BERLIN – A City Divided
description
Transcript of BERLIN – A City Divided
chronicles
susanne BuddenBerg / Thomas henseler
avant-verlag
The comic book “Berlin – a city divided” is based on actual events.
With the support of
The Federal Foundation for the reappraisel of the sed dictatorship
scenario and gray tones: susanne Buddenberg
scenario and drawings: Thomas henseler
Zoom und Tinte Buddenberg und henseler gbr
editor: markus Pieper
historical texts: dr. christian halbrock
historical consultant: dr. maria nooke – Berlin Wall memorial
english translation: rick minnich
Typesetting and graphic design: andreas rupprecht
Photos 1986/1987: detlef matthes
Photos 2012: anna schmelz
Publisher: Johann ulrich
avant-verlag / rodenbergstrasse 9 / 10439 Berlin
isBn 978-3-939080-75-6
First edition
all rights reserved
Find out more about our books and
how to order them at www.avant-verlag.de
regina ZyWieTZ: how the Wall nearly Put an end to my high school career — 7
ursula malchoW: The hospital by the Wall — 25
The holZaPFel Family: Ziplining over the Wall — 41
deTleF maTThes: The other side — 59
Jan hildeBrandT: my 18th Birthday — 79
Table of contents
S-Bahn ticket to West Berlin from August 16, 1961
7
East Berlin, Friedrichstrasse Railway Station, August 16, 1961
regina Zywietz (19). The East Berliner goes to high school in the West and will be taking her finals soon.
Meeting my teachers who want to help me flee to
West Berlin.
dr. wellmer
dr. rintelen
mr. münzel
But the borders have been closed for the past 4 days.
[Banner on train station: Neues Deutschland proclaims: A Dark Day for Warmongers]
regina ZyWieTZ: how the Wall nearly Put an end to my high school career
bullet 7.62 x 39 mm caliber
25
west berlin, late-summer 1961:The Lazarus Hospital at
bernauer strasse 114-118
We’ve been living and working here since 1958.
ursula malchoW: The hospital by the Wall
My husband GÜNTER works as
a male nurse.
I bring the patients their meals.
26
We live with our children on the mezzanine floor next to the emergency room.
Across the street begins East Berlin, another country, the GDR.
lazarus Hospital
bernauer strasse
sophien parish cemetery
G d r
The buildings there belong to the East. The exits to the West are being sealed
off one by one.
Whenever we notice people fleeing, we try to act normal
so the border guards don’t become suspicious.
27
GDR border guards try to pull others back up into the East while West Berliners try
to pull them down into the West.
Time and time again people desperately try to escape into the West.
Some flee over the roof-tops, the borderguards in hot pursuit.
The West Berlin police try to protect those
on the run.
Some escapees rappel on bed sheets tied together.
Others jump into the fire department’s rescue nets.
The sheets often tear …
Handmade pulley with shoulder strap
41
east berlin, House of Ministries:The GDR was founded here in 1949.
The holZaPFel Family: Ziplining over the Wall
The 34-year-old industrial economist
and production scheduler is here for a bi-monthly meeting. He has lost his faith in socialism.
otto-grotewohl-
strass
e
ber
lin
wall
leipziger strasse
July 28, 1965: Leipziger Strasse, Employee entrance
heinz holzapfel from Leipzig
“Exa 1b” model from VEB Certo Kamerawerk Dresden
59
east berlin, summer 1976
deTleF maTThes: The other side
Here you can see some represen- tative architecture from the past
two centuries: the Berlin Cathedral, which is now being re-built and …
My father is playing tour guide for our visitors from the West.
… the new landmark of East Berlin - the recently opened
“Palace of the Republic.”
60
The family strolls along the boulevard “Unter den Linden.”
Here’s the magnificent embassy of the USSR.
Dad …
Hmm?
… what’s that white thing over there?
That’s the Wall.
61
TheWall?
Yes, and behind it is West Berlin.
What’s West Berlin?
The other part of Berlin.
The “other part” of Berlin was
terra incognita for me. Our maps showed it
as undeveloped territory.
A chunk of the Berlin Wall
79
My sister ELSKE
Jan hildeBrandT: my 18th Birthday
East Berlin, Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 3, November 9, 1989
It wasn’t even 8 o’clock yet and my 18th birthday was
already over.
My bestfriend frank
My mother regine
I’ll be in my room.
Put it over there. I’ll take care of it.
97
Susanne Buddenberg and Thomas Henseler studied design at the
Fachhochschule aachen and film at the hochschule für Film und Fernsehen
“Konrad Wolf” in Potsdam-Babelsberg. upon completing their studies,
they founded the company Zoom und Tinte Buddenberg und henseler gbr,
which specializes in film and illustration. Together they work in the fields of
comics, illustration and storyboarding for film productions, television stations
and advertising and event agencies. They also teach game design.
The authors
For 28 years, the Berlin Wall divided the city and tore apart friends and family.
comic book artists susanne Buddenberg and Thomas henseler interviewed
contemporary witnesses and recorded their stories. Five authentic tales bring
to life a past which, although not far away, seems hardly imaginable now:
a young woman tries to leave east germany with a fake id card. a refugee is
shot on the border, and no one can come to his rescue. an entire family hides
in an east german government building near the Wall, hoping to flee from here
into the West. a young man covertly photographs the border fortifications and
falls into the clutches of the secret police. an east Berlin student ventures into
West Berlin and experiences the party of a lifetime.
“Berlin – a city divided” also takes us to the original locations of the stories:
Friedrichstrasse station, Bernauer strasse, Wilhelmstrasse, the Brandenburg gate,
and the former border crossing in the Bornholmer strasse, where readers can
search for remnants of the dramatic events.
Berlin – a city dividedchronicles