"On the day the border opened, I found myself quite unprepared for such happenings. Before leaving the house to go to my Turkish evening class at the further education college in Steglitz, I watched the news on Berlin TV. It was announced that all citizens from the GDR would soon be free to travel. And when a reporter asked 'as of when', the reply that followed after a moment's irritation was, 'as of now'. That would mean that some guests would be coming over to see me from East Berlin. However, given the thoroughness of the controls, I couldn't imagine the East German border police being able to put these measures into 'immediate' force at such short notice. Surely people would have to submit an application and wait for it to be approved?
And so I went to my evening class. When I told the class about the news on television, nobody believed me. After the first lesson, a participant burst into the room and cried out, 'you're still in class when East Berliners are standing at the border waiting to come over. The border's been opened!' The second class was cancelled and several people flocked elatedly towards the border crossings.
I hurried home and waited for my 'East Berliners' while constantly glued to the news on TV. I was so happy when they came. They could hardly believe they'd made it over the border to West Berlin without a permit. We celebrated with whatever I could find at home. And they kept recounting how the West Berliners had greeted them with such open arms on the other side of the border. Total strangers had invited them for a beer, they'd been able to travel on public transport for free – and with the result that they'd made a detour to go and see the Kurfürstendamm, which they'd only ever seen on television. Overwhelmed by the experience, they struggled to believe that from now on they'd be able to come over to West Berlin whenever they wanted to. Just like in old times. In the early hours of the morning, we said goodbye and they left to go to work. The next evening, other friends came to see me. Although they'd never been to West Berlin before, they managed to make their way to my place in Lankwitz from Hohenschönhausen. Once again, the atmosphere was festive and they clearly delighted in recounting their new experiences. So many Berliners enjoyed the surge of happiness, but no one had any real idea as to what to expect next. Most people had the radio or television on all the time so as not to miss out on any new developments. And that's how people managed to keep their spirits high for quite a considerable time.
My sister Gretel came from Bad Salzuflen so that we could be together in Berlin to celebrate the city's reunification. Given that she came from Berlin originally, it went without saying for her to be here. We travelled to the Wall at the Brandenburg Gate, went over a new crossing and through the Brandenburg Gate. It was an amazing feeling to be able to cross without entry documents, something we'd always had to do in the past. For the longest time, we had missed being able to simply go from one part of the city to another.
We walked down Unter den Linden. People were in good spirits. As a 75-year-old in 1989, Deti raved to me about how when, as a young girl, she used to stroll down this wide avenue.
We also visited the countryside around Berlin. Deti had been to boarding school in Grünheide when our mother divorced her first husband. We took the boat from Treptow and found the school. At the time, she'd also known the neighbours, who we visited. It brought up lots of old memories. And later she got in touch with the family whenever she came to visit me. We also went to Grünau to the boat race course, which she remembered well. In the past, before the city was divided, the lakeshore there was the 'big bath' for the people of Britz. And I only discovered the lido at Wannsee when I became a West Berliner after the Wall was built. And that's how many West Berliners gradually went to visit places they hadn't had access to for so many years."
Gisela Stange
(Extract from Gisela Stange: "Nur eine Berlinerin. Band 4: 'Ruhestand-Unruhestand?' Erfahrungen 1989 bis 2004." Books on Demand Gmbh, 2006.)
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