Glad things are a bit easier these days

[Wee Bold Davy]

I came across this video and thought you may find it interesting, particularly if you've made this journey in recent times

 

[nicholsong]

I thought he was going to cover transit from West to East Berlin, which was possible for those of us bearing Allied Power passports.

I was flying for BA from Berlin to West German cities for a few days and regret that I never took that Unterbahn train to East Berlin.

I have since been there, shown around by an ex-student of design who was studying just after the Berlin Wall came down and some of her classes were inside East Berlin. She described what she saw in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the wall and the differences that were there when we visited, and now. The old Jewish quarter is particularly interesting with many buildings preserved or restored.

The video introduction failed to mention air access to Berlin from West Germany which from the end of WWII was restricted to airlines of UK, France and USA - no German airlines were permitted to fly the routes. Air France used Tegel airport and BEA and PanAM used Templehof.

Landing there was interesting: firstly, because one approached over East Berlin, which looked dire; and secondly, because the last bit of the approach was below the roofs of blocks of flats about 150-200m away.

There were three airways in and out of Berlin and one had to adhere strictly to them. Also we were limited to 10,000 fit which had its fuel penalty, especially for jet aircraft.

If anyone is visiting Berlin one of the 'musts' is Templehof - the scale is enormous even by today's airport sizes. We used to taxi the aircraft under the enormous canopy for passenger em/disembarkation. The terminal building is about 1km long. It was going to be knocked down but eventually it was preserved and the airside area, runways taxiways, opened as a recreation park. The runway is still there.

I want to take Basia to Berlin, which may happen soon.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

That was very interesting, I've had an interest in civil aviation for a while but never realised there was restricted access from West Germany into Berlin. Gives me something else to look into

 

[Orion]

That was very interesting, I've had an interest in civil aviation for a while but never realised there was restricted access from West Germany into Berlin. Gives me something else to look into

It wasn’t just a ‘closed military train’ that travelled from West Germany to West Berlin as per the video, there were also regular scheduled civilian services operating. I did that train trip from the U.K. in the early 1970s and the checks and searches at the East German border transits were a bit bizarre - attack dogs running under the carriages, VoPos and Russian army personnel nudging me awake with the muzzle of a PPSh-41 and curtly asking for documents . All very Cold War Le Carré!

 

[Just smiffy]

My mother was from Berlin and met my father (soldier) just after the war, I went across the wall many times with my mother to visit relatives there… even so in the late 60-70’s going to the east was like going back in time….

I shall never forget being put up against a wall and searched by what appeared to be a ww2 German soldier when I was around 10yrs old…

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[Chrisvh]

Very interesting! Brings back a lot of memories. We used to do a “Flag tour” round East Berlin everyday, in No 2s and a marked Landrover. Just to show we could. Part of the 4 power agreement. I also recall travelling over to visit the opera, concerts and use restaurants. An exciting time for a youngster. Checkpoint Charlie was not as exciting. Choking on the Gendarmerie Gauloises and drooling over their lunches. But a brilliant posting!

 

[nicholsong]

That was very interesting, I've had an interest in civil aviation for a while but never realised there was restricted access from West Germany into Berlin. Gives me something else to look into

I am pleased somebody was interested, because I had wondered if I had been wittering on like an old fool.

 

[nicholsong]

Another memory of Berlin was that for a time after WWII my father who was a Civil Engineer in the RE was in charge of the buildings in Berlin which included Spandau prison where Rudolf Hesse was incarcerated, eventually till he died as the last prisoner.

 

[f6c]

My late son was one of many how Guarded Hesse. Glos Reg

 

[Steadycam]

Very interesting youtube. We went through the whole of what was East Germany and Berlin last year in the van Still very interesting and visited the Stasi Museum in the east side very interesting from a social experiment angle. Also visit the 3 mile long WW2 holiday camp in concrete on the Rügen Islands. Still built like it's going to last 200 years even now.

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[nicholsong]

My late son was one of many how Guarded Hesse. Glos Reg

Better there than on Hill 235 in Korea.