Great video! I lived in Germany in the late 1980s as a child and hope to revisit in the next couple years. I got to experience the Fall of the Berlin Wall in person...an experience I'll never forget! My family lived near Giessen and we just happened to be visiting Berlin when the Wall fell on Nov. 9th 1989, a very lucky coincidence. My Father had a camcorder at the time and recorded our experience at many of the same sites as your video.
@@wxman2003 Cool...why are people in RU-vid comments such tools when it's so easily verifiable by clicking on my profile? How do you explain video evidence: ru-vid.com/group/PLXM1gE9lbZhOAS-GOlLtENfneckHXLogY
I was there in September 1989. That Soviet Memorial was in West Berlin, close to the wall. In those days, as shown in the video, one could only see it from a little distance. It was also guarded by Soviet soldiers. The tanks are the first Soviet ones to enter Berlin. There is also another, even larger Soviet Memorial in the former East Berlin.
Well, it's typical of human nature that when something becomes redundant to want it destroyed, and then want it preserved. That also happened with the Berlin Wall. The memorial also contains building materials from the Reich Chancellery - a great building that should have been preserved, as with the Berghof. I would not say that it's a disgusting memorial, but is just a memorial, like any other memorial. I think it would also be much like saying that parts of the disgusting Berlin Wall still stands. They are also actually 'memorials' to two 'nations' that don't exist anymore, the Soviet Union and East Germany, or DDR.
I was at Checkpoint Charlie on Friday evening 06 October 1989. My friend and j went in Est Berlin whithout problem for germany police,american lieutenant and russian soldiers but DDR VoPos told me:"Nein,Raus!"So we came back. 1 month later fell the wall.
Excellent video.. I spent a couple of weeks in DDR in 1986..and some discontentedness were evident.. Three years later it all ended... Nice memories...
@@paulanthonyhoeflich8988 I wasn't there, but I've been researching east Germany because I find it fascinating. From what I've read it was one of the safest parts of the Warsaw Pact, And possibly safer than NATO countries like Italy or Turkey were
@@paulanthonyhoeflich8988 no. Not at all.. East Germany was reluctant to give visas to individuals... It was quite easy if you were part of a guided tour... I consider myself lucky.. Because I got the chance to visit East Germany.. And several other countries aligned with USSR... A World that no longer exists... Regards...
@@rowanogle Well, I don't argue on how safe was DDR. But, please, if you mention Italy as the hell of Nato, nooo take this opinion for yourself and watch carefully inside your country.
@@claudiograssi1037 didn't italy have a massive period of instability during the cold war? I'm not talking about modern day, America's it worse off than it was back then but I wouldn't call it worse than Italy still
On Reddit and Quora I've been reading comments from a lot of people who claim they lived in the GDR, and life was oh so much better because the state provided them with education and medical care. Those 2 things are important, but is living in a surveillance state really worth that?
Can notice that the statue on top of the Brandenburg Gate faces East Berlin. The Communists had it like that, in those days. Usually it's supposed to face the other way.
Look at communism as secular monasticism. Soviet citizens were all monks and were expected to have no property have self restraint and live a humble life.
@@thepureconscience8533 wer hat gesagt das ich auf die bundesregierung stolz bin? Und sei mal ganz ruhig freundchen. Brauchst nicht gleich leute zu beleidigen. Die DDR hat ihre leute eingesperrt, und auf sie geschossen. Ja, super land gewesen die alte ost sau. Ein drecksland war das. Bist noch nicht mal alt genug um zu verstehn was die DDR war. Also, mund halten, und ruhe im karton
Als auch in der DDR Geborener kann ich nur sagen, ein Glück gibt es diesen Staat nicht mehr. Auf was man da stolz sein sollte erschließt sich mir nicht.
@@thepureconscience8533 Das liest sich ja wie das politische Manifest der Linkspartei. Ganz tolle Propaganda. Aber was soll man von den SED Nachfolgern auch anderes erwarten. Hauptsache an Putins Rockzipfel hängen und immer Deutschland und Amerika die Schuld geben.
Seid lieber stolz auf das, was ihr selbst geleistet habt, als auf irgendwas, in das ihr durch Zufall (Geburt) geraten seid. Dafür eignet sich das Wort "stolz" nicht. Das führt obendrein auf der anderen Seite nur zu Ausgrenzung des anderen, und dann zu kleingeistigem Nationalismus und schließlich u.U. zum Fanatismus.
Thanks for sharing. It is always hard to imagine. You know a lot of photos, but to see them in a home video is something else. Also the little bushes on the wall. Very natural. I'm sure nothing grew on the east side. Thanks again
Hi Ruben. I visited Berlin in '88 and '89. Very true about the excitement with the dismantling of the Wall. Here are my perspectives when revisiting Berlin in 2019. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4URxXO4D-ck.html
When I was young I went to Berlin four or five times. it was really very depressing and I was happy when I could return to West Germany. The transit from West Berlin to West Germany was hell. Harassment of the GDR border guards, Stasi everywhere (GDR domestic secret service).
I was living in W Berlin in 78 - for those of us who had cars with us and had non Berlin passports - it was worth the price of the visa and drive over checkpoint charlie just to fill up your car. You were always stopped for speeding no matter how slowly you drove, but as we paid in Dm (West ) cash we could always skip the long queues of the locals paying on east Marks. Note that residents of W berlin were forbidden to go to the east sector. People of the rest of W germany could go there.
W.O.W..... Checkpoint Charlie and the East Berlin "Highway" has changed SIGNIFICANTLY since "Back in the Days" when I was TDY to Templehof AB in mid 70's Actually, was able to go on a *R&R* tour into East Berlin. What an Experience I'll **never** Forget !!
vehicles and occupants would be checked on the E German side , the allies didn't consider the inner Berlin sector boundaries as an international border , hence why we only had the wooden hut at this checkpoint
Hi Carlos. Same thought here when I returned to Berlin in 2019, after a thirty-year hiatus. Enjoy this modern-day perspective of the city. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4URxXO4D-ck.html
Thank you for this post. Any plans to go back to Berlin to do a "Before and After" videos? I know of one guy that is heading back this August 2022 and will prayerfully that he makes it there and back safely to share his videos of his trip there. He served over there for 4 years, watched the dismantling of Checkpoint Charlie and everything.
Hi Yizu. For your interest, here is my video of a walking tour of the Berlin Wall in 2019. Thirty years after initially visiting the city, I still have my memories of a divided Berlin. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4URxXO4D-ck.html
@@UCLAfilm01 Well, I never said it didn't! I just said the other example of a division! Besides, with Vietnam, it was also basically a case of North Vietnam annexing South Vietnam, as opposed to reuniting. That also tends to be forgotten about, it seems! Besides, the reunification of Germany was basically West Germany annexing East Germany, as it was entirely on West Germany's terms. So yes, it most definitely can be compared anyway!
Greetings from Wedding ✌️..in ex West-Berlin..le secteur francais. I love Berlin aus the coolest town in the World...but..ex West-Berlin was more interesting than reunited Berlin today!!The genuin people of Berlin are cool people..but now we have to much criminals,drug dealers,mad scum here. I hope and believe this will change soon with a big broom.. " I take pride in the words:ich bin ein Berliner"😎✌️
I can hardly wait to see Berlin and hope the "mad scum" won't ruin it. Would like to have seen it back then. By the way, I heard Kennedy made a mistake when he said "Ich bin ein Berliner." That means "I am [a certain kind of doughnut]"; he should have said Ich bin Berliner. Is that right?