The Anniversary Year of 1971 and the Dawn of Détente

2021 ◽  
pp. 341-348
Author(s):  
Tina Frühauf
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Local Production ◽  
The West ◽  
Jewish Communities ◽  
East Berlin ◽  
Cultural Events ◽  
High Plateau ◽  
West Berlin ◽  
Broad Variety

In 1971 the Jewish communities of East and West Berlin celebrated their three-hundredth anniversary. The anniversary year coincided with a juncture during which the two halves of the divided city sought greater proximity and thus was framed by noteworthy political and cultural events. East Berlin’s anniversary celebrations were intertwined with two commemorations. These publicly and very visibly perpetuated the image of Jews as victims of fascism. In parallel, East Berlin saw the premiere of the long-awaited local production of Fiddler on the Roof. On the other side of the Wall, the Jewish community had reached a comfortable and high plateau with regular cultural events in its community center. It offered an ever-expanding cultural program, with a broad variety of concerts and recitals. In clear contrast to East Berlin, the West Berlin community offered a rich array of anniversary events that displayed the community’s alliance with Israel, the United States, and West Germany.

After the Wall: Pride before the Fall, 1961–89

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G. Rodden
Keyword(s):  
Early Morning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sunday Morning ◽  
The West ◽  
East Berlin ◽  
West Berlin ◽  
Service Jobs ◽  
Subway Stations ◽  
Identity Cards ◽  
The City

East Berlin. August 13, 1961. As the sun peeks over the horizon on this beautiful Sunday morning, most East Berliners sleep on, but some rise for work; a few thousand of them are Grenzgänger, who cross town—quite legally—to work in the “other” Berlin, mostly as hotel and restaurant employees and in other service jobs made lucrative by the uneven exchange rate. Each day they make the trip to West Berlin—by foot, by bicycle, by S-Bahn and U-Bahn, showing their DDR identity cards and special work permits to the bored Grepos (Grenzpolizei, border police) stationed at the gates. But this morning the Grepos are not bored; today, as the would-be commuters discover as they reach streets and subway stations along the East Berlin border, no Grenzgänger will cross. “Die Grenze ist geschlossen!” people scream to each other in the early-morning stillness. “The border is closed!” No subway cars are running westward; Grepos guard the U-Bahn tunnels to prevent subway commuters from fleeing to the West on foot; Vopos turn back Grenzgänger at every checkpoint. The SED has apparently found a way to secure its future and halt the flight of DDR and skilled labor—by walling them in. WHO HAS THE YOUTH, HAS THE FUTURE! As the Grenzgänger stumble home and the DDR capital—“die Hauptstadt der DDR”—awakens to the nightmare, it is as if a tremendous howl—the anguished wail of cornered, trapped, desperate animals—has gone up throughout East Berlin— as it soon will over the DDR. For almost a decade, East Germany’s 600-mile border has been sealed by barbed wire and 12-foot electrified fencing; just inside the fence is a strip of land about 50 yards wide that is cleared of brush, dotted with mines, and covered by machine guns in high watchtowers. And so, most aspiring refugees make their way to East Berlin, where many of the streets and subway stations along the city border are guarded casually, if at all.

Stronger Turkish influence may not benefit Bosnia

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Events ◽  
The Third ◽  
Conflicting Interests ◽  
External Powers

Subject Turkish influence in Bosnia. Significance Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit to Sarajevo highlighted his powerful influence in Bosnia-Hercegovina (BiH), as shown by the Bosnia-wide commemoration of the third anniversary of the failed coup in Turkey with numerous diplomatic, sporting and cultural events. Impacts A worsening in Turkish-US relations after Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 missiles against strong US warnings could complicate matters. Bosnian and other Balkan leaders may have to choose between the United States and Turkey, just as Serbia wavers between the West and Russia. The conflicting interests of various external powers could exacerbate regional ethnic and political divisions, undermining stability.

How Udo Wanted to Save the World in ‘Erich's Lamp Shop’: Lindenberg's Concert in Honecker's East Berlin, the NATO Double-Track Decision and Communist Economic Woes

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
LORENZ M. LÜTHI
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
East Germany ◽  
West Germany ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Messages ◽  
East Berlin ◽  
East German ◽  
Peace Activist ◽  
Nuclear Missiles ◽  
Double Track

AbstractThe concert given by the West German rock star Udo Lindenberg in East Berlin on 25 October 1983 links cultural, political, diplomatic and economic history. The East German regime had banned performances by the anti-nuclear peace activist and musician since the 1970s, but eventually allowed a concert, hoping to prevent the deployment of American nuclear missiles in West Germany. In allowing this event, however, East Germany neither prevented the implementation of the NATO double-track decision of 1979 nor succeeded in controlling the political messages of the impertinent musician. Desperate for economic aid from the West, East Germany decided to cancel a promised Lindenberg tour in 1984, causing widespread disillusionment among his fans in the country.

Effect of Prior Headlighting Experience on Ratings of Discomfort Glare

1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sivak ◽  
Paul L. Olson ◽  
Kristine A. Zeltner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
The United States ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Range Effect ◽  
The West ◽  
Driving Situation ◽  
Discomfort Glare ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The U.S

This study investigated the effects of prior headlighting experience on ratings of discomfort glare from headlamps in an actual driving situation. Specifically, discomfort glare ratings given by West Germans who had recently arrived in the United States and were, presumably, used to the relatively low levels of glare associated with head lamps in West Germany were compared with ratings given by U.S.-born subjects. The West German subjects reported significantly more discomfort than did the U.S. subjects. This finding is in agreement with the so-called range effect, in which subjective judgments are affected by the range of available stimuli. Consequently, the present findings support the hypothesis that discomfort glare ratings are affected by prior visual experience.

scholarly journals Comprehension of the national past in the West Berlin music culture in the 1980s

2021 ◽  
pp. 251-264
Author(s):  
Е.Н. Лысенко
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Music Culture ◽  
The West ◽  
The Public ◽  
Music Scene ◽  
West Berlin ◽  
Nazi Past ◽  
Political Economic

Статья посвящена роли популярной музыки в процессах осмысления и проработки нацистского прошлого в Западной Германии в 1980-х гг. Популярная музыка рассматривается на примере музыкальной сцены Западного Берлина, а именно группы «Einstürzende Neubauten». Рассмотрены политический, экономический и социальный контекст функционирования сцены Западного Берлина, проанализированы различные способы репрезентации национального прошлого в музыке «Einstürzende Neu-bauten». Сделан вывод о том, что в музыкальной культуре Западного Берлина происходило восстановление преемственности разных периодов немецкой культуры и вписывание проблемного прошлого в публичный исторический нарратив. The article is focused on the role of popular music in the processes of comprehension and dealing with the Nazi past in West Germany in the 1980s. Popular music is examined on the example of the music scene of West Berlin, namely the band «Einstürzende Neubauten». The article considers the political, economic and social context of the West Berlin music scene, analyzes different ways of representing the national past in the music of «Einstürzende Neubauten». The conclusion is made that in the musical culture of West Berlin the continuity of different periods of German culture was restored and the troubled past was incorporated into the public historical narrative.

scholarly journals The Berlin Wall after Fifty Years: Introduction

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hope M. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
East Germany ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
The West ◽  
West Berlin ◽  
East And West ◽  
East West

Fifty years ago on 13 August 1961, the East Germans sealed the east-westborder in Berlin, beginning to build what would become known as theBerlin Wall. Located 110 miles/177 kilometers from the border with WestGermany and deep inside of East Germany, West Berlin had remained the“last loophole” for East Germans to escape from the communist GermanDemocratic Republic (GDR) to the western Federal Republic of Germany(FRG, West Germany). West Berlin was an island of capitalism and democracywithin the GDR, and it enticed increasing numbers of dissatisfied EastGermans to flee to the West. This was particularly the case after the borderbetween the GDR and FRG was closed in 1952, leaving Berlin as the onlyplace in Germany where people could move freely between east and west.By the summer of 1961, over 1,000 East Germans were fleeing westwardsevery day, threatening to bring down the GDR. To put a stop to this, EastGermany’s leaders, with backing from their Soviet ally, slammed shut this“escape hatch.”

Glyndebourne on a Metropolitan Scale

Tempo ◽  
1955 ◽  
pp. 10-11
Author(s):  
Horst Koegler
Keyword(s):  
The West ◽  
East Berlin ◽  
The People ◽  
Awkward Position ◽  
West Berlin ◽  
Artistic Director

While Glyndebourne pursues its summer festival, Carl Ebert, its Artistic Director, looks back on the first nine months of his activities as Intendant of the West-Berlin Städtische Oper—a post he held already once before 1933. Ebert's come-back last September was an occasion of unusual promise. Berliners were expecting nothing less than a marvel from him. But while they gave him unlimited spiritual credit they were much more cautious about any more substantial help. The operatic warfare between the heavily state-fed East-Berlin Staatsoper and the definitely less municipally subsidised West-Berlin Städtische Oper has revealed to the greater public what an awkward position it must be to function as a West-Berlin Intendant who is easily outbought by the greater means of the people beyond the Brandenburger Tor. Nevertheless Ebert, through his rare talent for diplomacy, has emerged triumphantly from this fracas and his position is now stronger than any time before.

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