By Lou Padgug
Today (November 9, 2009) is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I just watched a two hour show about the wall on the History Channel and it reminded me of my own experiences in Berlin.
I first visited Berlin in December, 1976. This was during the height of the Cold War. I was in the Air Force, stationed in what was then West Germany and took the "Troop Train" to West Berlin to visit my sister Brigitta and brother-in-law Peter and spend Christmas with them.
I wanted to see East Berlin and the only way to do that as an American military enlisted man was to enter through Checkpoint Charlie. I had to wear my "Dress Blues" uniform so I would stick out and not be mistaken for a spy. If I had had a higher clearance than my Secret clearance, I could not have gone into East Berlin.
Brigitta and Peter dropped me off at a tour company that gave bus tours trough East Berlin and was supposed to enter through Checkpoint Charlie. After I got on the bus, a tour company representative told me I was the only American military person on the tour so they were not going through Checkpoint Charlie.
Since I could not go through any other checkpoint and I really wanted to see East Berlin, I took a taxi to Checkpoint Charlie. I received a briefing from the American sentry about what I could and couldn't do on the east side. He told me I couldn't take public transportation so I had to walk everywhere. I couldn't take photos of buildings with flags or the wall. The only photos I could take of East German or Russian soldiers was at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He also told me once I started walking across the "No Man's Land" into the east, I should not stop and should not talk to any guards on the other side. As I approached the East Berlin side of the checkpoint, an East German guard asked me if I was walking through East Berlin. I restrained from saying "duh!" and just said "yes". He let me through and I was on my own in "enemy territory".
The first thing I noticed was the stark contrast between East and West Berlin. West Berlin was one of the most vibrant cities in Europe. Across the wall, East Berlin was grey and you could still see buildings damaged during WWII. There was very little traffic in East Berlin. I'm not sure how I found some of the places I was looking for like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Opera House as I don't think I had a map.
East Berlin has a very tall television/observation tower that I wanted to go up in so I headed in its direction. Once up in the observation deck, a young East German boy asked me in German if I could point out West Berlin to him. I felt really bad because it was fairly foggy and the visibility was poor and I couldn't help this boy see the west side. I'm sure he would have been happy just to see over the wall and maybe dream about what it's like to be on the other side.
I returned to a reunified Berlin (and Germany) in August, 2001. Brigitta and Peter took me to Checkpoint Charlie which is now a tourist site, the Brandenburg Gate and several places where they left remnants of the wall. I was amazed at the hundreds of construction cranes in the eastern part of the city. I'm sure that by now, it is hard to tell that a wall once surrounded all of West Berlin and divided Germany.
Getting back to the History Channel show, they interviewed several people who risked their lives to escape into the west before the wall came down. One man said people who have been free all their lives take freedom for granted. While it is great that Berlin is moving on from its past, hopefully, just as we must never forget the holocaust, we must never forget "The Wall" and never take freedom for granted!
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