Last week I was in Berlin with a group of students. Berlin is not only the capital of Germany, but it is also a city with a lot of tragic history, particularly when you consider the time of the Cold War. Between 1949 and 1990 there were two German states, a Communist eastern state (German Democratic Republic) and a parliamentary democracy in the west, the Federal Republic of Germany. West Berlin was sort of part of the FRG, whereas East Berlin was the capital of the GDR. And West Berlin was an like an island in the Communist system, always in danger of being cut off from supplies. This happened in 1948/49, when the Soviets blocked all the roads and railways from West Germany to West Berlin and American and British planes flew everything that was needed into the city. There is a monument for this "Luftbrücke" (literally: air bridge) at Frankfurt airport and when you see that the planes used were so small compared to modern freight planes, you get an idea of the enormous task that was done then.
In 1961 the East German government decided to stop people from trying to leave the GDR via West Berlin and built a wall that was to divide the city until 1989. Today you can only see a line on the ground where the wall once was and some remains that show visitors how it was. The most famous one is "Checkpoint Charlie", which was the place where international military and diplomats could cross to the other half of the city. In October 1961, Soviet and American tanks stood here facing each other and ready to shoot ... Berlin was right in the middle of all the tension of those days.
The first picture shows the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), which used to be on East Berlin territory - how wonderful that everybody can walk through it again ! The other pictures show how "Checkpoint Charlie" looked when it was still in use and the line that signifies where the wall used to be.
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