Then and Now: Bernauer Straße, Berlin

Sigh.

As regular readers of these pages know, every now and then I am posting interesting vintage postcards and contrast them with the area as it looks today.

Some of these are merely interesting because a lot has changed since then, but others—like today’s posting—are a bit “more” so because of the additional implications.

Bernauer Straße = Where the Berlin Wall once Was

I am reproducing the reverse, too—and a bunch of links to add information.

If you’d venture over to the English-language Wikipedia entry, you’ll find mane more pictures but none that permits identification of the buildings shown above:

When Berlin was a divided city, the Berlin Wall erected in 1961 ran along this street. Bernauer Straße became famous for escapes from windows of apartment blocks in the eastern part of the city, down to the street, which was in the West. Several people died here when the border was first enforced.

Here’s an image of the reverse of the above postcard:

[transcript] Erschüttert beim Anblick der unmenschlichen Mauer stand ich in der Bernauerstraßer, genau dort do du am linken Bildrand den Holzkran siehst und danke dem Herrgott, daß er uns in Wien dies erspart hat.

[my translation] Shocked at the sight of this inhuman wall, I stood in Bernauerstraße, exactly where you see the wooden crane on the left-hand side of the postcard, and thank the Lord God that he spared us this [Wall] in Vienna.

Here is one more snippet from this Wikipedia entry:

The state-funded Centre for Contemporary History (ZZF) in Potsdam has confirmed that “…at least 140 people were killed at the Berlin Wall or died under circumstances directly connected with the GDR border regime”, including people attempting to escape, border guards, and innocent parties. However, researchers at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum have estimated the death toll to be significantly higher.

May they all rest in peace.