Berlin

In the late 80’s when we reformed the original early 70’s line-up for a three year period, we had two occasions to visit Berlin. It was 1989 actually and we were there just prior to the collapse of communism in the East and just after the liberation and subsequent removal of that monstrous wall. I remember the atmosphere well. Now, as we drive into the city, I am reminded of it and how much we sometimes take our Western freedoms for granted. I wrote two songs back then; Wings of Desire, named after the famous golden statue, Der Berliner Engel (Angel of Berlin) and Chimes of Freedom.

There were some funny stories back then, relating to the everyday people, which make you laugh, even today. In one, I heard that a TV newsreader had announced to everyone that it would be possible, from now on, to cross the checkpoints into the West. No sooner had he said this than everyone grabbed their coats and hats and headed, en masse, to the border. The soldiers and guards were completely unprepared, not being in the news loop and were standing by, helplessly overwhelmed, as hordes of people flooded across. Afterwards, people said that if they had realized it would have been that easy, they would have done it before!

At that time there was also chaos in the West Berlin stores because, overnight, the East German D. Mark gained parity with the W. German D. Mark so these former Easterners were rich with their savings. Some went out and bought Mercedes and BMWs and there were many road accidents because they did not know how to drive such big powerful machines, having been used to the little Trabants and so on. For those that don’t know, the Trabant, was just about the only car available to ordinary people back in the old days. It’s body panels were actually made of plywood, in some cases, and the engine while belching oil, would get almost 60 h.p. Anyway, as a result, car insurance premiums went up all over Germany. I remember seeing families of East Germans stopping and picnicking at the side of the autobahns, having never driven on one before or having experienced cars driving in excess of 100 mph.. It was surreal. Many aspects of the East German’s lives became disorientating for them. Street names were changed over night and new passports and driving licenses were issued by the government.

Nowadays, driving around these quiet East German cities on fabulous new, wide autobahns, it’s incredible to witness what has been achieved, but on the other hand one gets the feeling that many of the towns and cities are waiting to be jump – started, since so many people have left for the bright lights of Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich. It’s definitely still a work in progress.

A.P.