Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The 1980s
hroughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the Quadripartite Agreement and the
inter-German treaties formed the backdrop to relations between West and East Berlin.
he main irritant was the
compulsory exchange
of D-Marks for Ostmarks, which the
GDR raised in value from DM6.50 to DM25 in 1980, deterring significant numbers
of visitors. But on the whole, a degree of stability and normality had been achieved,
enabling both cities to run relatively smoothly. Even after the partial resumption of the
Cold War following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Berlin remained
relatively calm. he only notable event was the shooting of an American o
cer on an
alleged spying mission in Potsdam in the spring of 1985.
As elsewhere in West Germany, Berlin witnessed a crystallization of issues and attitudes
and the flowering of new radical movements. Concern about the arms race and the
environment was widespread; feminism and gay rights commanded increasing support.
Left-wing and Green groups formed an
Alternative Liste
to fight elections, and a
left-liberal newspaper,
Tageszeitung
, was founded. Organized squatting was the radical
solution to Berlin's
housing crisis
. In 1981, the new Christian Democrat administration
(elected after a financial scandal forced the SPD to step down) tried to evict the squatters
from about 170 apartment buildings, and police violence sparked rioting in Schöneberg.
he administration compromised by allowing some of the squatters to become legitimate
tenants, which had a big effect on life in West Berlin. For the first time since the late
1960s, the social divisions that had opened up showed signs of narrowing. Alternative
Liste delegates were elected to the Berlin Senate for the first time in May 1981, and the
same year witnessed a boom in
cultural life
, as the arts exploded into new vitality.
he
early 1980s
saw a resumption of frostiness in US-Soviet relations, which
heightened concern about
nuclear weapons
. Anti-nuclear activists protested during
the Berlin visit of President Ronald Reagan in June 1981. But the tension and
sabre-rattling of the 1950s and 1960s Cold War didn't return to Berlin even though
ideological hostility prevented the two halves of the city from jointly celebrating
Berlin's 750th
anniversary
in 1987. In East Berlin
anniversary celebrations were
preceded by a massive
urban renewal project
, in both the city centre and the inner
suburbs; the reconstructed Nikolaiviertel (see p.66) stems from this time. In West
Berlin, the elections of spring 1989 swept the CDU administration from power, and an
SPD/Alternative Liste coalition
took over, with Walter Momper as mayor. In Kreuzberg,
demonstrations against what many regarded as an Alternative Liste sell-out were put
down with unwarranted force, sparking running street battles.
When, in 1985,
Mikhail Gorbachev
became the new Soviet leader and
began
campaigns for
glasnost
and
perestroika
, their initial impact on East Germany was slight.
he SED regarded them with deep suspicion, so while Poland and Hungary embarked
on the road to democracy, Erich Honecker declared that the Berlin Wall would stand
for another fifty or one hundred years if necessary.
Die Wende
he year 1989 ranks as both one of the most significant years in German history and
one of the most unforeseeable. Within twelve months
die Wende
(“the turning”)
transformed Germany completely. With little warning East Germany suddenly
October 3, 1990
1997
The two parts of Berlin are unified within the
Federal Republic of Germany.
Peter Eisenman's controversial design for a Memorial
to the Murdered Jews of Europe is chosen.
