Video of travel in the former East Germany in 1985

[cpzilliacus]

This is a video from the Swedish TV program Traffic Magazine from 1985. The program staff took the ferry from Trelleborg in southern Sweden to Sassnitz in the former East Germany, and the narration is in Swedish, with some interviews with East German citizens and [East German] cops in German.

Of interest even if you don't know either of those languages are scenes from the East German motorway system, lots of Eastern European cars - and unusually, a view of the West Berlin/East Berlin border from the Communist side. At the end of the program, the reporter decides to see what happens if their U.S. Dodge van breaks down - the reporter used an East German call box to summon roadside help, but apparently the East Germans did not have much of a clue about a Dodge.

Trafikmagasinet besöker DDR 1985

[Truvelo]

There's an awful lot of communistic type cars in that video. In comparison I could see just one BMW and a handful of Mercs.

[webfil]

"Communistic type cars" seen in this video are the Trabant 601 (equipped with a 2-stroke, 2-cylinder engine, thermosetting plastic body ― now a cultcar in Deutschland) and the Wartburg 353. Those are the two most common ―if not only― models in the 80's DDR.

[Road Hog]

I made a short road trip into the East right after reunification in 1990, and the roads were even worse than the video showed. The autobahn was cracked and bumpy and even the posted 80 kph wasn't safe. Drove from Fulda to Erfurt and back and didn't see any stores, or any gas stations even while I was in the East.

I'd love to go back today and see how much everything has changed.

[cpzilliacus]

"Communistic type cars" seen in this video are the Trabant 601 (equipped with a 2-stroke, 2-cylinder engine, thermosetting plastic body ― now a cultcar in Deutschland) and the Wartburg 353. Those are the two most common ―if not only― models in the 80's DDR.

You forgot the Soviet Russian Ladas (the marked VoPo car seen in the Autobahn rest area was a Lada), a Soviet adaptation of the Fiat 124.  The Swedish narrator called the Lada (which was also sold in Sweden) the East German "snob" car, much like a Mercedes (then and now) in wealthier nations.

[cpzilliacus]

There's an awful lot of communistic type cars in that video. In comparison I could see just one BMW and a handful of Mercs.

Did you notice the Nissan 300Z (I think it was a 2+2) in the parking lot of the restaurant? 

[Truvelo]

I was more interested in the nice looking Beetle cabriolet.

[Brandon]

There's an awful lot of communistic type cars in that video. In comparison I could see just one BMW and a handful of Mercs.

Did you notice the Nissan 300Z (I think it was a 2+2) in the parking lot of the restaurant? 

Very interesting indeed.  Didn't see any Mercs (in the US, Merc = Mercury, former division of Ford), but saw one Mercedes on their autobahn.  I did take note of the Nissan in the parking lot.

I noticed a lot of cobblestone streets in the towns they visited.  Must be hell on the suspensions.

There was some sort of tower along the freeway as well.  Guard tower?

Also, the older buildings in East Berlin were in a noticeable state of neglect with the bullet holes and scarring from WWII still on them.

[3467]

Last time I was there was 85 . The Russians were still POd about WW2 and liked to leave reminders for the Germans.

Did you notice the short ramps? The only thing I had seen done to the roads was some asphalt over law otherwise it all looked very 30s like the Merrit ParkWay. The Berlin Access autobahn did have a lot of Mercedes and BMWs on it. It was something to see the West German Cars just blow past the Eastern ones.
I was on a tour we did have an E German minder for part of the trip. Most security was at the boarders. The minders were really less for snooping than a lame attempt to put some positive spin on what we saw Also western radio was easily heard. I bought and East German Watch and kept some currency

[cpzilliacus]

There's an awful lot of communistic type cars in that video. In comparison I could see just one BMW and a handful of Mercs.

Did you notice the Nissan 300Z (I think it was a 2+2) in the parking lot of the restaurant? 

Very interesting indeed.  Didn't see any Mercs (in the US, Merc = Mercury, former division of Ford), but saw one Mercedes on their autobahn.  I did take note of the Nissan in the parking lot.

The narrator described the Mercedes as "unattainable luxury" for nearly all East Germans.

I noticed a lot of cobblestone streets in the towns they visited.  Must be hell on the suspensions.

According to the narrator, the stone in those cobblestone streets was imported to Germany from Sweden.

There was some sort of tower along the freeway as well.  Guard tower?

Spy tower for monitoring the movement of cars from the West. The East German secret police, the Stasi, was pathologically fearful of Westerners (and if the opportunity presented itself, they would attempt to recruit Western citizens to be informants for the Stasi).

Also, the older buildings in East Berlin were in a noticeable state of neglect with the bullet holes and scarring from WWII still on them.

East Germany was a very poor nation when compared to the Federal Republic of Germany. 

[cpzilliacus]

Last time I was there was 85 . The Russians were still POd about WW2 and liked to leave reminders for the Germans.

Though the East German regime may have been the most loyal and subservient of all of the Soviet satellite nations.

Did you notice the short ramps? The only thing I had seen done to the roads was some asphalt over law otherwise it all looked very 30s like the Merrit ParkWay. The Berlin Access autobahn did have a lot of Mercedes and BMWs on it. It was something to see the West German Cars just blow past the Eastern ones.

According to the video, the 100 k/h speed limit was strictly enforced by the VoPos.  The video also said that the Trabants were barely capable of maintaining 100 k/h.

While the Swedish crew did not use one of the official transit routes to get from Sassnitz to East Berlin, they did use a road that was approved for Westerners to drive on - and apparently it was reasonably popular among Western drivers as shortcut cross East German territory.

I was on a tour we did have an E German minder for part of the trip. Most security was at the boarders. The minders were really less for snooping than a lame attempt to put some positive spin on what we saw Also western radio was easily heard. I bought and East German Watch and kept some currency

I never visited East Germany, but I have relatives (citizens of the U.S., Sweden and Finland) who were there several times and never had any serious problems, even with the border controls.

[vdeane]

I believe the border controls were mostly about keeping East Germans in rather than keeping westerners out.

[xcellntbuy]

I believe the border controls were mostly about keeping East Germans in rather than keeping westerners out.

More specifically, and the Berlin Wall in particular, was designed, built, enhanced and refined to murderously stop massive emigration and skilled labor fleeing to then-West Germany and then-West Berlin.

[nexus73]

Put some American cars and franchises in the video from that era and it looks a lot like Oregon with all the trees and freeways.  Other than a few autobahn miles in former Greater Germany that was given over to other nations when the war ended, East Germany pretty much had all the freeway in the East Bloc.  That was a nice video to watch.  Thanks CP!

Rick

[J N Winkler]

I noticed a lot of cobblestone streets in the towns they visited.  Must be hell on the suspensions.

That is actually stone sett paving, which uses rectangular blocks laid down in a tight pattern with vertical alignment held within close tolerances.  The ride quality, if the paving is maintained well, is roughly comparable to that of a brick street in the USA.  True cobblestone paving, which is indeed unforgiving to most suspensions, uses rounded river pebbles.

Stone sett paving was very much the norm in urban Germany between the World Wars, and in fact it was used for some lengths of Reichsautobahnen.  (In his memoirs, Albert Speer implies this was done to get rid of a surplus of stone blocks which resulted from a failed experiment in having concentration camp prisoners produce industrial-sized quantities of building stone.)  But after the Germans lost World War II and the Reich was split into the two German republics, it was West Germany which had the money to pave city streets in asphalt beginning in the 1950's.  East Germany did not have a chance to catch up until after unification, but nowadays it is hard to find stone sett paving (other than as an accent in areas of special touristic interest, such as the old city center in Dresden) in the former East.  When I visited Berlin in summer 2010, I didn't see ordinary stone sett paving anywhere except in Oranienburg (which I passed through en route to Sachsenhausen concentration camp) and possibly in Humboldthain in Berlin itself.

Also, the older buildings in East Berlin were in a noticeable state of neglect with the bullet holes and scarring from WWII still on them.

Yup.  The situation today is almost a black-and-white reversal.  The old West Berlin is no longer the fashionable part of the city, and is sinking gradually into decline.  Meanwhile, Berlin Mitte (the traditional city center with the government district and most of the cultural facilities, which went to the Soviets in 1945) has regained its role as the tourist mecca.  Most of the buildings on the Museuminsel have been restored or renovated (with photos of them in their war-damaged state arranged into special exhibitions).  A lot of old East German kitsch has been either torn down or redeveloped into tourist attractions or foci for Ostalgia--the Palast der Republik ("Erich's lamp shop") is gone, but the Telespargel ("TV asparagus") still dominates the skyline, the Weltzeituhr is still in Alexanderplatz, etc.  These days you can now tour Erich Mielke's old office at Stasi HQ and marvel at his taste in shit-brown wood paneling.

[Takumi]

Did you notice the Nissan 300Z (I think it was a 2+2) in the parking lot of the restaurant? 

Indeed that is a 2+2, and was a very new car at the time (1984 was the first model year for the Z31).

[cpzilliacus]

I believe the border controls were mostly about keeping East Germans in rather than keeping westerners out.

That would be correct. 

Though the East German border controls were also about keeping "subversive" items like uncensored newspapers and magazines out (even though most residents of East Germany were able to get West German TV and radio transmission).

[cpzilliacus]

I believe the border controls were mostly about keeping East Germans in rather than keeping westerners out.

More specifically, and the Berlin Wall in particular, was designed, built, enhanced and refined to murderously stop massive emigration and skilled labor fleeing to then-West Germany and then-West Berlin.

Yep.  After the East Germans closed the border between their country and West Germany (and before the East Germans built the Berlin Wall with Soviet Russian approval in 1961) East German people wanting to leave the "Socialist Fatherland" were still able to escape by crossing over to West Berlin and then taking a quick airline flight to West German territory, well beyond the reach of the Stasi and the VoPos.

[firefly]

What you all seem to know about a country you have barely seen from inside. It's amazing.

[Avalanchez71]

What was the dialog with the police officer about?

[J N Winkler]

What you all seem to know about a country you have barely seen from inside. It's amazing.

What did we get wrong?

[3467]

It seems many of us did  see it from the inside. I went there 3 times because I had a great  aunt who had returned there after the war . To get her to return she got an apartment and lifetime pension.
It was really interesting to hear what has happened to old west Berlin. The old downtown was the area around the bombed out cathedral

[SP Cook]

Buddy of mine was stationed in Berlin when the people finally overthrew the commies.    He was one of the last people to get the WWII Occupation Medal (Berlin was technically still occupied by the Four Powers and people stationed there got the medal, which was not awarded elsewhere after the late 40s). 

Anyway, as you will see in the video, the Autobahns in that half of Germany were pretty much left in the state they were in 1945, without the later improvements.  You will see short (or no) ramps, narrow (or no) medians.  I read somewhere that many rest areas and maintenance sheds were simply abandoned as the Russians came in and left as is for 4 decades (since road maintance was not a priority in the Worker's Paradise).  After the fall, they rebuilt the system to modern standards, and found perfectly preserved such places which had been unoccupied since the then, which was of interest to historians.  Treasure trove of ordinary day in the life material from that era.

[pctech]

Fascinating stuff! Wonder if they have trouble getting the Dodge van repaired?

[Road Hog]

What was the dialog with the police officer about?

The first part was about the strict drinking and driving laws in the DDR. The narrator talked over the officer, but essentially the BAC limit was 0.0.

The second part was a question about how much a fine was for going 20 or 30 kph over the speed limit. The officer said, "Don't do that."