East German Soldiers in East Berlin - 1977

East Berlin near the Museum Complex in the German Democratic Republic. I went to East Berlin three or four times, crossing to the other side of the Berlin Wall...
Read more

East Berlin near the Museum Complex in the German Democratic Republic. I went to East Berlin three or four times, crossing to the other side of the Berlin Wall. It was a fascinating contrast with the West, though clearly not a place where I wanted to spend more than a few hours. When the Wall went up, some of Berlin's best museums ended up in the East.

I went back to Berlin 6 days after the Wall came down -- one of the most interesting days of my life, and a travel highlight. I still have some of the items that were given to East Germans as they made their first trips into the West. Films have shown what life was like in East Berlin and the DDR, but it was even more striking to enter East Berlin from the West (through Freidrichstrasse or Checkpoint Charlie) and see the contrast in person.

This image is still powerful all these years later, and more than 25 years since the Wall came down. These soldiers were clearly born in the 1950's, so there's a good chance that they are still alive. No more goosestepping, though.

Digitized from film, of course.
Read less