Mildred and I met in 1988 at a volunteer project in Neu Wulmsdorf, a small town outside Hamburg. After the project finished, we hitchhiked around Germany, and spent a very memorable week – for both of us – in West Berlin, with a day visit to East Berlin. Mildred came to Chicago in 2023, which was really fun, and so on this trip it was amazing to meet up again but this time in Berlin, where she has lived for over 25 years.
We were both very keen to visit the flat in Kreuzburg where we stayed in 1988. We stayed at the home of a very nice student named Stefan who we met on the way there and who let us stay with him. I have my notebook from that summer with names and addresses of people I met, not to mention some very dramatic tales! I had recorded Stefan’s address, so we were easily able to find the apartment building.
After that important job was accomplished, we wandered through Kreuzburg, enjoying the quiet side streets.
Checkpoint Charlie was a checkpoint where citizens of the US, UK and France could cross to East Berlin. Mildred and I tried to cross there in 1988 but were turned away because of her German passport. (We had also tried a Germans-only checkpoint earlier the same day.) The shed and ‘you are leaving the American sector’ sign are recognizable but this intersection is otherwise completely different from last time I was there. Here’s a photo I found online that shows CC in 1988.
I should add that I have photos from that summer but (shame, shame) they need organization. Also it was hard to take photos then, what with the more complicated camera, film and political situation, so I didn’t take many, especially in sensitive areas. Hoping to sort through them soon!
Mildred and I crossed to East Berlin on our 3rd try, at Friedrichstrasse station, where both our passports were accepted (along with a 5DM fee and a mandatory exchange of 25DM into Ostmarks each). That crossing was called Tranenpalast, or palace of tears, because of the emotional reunions and partings between family members split by the wall that took place there. The building that served as entry from east to west is now preserved as a museum called Tranenpalast. Due to opening hours, we visited the outside of it one day and the inside another day.
That is so interesting, visiting a place from the past and seeing what remains and what has changed! I love that sign that translates to “History is everywhere, but it finds no students.” How absolutely true!