"We can remember being totally 'over the top' about the historic fall of the Wall in 1989, and everything we did in our free time in the following year was dominated by the almost daily changes to the Wall. Most weekends, we would cycle to the former border strip or to West Berlin to take a look round.
On 1 May 1990, we no longer had to attend the once obligatory 'Socialist May Demonstration' and decided to visit the area between Babelsberg and Steinstücken instead. Until then, everything we had heard about this West Berlin enclave had come from the occasional broadcast on West Berlin radio stations. On 13 August 1961, the residential area of Babelsberg, in Potsdam, and Steinstücken, formerly part of the district of Zehlendorf, were divided when the Wall went up. Two roads, Steinstraße and Rote-Kreuz-Straße, could no longer be used as a result. By the time the Wall fell in 1989, friends and relatives on opposite sides of the road barely knew one another. In spring 1990, tourists started turning up on bikes to take a look at the situation.
East German maps showed West Berlin only as a white patch. We were, therefore, very curious to see what awaited us and took lots of photos. We 'sneaked' through Steinstücken. We were interested in the heliport, but there wasn't a soul in sight. It was very different in the former border strip, where we talked with many people from the East and West who were also fascinated with what was happening. We exchanged notes on what we'd seen, and shared hopes. As GDR citizens, we still felt very insecure and were afraid of what the future might bring. But the following year, we got to know a representative from a well-known savings bank there and let him talk us into signing a savings contract with a building and loan association. Ever since 1998, we have been living happily in our own little house. This part of the border strip has been developed for single-family homes."
Christine Krüger (Potsdam)
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