Welcome to our detailed five-part series on East Berlin during the Cold War. In this blog article we will explain more about the history, life and living in East Berlin so you can better understand this important time in history. If you are a history lover or generally interested in this topic, we are pleased to offer useful information that will help you get acquainted with East Berlin’s background.

Introduction to East Berlin

From 1945 to 1989 the Berlin city was divided into two parts: West Berlin and East Berlin. East Berlin was the capital of East Germany or also calles as the German Democratic Republic GDR. Gateway of the wall parted East and West Berlin, East and West, translating the spirit of division between East and West blocs.

Life in East Berlin

Life on the Eastern side of Berlin was completely different from that in the western side. In an effort to achieve these goals, the government put in place a socialist system with a direct manage- ment of most aspects of social life with particular emphasis on housing, education and employment. East Berliners were under constant scrutiny, which is the government ensured it kept a close eye on its people to ensure they did not subversively lean towards the west.

The choices of housing were low and most of the East Berliners lived in public housing. The government issued a card to each of its citizen and ranked him to the level of loyalty to the ruling party; the better your ranking the better your quality house and other privileges.

Stasi – The Secret Police

The secret police of the GDR was the Ministry for State Security, less well-known as the Stasi, whose function was to maintain power while simultaneously quashing any dissent from society. This is one of the most extensive surveillance systems throughout human history; the Stasi instrumented people’s lives so that the citizens spied on one another and reported the suspicions.

The consequences are in the oppressiveness of the Stasi’s presence, which also brought the reasonable paranoia of the population. They accumulated large files of details about people’s biographies, used telephone interception, and organized a large number of informers to keep themselves in power.

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was one of the strongest symbolic of division between East and West Berlin. Being the official border point it was used by diplomats, military officers, and foreign visitors arriving in the country by any other means than by air. Checkpoint Charlie today tour offers a feel of the experiences that people underwent during the Cold War period.

East Side Gallery

As part of art and freedom symbolically, the East Side Gallery is a section of the original Berlin Wall space painted with murals. These murals are the works of artists from different parts of the world because the open air gallery was painted to mark the reunification of Berlin subsequent to the pulling down of the wall.

Trabant Museum

The Trabant Museum provides a chance to understand the automobile phenomenon from the East Germany, the Trabants. Designed and built in East Berlin in the period of the Cold War, the Trabant symbolizes the scarcity of resources and the industrial difficulties of the time. It also helps them understand the process of the production and experience how that some time ago was to live.

DDR Museum

Interactive, the DDR Museum gives an exciting insight on how people lived in the Eastern Germany. Starting with what can be found in most homes in the present to interactive displays on aspects of learning and entertainment in the past, this is a музейн carriage back in time. Interacting with artifacts, they, for their part, can get an idea of what it was like to be an East Berliner struggling with the circumstances.

Conclusion

Walking through East Berlin during the Cold War allows understanding of that time and how the Eastern and Western hemispheres were distinct. Thus, it is possible to conclude that historical background, the challenges, and the great actors’ tenacity make people realize how political systems create societies.

Some Key places include Checkpoint Charlie, the East Side Gallery, the Trabi Museum, and, the DDR Museum warrant viable visit to help any one get acquainted and experience this interesting period of history. Therefore you should start planning your visit to East Berlin now and feel the atmosphere of the divided and reunited city.