliners, who could
then freely enter West Berlin.
West Berlin itself had never restricted their
entry.
For West Berliners and West Germans the opening
of the border for free entry lasted longer.
The regulation concerning one-day-visas on
entering the East and the compulsory minimum
exchange of 25 Western Deutsche Marks by 1989,
continued.
However, more checkpoints were opened.
Finally on 22 December 1989 East Germany granted
West Berliners and West Germans free entry
without charge at the existing checkpoints,
demanding only valid papers.
Eastern controls were slowly eased into spot
checks and finally abolished on 30 June 1990,
the day East and West introduced the union
concerning currency, economy and social security
(German: Währungs-, Wirtschafts- und Sozialunion).
=== Traffic between different parts of West
Berlin crossing the East ===
When the Wall was built in 1961, three metro
lines starting in northern parts of West Berlin
passed through tunnels under the Eastern city
centre and ended again in southern parts of
West Berlin.
The lines concerned were today's underground
lines U 6 and U 8 and the S-Bahn line S 2
(today partly also used by other lines).
On the sealing off of West Berlin from East
Berlin by the Berlin Wall the entrances of
the stations on these lines located in East
Berlin were shut.
However, western trains were allowed to continue
to pass through without stopping.
Passengers of these trains experienced the
empty and barely lit ghost stations where
time had stood still since 13 August 1961.
West Berlin's public transport operator BVG
(West) paid the east an annual charge in Western
Deutsche Marks for its underground lines to
use the tunnels under East Berlin.
U 6 and S 2 also had one subterranean stop
at the Eastern Berlin Friedrichstraße railway
station, the only station beneath East Berlin
where western U Bahn trains were still allowed
to stop.
Passengers could change there between U 6,
S 2 and the elevated S 3 (then starting and
ending in Friedrichstraße) or for the transit
trains to West Germany, buy duty-free tobacco
and liquor for Western marks in GDR-run Intershop
kiosks, or enter East Berlin through a checkpoint
right in the station.
== See also ==
1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing
Berlin Brigade
History of Germany (1945–1990)
Judgment in Berlin
List of Commandants of Berlin Sectors
Nonviolent revolution
RAF Gatow
Spandau Prison
Stunde Null
United States Army Berlin
== References ==
Durie, William (2012).
British Garrison Berlin 1945–1994: A Pictorial
Historiography of the British Military Presence
in Berlin 1945–1994.
Berlin: Vergangenheitsverl.
ISBN 978-3-86408-068-5.
== External links ==
Berlin 1969 in the forgotten midpoint of the
Cold War...twenty years after the Berlin Blockade...twenty
years before the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Exclaves
History of the Western Allies in Berlin
