Hi there! So I know we have a very exciting view of the daring attempts made to cross the Berlin wall, but it is my understanding that once in West Berlin you were still surrounded on every side by East Germany. Does this mean you were essentially still trapped? You would be able to make it from there into wider Europe?
What were things like logistically for West Berlin citizens? Could they come and go fairly easily or were they quite clearly surrounded by a (sometimes) hostile nation?
Finally, as West Berlin had very close ties with West Germany, how easy was travel between them? Could I board a plane as I would now to travel from Bonn to West Berlin? Could I perhaps even have driven? What restrictions were in place, both technically and realistically.
Many thanks!
Edit: Spelling/grammar
there were special border crossings for west german people, they could then drive through the GDR by car on special routes (it was not allowed to leave these streets and you were only allowed to stop for a short rest, communicating with east germans was forbidden by the GDR, Stasi was constantly spying on everybody; entry stamps with time into the entry visa had to be shown on leaving the GDR to make sure the travel had been done without major breaks). German airlines were not allowed to fly to West Berlin, so Pan Am, British Airways and Air France covered most of the flights from West Germany to West Berlin (also airlines like Air Berlin USA (with HQ in Miami - now Air Berlin, second largest airline in Germany) and EuroBerlin France (joint-venture from Air France owning 51% and Lufthansa 49%) were founded. Train weres going without any stops (in the east) directly from and to West Berlin, the DR (east german railways) operated these trains within the GDR (West German cars but eastern locomotives) with hightest priority to make sure there are zero stops within the GDR, of course all this happened with extensive border checks on the eastern side prior entering and leaving.. (plus the constant spying of Stasi members.)
Before the Berlin Airlift there was never a formal agreement on the rights of access from the West Germany zones to Berlin but it was allowed + the use of three air coridors from Hamburg, Bückeburg and Frankfurt. However the soviets then closed the road, rail and canal links in 1948 prompting the airlift.
Post this a large international airport was built in Western Berlin so this could be the best means of escape.
As a followup question, were prices in West Berlin significantly higher than in, say, Bonn in West Germany, due to the cost of importing stuff across moderately hostile terrain?
I was in Berlin a couple of weeks ago. There is a great display at Bernauer Strasse, which was one area where the wall dissected Berlin. The wall was built in stages. After the East Germans closed the border there was only wire. Many people in the East thought it was only temporary and didn't take the chance to leave. When the wall was originally build, tenement blocks formed that part of the wall, meaning occupants could jump out their windows into the west. Then the East Germans bricked up the lower windows, so people got out from higher with ropes. Then everyone was moved out the houses and they were demolished and the wall built in their place. But the ground beneath Bernauer Street was very firm and excellent for tunneling. So tunnels were built, mainly from the west and several hundred people escaped that way.
Now there are displays with photographs from all stages of the wall. Some very good human stories, the man and his new wife visiting the wall to let her meet his parents, who had to hang out a window etc. The route of the tunnels is marked with metal plates. If you ever visit I'd say it is a must visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernauer_Stra%C3%9Fe
Follow up question: how did the west get tanks and heavy military equipment into West Berlin?
I think I've seen pictures of American tanks staring down soviet ones at checkpoint Charlie. Surely those tanks weren't airlifted, were they?
Does this mean you were essentially still trapped? You would be able to make it from there into wider Europe?
Germans who managed to arrive in West Germany by any means had a right to a passport. As a West German citizen you were pretty much untouchable by the East German government, because they didn't want to look too bad.
When I was learning German in the early 90s, we listened to a song called Westerland, with lyrics about sitting on the shore of Lake Wannsee in Berlin dreaming about sitting on the beach in Westerland (on the island of Sylt in the North Sea).
Our teacher explained that the West German govermnent had gone to great lengths to encourage young people to settle and live in West Berlin - which goes some way to explaining the particular culture of 70s and 80s West Berlin, David Bowie et al - and as part of the deal, the young people were guaranteed an annual beach holiday at one of the North Sea coast resorts.
That was 20 years ago, and I may have misremembered part (or all) of it, but I'd love some more information if anyone has any.
