"I grew up in Plauen (Vogtland) and have lived in Berlin since I completed my studies as an engineer – first in the East, and from 1983, following a bureaucratic marathon, in West Berlin. And although I had left legally, the East German authorities imposed a ban prohibiting me from re-entering the GDR. According to Stasi documents, this ban would not be lifted until 31 December 1999.
When my daughter, who was living in East Berlin with her mother, invited me to attend her wedding in late July 1989, my application was rejected as usual. My daughter's petition against this decision, which she filed with the State Council, is recorded in Stasi documents, and was not officially denied until after the wedding. In reaction, we decided to meet for a short holiday at Lake Balaton in Hungary in August 1989. On this occasion, we were also able to see my son, who lived in East Berlin, too.
On my daughter's birthday, 7 October 1989, which was also the 40th anniversary of the GDR, the border posts in Berlin were on high alert, since all civilians/FRG citizens/everyone from the West had been banned from entering East Berlin. Throughout the city, the security forces were worried that the official celebrations might not go as smoothly as planned. They were under orders to prevent demonstrations and brutally intervened several times that day.
The situation at Checkpoint Charlie on Friedrichstraße has been captured in these pictures. After several attempts at different border crossings, an acquaintance of mine from West Berlin succeeded in crossing into East Berlin at the Oberbaumbrücke and visited my daughter for her birthday."
Jürgen Lottenburger (West Berlin, born 1942)
(9 rankings) 
