25 years after the fall of the wall and the Iron Curtain.
With the help of an old Lubitel camera made in USSR, i'm trying to explore the rest of communism in Europa.
Work in progress...
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The
remand prison was located within a restricted military area
hermetically sealed off from the outside world. This area never
appeared on any maps of East Berlin.
Chapter 1: Prag
Chapter 2: Warsaw
Chapter 3: Eisenhuttenstadt
Chapter 4: Stasi archives, Berlin
Chapter 5: Zeitz
Chapter 6: Ernst Thälmann, Berlin
Chapter 7: Checkpoint Bravo and the surroundings, Berlin
Chapter 8: Current events in Ukraine
Chapter 9: Marx and Engels, Berlin
Chapter 10: Republic of Macedonia / FYROM
Chapter 11: Mauerweg, Berlin
Chapter 12: Karl Marx Allee, Berlin
Chapter 13: "Little Moscow"
Chapter 14: DDR Flat, Berlin
Chater 15: Stasi jail, Postdam
Chapter 16: Glienicke Bridge, Postdam
Chapter 17: Palace of tears, Berlin
Chapter 18: Soviet war memorial, Berlin
Chapter 19: Marienfelde refugee center, Berlin
Chapter 20: Michendorfer Chaussee Cemetery, Postdam
Chapter 21: Haus der Statistik, Berlin
Chapter 22: Stasi Headquarter, Berlin
Chapter 23: Stasi Jail, Hohenschönhausen
Chapter 24: Sportforum, Berlin
Chapter 6: Ernst Thälmann, Berlin
Chapter 7: Checkpoint Bravo and the surroundings, Berlin
Chapter 8: Current events in Ukraine
Chapter 9: Marx and Engels, Berlin
Chapter 10: Republic of Macedonia / FYROM
Chapter 11: Mauerweg, Berlin
Chapter 12: Karl Marx Allee, Berlin
Chapter 13: "Little Moscow"
Chapter 14: DDR Flat, Berlin
Chater 15: Stasi jail, Postdam
Chapter 16: Glienicke Bridge, Postdam
Chapter 17: Palace of tears, Berlin
Chapter 18: Soviet war memorial, Berlin
Chapter 19: Marienfelde refugee center, Berlin
Chapter 20: Michendorfer Chaussee Cemetery, Postdam
Chapter 21: Haus der Statistik, Berlin
Chapter 22: Stasi Headquarter, Berlin
Chapter 23: Stasi Jail, Hohenschönhausen
Chapter 24: Sportforum, Berlin
Because
of this political current events in Ukraine, and the fact that I decided to put a video found
on Youtube, I think it's time that i express myself about
this project "Red Ashes". I'm not pro or anti-communist. I grew up (in France) outside of this political system. When I'm moved 6 years ago to Berlin, I discovered a
lot of facet of this period. I get the feeling that i am just in the
middle of history. I find really interesting to be able to be the
witness of this change. In Germany, this is still in the head of every people
of my generation or older: colleagues, family in laws, friends... With
this photographic project, i am just trying to make an inventory of what
stays visually of this period. There is no political ideology, no judgement behind
this project, just an artistic look.
24: SPORTFORUM, Berlin
Former hotel for athletics
23: STASI JAIL, Hohenschönhausen
The
Soviets took over a former canteen block in the north-east of Berlin
at the end of the Second World War and turned it into a special
detainment camp. After the camp was closed in October 1946, the
cellar was converted into the main Soviet Secret Police prison for
detention and interrogation in East Germany. In 1951 the East German
Ministry of State Security (Stasi) took over the prison, added a new
prison building in 1961, included
200 prison cells and interrogation rooms, and,
until 1989, used the site as its main remand centre.
Thousands of
political prisoners passed through this jail. Although
torture and physical violence were commonly employed here, psychological intimidation was the main method of
political repression and
techniques including sleep deprivation, total isolation, threats to
friends and family members, and the use of water cells.
delivery vans and minibus named B1000
Stasi used it a sa covert prisoner transport vehicle, whereby up to 5 prisoners could be held in tiny, windowless cells. the vans were often used to snatch citizens directly from the street, and were usually disguised as food delivery trucks.
22: STASI HEADQUARTER, Berlin
The former headquarter of the Stasi is located in Berlin Lichtenberg. This big complex of building, approximately 50, was erected en 1960-61.
7000 full-time employees of East German State Security and the Foreign Intelligence Service worked in there.
Today Stasi´s museum is located in "House 1", the former office, flat, and headquarter of the East German Minister for State Security, Erich Mielke.
The central archive can be find in the "House 7" (cf. Chapter 4 of this page)
21: HAUS DER STATISTIK, Berlin
20: MICHENDORFER CHAUSSEE CEMETERY, Postdam
Built in 1046, the russian war cemetery Michendorfer Chaussee is the biggest soviet graveyard in the east german territory. This war cemetery contains the graves of 2,398 Soviet soldiers and officers who fell in the fighting for Potsdam in April 1945 or died due to their wounds thereafter. There are also 2,829 post-war graves.
19: MARIENFELDE REFUGEE CENTER, Berlin
Marienfelde refugee transit camp was one of three camps operated by West Germany and West Berlin during the cold war for dealing with the great waves of immigration from East Germany. Between 1949 and 1990, around 4 million people left East Germany for the West. The were fleeing the political pressures, personal persecution and economic harassment.
Refugees arriving in West Berlin were sent to the reception centre located in the Marienfelde district, where they received medical treatment, food, identification papers, and housing until they could be permanently re-settled in the West. 1,35 millions people had passed through this "gate of freedom".
December 2010 the former refugee center was reactivated and is now a residential home for asylum-seekers.
Refugees arriving in West Berlin were sent to the reception centre located in the Marienfelde district, where they received medical treatment, food, identification papers, and housing until they could be permanently re-settled in the West. 1,35 millions people had passed through this "gate of freedom".
December 2010 the former refugee center was reactivated and is now a residential home for asylum-seekers.
18: SOVIET WAR MEMORIAL, Berlin
At the conclusion of World War II, three Soviet war memorials were built in the city of Berlin to commemorate Soviet deaths in World War II, especially the 80,000 that died during the Battle of Berlin in April–May 1945. The memorials are not only commemorative, but also serve as cemeteries for those killed.
The first memorial is located in the Großer Tiergarten, a large public, near the Straße des 17. Juni. It was erected in 1945, within a few months of the capture of the city.
The second one is situed in Treptower Park.This vast memorial and military cemetery commemorate 5,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who fell in the Battle of Berlin. It served as the central war memorial of East Germany. It was built to the design of the Soviet architect Yakov Belopolsky and opened four years after World War II on May 8,1949.
17: PALAST OF TEARS, Berlin
The "Palace of Tears" (german: Tränenpalast) is a former border crossing at Berlin Friedrichstraße station, where East Germans said goodbye to visitors going back to West Germany. From 1962 to 1989 it was the border crossing for travellers by S-bahn, U-bahn and train between East and West Germany. It was used only for westbound border crossings, with separate checkpoints for West Berliners, West Germans, foreigners, diplomats, transit travellers and East Germans.
The term Tränenpalast derives from the tearful goodbyes that took place in front of the building, where western visitors had to say farewell to East Germans that were not permitted to travel to West Berlin.
The term Tränenpalast derives from the tearful goodbyes that took place in front of the building, where western visitors had to say farewell to East Germans that were not permitted to travel to West Berlin.
The Glienicke Bridge is a bridge across the Havel River in Germany, connecting the Wannsee district of Berlin with the Brandenburg capital Potsdam. The steel bridge was reopened in December 1949 as the “Bridge of Unity”. The border between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic ran through the middle of the bridge. On May 1952, East German authorities closed the bridge to citizens of West Berlin and West Germany. In august 1961, after the construction of the Berlin Wall, the bridge was closed to East German citizens too. Only allied personnel were allowed to access the bridge. It was one of the few places in the world where the United States and the Soviet Union stood directly opposite to each other.
This bridge have been use by Americans and Soviets for the exchange of captured spies during the Cold War. Reporters began calling it the "Bridge of Spies".
This bridge have been use by Americans and Soviets for the exchange of captured spies during the Cold War. Reporters began calling it the "Bridge of Spies".
- The first prisoner exchange took place on 10 February 1962. The Americans released Soviet spy Colonel Rudolf Abel in exchange for American spy-plane pilot Francis Gary Powers captured by the USSR. (The 2015 film Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks, features this exchange as a major plot element.)
-On 12 June 1985, there was a swap of 23 American agents held in Eastern Europe for Polish agent Marian Zacharski and another three Soviet agents arrested in the West. The exchange was the result of three years of negotiation.
-The final exchange was also the most public. On 11 February 1986 the human rights campaigner and political prisoner Anatoly Shcharansky and three Western agents were exchanged for Karl Koecher and four other Eastern agents.
-The final exchange was also the most public. On 11 February 1986 the human rights campaigner and political prisoner Anatoly Shcharansky and three Western agents were exchanged for Karl Koecher and four other Eastern agents.
15: STASI JAIL, Postdam
This prison complex in the city of Potsdam near Berlin was used first by the Nazis, then the Soviet KGB, and finally the Stasi, the secret security police of the GDR.
During the initial post-war years , during the Soviet occupation, the KGB used this prison as one of the many sites where were imprisoned and tortured Germans accused of being Nazi.In 1952, the prison was handed over to the Stasi. Henceforth it was a remand prison for political opponents of the regime.
All together 36 cells were constructed, located in the basement, on the first floor and the second floor. Gangways and windows were bricked up, to only leave narrow slits. The few windows left were barred with massive iron. Blinds made it impossible to get in contact with the outside world. The prisoners were often interrogated for months, often abused, and sentenced to long imprisonment or death. Numerous inscriptions in German and Russian show the degree of isolation, psychological pressure, and deprivation to which the detainees were subjected. The Soviet intelligence sent the prisoners after their sentence either directly to one of the notorious Gulag penal camps in the Soviet Union or to one of ten Soviet special camps like Torgau or Sachsenhausen in the Soviet zone of occupation.
With the collapse of the GDR and the fall of the Berlin Wall the remaining prisoners were released and the new opposition turned the site into a "house of democracy".
13: "LITTLE MOSCOW",Wünsdorf-Waldstadt
Wünsdorf was the Red Army’s headquarters in Germany, the biggest Soviet military camp outside the USSR. Known as "Little Moscow" or "the Forbidden City", it was the home to some 75,000 Soviet men,
women and children, of whom 50,000
were soldiers.
The forest city had everything for their needs
including schools, supermarkets and direct trains going to Moscow every day.
Many Russian soldiers who came here saw the train and life inside the
town but nothing else. The Red Army didn't like them fraternising with
the locals.
When the Soviet army left in 1994, the town's population
shrank to 6,000 and the buildings were left to
crumble.
What the Russians didn't have at Wünsdorf they imported, including
culture. That meant the Bolshoi Ballet and actors who performed for the
politburo in the Kremlin travelled to this theatre.
Some examples of builidings of the city Wünsdorf-Waldstadt left behind.
12: KARL MARX ALLEE, Berlin
The Karl-Marx-Allee is a monumental socialist boulevard built by the GDR between 1952 and 1960 in Berlin Friedrichshain and Mitte. It was designed by the architects Hermann Henselmann,
Hartmann, Hopp, Leucht, Paulick and Souradny, in the classical Socialist style. It contains spacious and
luxurious apartments for plain workers, as well as shops, restaurants,
cafés, a tourist hotel and an cinema. The street was used for East Germany's annual May Day
parade, featuring thousands of soldiers along with tanks and other
military vehicles to showcase the power and the glory of the communist
government.
Inaugured the 30 september 1969 to celebrate the 20 years birthday of GDR. This monument was, and are still a famous meeting point for berlin's peoples.
In 1989, during the "Peacefull revolution", a lot of massive protest and manifestations against the political system of the GDR start from this clock, before to reach the Palast der Republik and the Gethsemanekirche.
Haus des Lehrers / House of the teachers
Built between 1962 and 1964.
Its most notable feature is a mural wrapping around the entire building, designed in the style of Mexican mural art by artist Walter Womacka, it is titled Unser Leben ("Our Life") and depicts various occupational groups of and aspects of life in the GDR.
Karl Marx Buchhandlung / Karl Marx bookshop
In the movies "Good bye Lenin" and "The lives of others", several scenes were turn there.
The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), starting on 13 August 1961, the wall completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until it was opened in November 1989. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. The West Berlin city government referred to it as the "Wall of Shame".
Between 1961 and 1989, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin.
The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990.
1km500
(Heiligensee)
3km720
5km
(Invalidensiedlung)
10km850
(Wachturm "Deutschen Waldjugend")
("Death strip")
In June 1962, a second, parallel fence was built some 100 metres farther into East German territory. The houses contained between the fences were razed and the inhabitants relocated, thus establishing what later became known as the Death Strip. The Death Strip was covered with raked sand or gravel, rendering footprints easy to notice, easing the detection of trespassers and also enabling officers to see which guards had neglected their task. It offered no cover, and, most importantly, it offered clear fields of fire for the wall guards.
The "fourth-generation wall" (1975–1989), cost DDM 16,155,000 or about US$3,638,000.
The "fourth-generation wall" (1975–1989), cost DDM 16,155,000 or about US$3,638,000.
(Hermsdorf)
(Bornholmer Brücke)
On 9 November 1989, after West German television stations reported a change in travel regulations that had just been announced by GDR politburo member Günter Schabowski, a growing crowd of East Berliners started collecting at the checkpoints on the border to West Berlin. They wanted to take advantage of their new right to travel right away. Over the next hour, around 20,000 people were able to cross the Bösebrücke bridge without being checked. On this night, the peaceful revolution underway in the GDR and the political changes taking place in the countries of Eastern Europe had succeeded in opening the Berlin Wall.
(Maeurpark)
(Bernauer Strasse)
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.
After the Wall came down, Bernauer Straße was the location of one of the longer preserved sections. In 1999, part of it was turned into a memorial park, the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer.
After the Wall came down, Bernauer Straße was the location of one of the longer preserved sections. In 1999, part of it was turned into a memorial park, the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer.
41km
(Wachturm Kieler Strasse)
46km200
(Checkpoint Charlie)
Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin, during the Cold War.
Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point (by foot or by car) for foreigners and members of the Allied forces.
Checkpoint Charlie has become, after the reunification, one of Berlin's primary tourist attractions: a copy of the guard house erected during 1961, sign that once marked the border crossing and a sandbag barrier.
Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point (by foot or by car) for foreigners and members of the Allied forces.
Checkpoint Charlie has become, after the reunification, one of Berlin's primary tourist attractions: a copy of the guard house erected during 1961, sign that once marked the border crossing and a sandbag barrier.
(first night, Bouchéstrasse)
59km
(Memorial for Chris Gueffroy, last victim of the wall)
(Checkpoint Bravo, cf. chapter 7)
(former highway, cf chapter 7)
(second night in a camping. In the middle of this one, stand a former watch-tower)
117km
(former point of control Dreilinden)
117km
(former motorway restaurant)
126km
(Postdam)
(Postdam)
127km
(Postdam)
138km
148km
156km
(Spandau)
(Spandau)
168km
175km
(Border tower in Nieder Neuendorf)
177km
(Road sign of the cycle track)
In 1944, the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia
(ASNOM) proclaimed the People's Republic of Macedonia as part of the
People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The new republic became one of
the six republics of the Yugoslav federation: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. (In addition, it
included two autonomous provinces: Kosovo and Vojvodina). During the
civil war in Greece (1946–1949) Macedonian communist insurgents
supported the Greek communists. Many refugees fled to the Socialist
Republic of Macedonia from there.
The country officially celebrates 8 September 1991 as Independence day, with regard to the referendum endorsing independence from Yugoslavia.
The country officially celebrates 8 September 1991 as Independence day, with regard to the referendum endorsing independence from Yugoslavia.
Zastava Automobile: Yugo and F600
Scupture in Mavrovo
9: MARX AND ENGELS, Berlin
Before World War II, the area was a densely populated Old Town quarter between the river and Alexanderplatz. The area was heavily bombed during Allied air attacks in 1944/45 and most of its buildings reduced to ruins.
The GDR authorities in 1977 set up plans for a green space between the Palast der Republik and the Fernsehturm. The sculptor Ludwig Engelhardt was appointed as director of the project to redevelop the site as a tribute to Marx and Engels, the founders of the communist movement to whose ideology the GDR was dedicated. The inauguration took place in 1986.
After German reunification in 1990, the future of the Marx-Engels Forum became the subject of public controversy. Some Berliners saw the Forum as an unwanted relic of a defunct regime which they opposed, and argued for the removal of the statues and renaming of the park. Others argued that the site had both artistic and historical significance, and should be preserved. The latter view eventually prevailed.
The GDR authorities in 1977 set up plans for a green space between the Palast der Republik and the Fernsehturm. The sculptor Ludwig Engelhardt was appointed as director of the project to redevelop the site as a tribute to Marx and Engels, the founders of the communist movement to whose ideology the GDR was dedicated. The inauguration took place in 1986.
After German reunification in 1990, the future of the Marx-Engels Forum became the subject of public controversy. Some Berliners saw the Forum as an unwanted relic of a defunct regime which they opposed, and argued for the removal of the statues and renaming of the park. Others argued that the site had both artistic and historical significance, and should be preserved. The latter view eventually prevailed.
8: CURRENT EVENTS IN UKRAINE
In April 2015, a decommunization process started in Ukraine after laws were approved that outlawed communist and Soviet symbols. Expressing pro-communist views is not illegal in Ukraine.
On 15 May 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a set of laws. This will result in the removement of hundreds of statues, of communist monuments (excluding World War II monuments), the replacement of millions of street signs and the renaming of populated places including some of Ukraine's biggest cities.
On 15 May 2015, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a set of laws. This will result in the removement of hundreds of statues, of communist monuments (excluding World War II monuments), the replacement of millions of street signs and the renaming of populated places including some of Ukraine's biggest cities.
One of the main provisions of the bill was the recognition of the Soviet Union was "criminal".
7: CHECKPOINT BRAVO & CO, Berlin
Checkpoint Bravo
Checkpoint Bravo ("Checkpoint B") was the name given by the Western Allies to the main autobahn border crossing points between West Berlin and the German Democratic Republic. The Americans established the Allied checkpoint Bravo on a bridge, directly on the highway. Till 1969, 5.9 millions persons and approx. 2.5 millions motor vehicles crossed this border.
The checkpoint was moved during 1969 from Drewitz to Nikolassee. The East German authorities realigned the transit route to eliminate a brief re-entry into GDR territory. Today, the buildigs are use by the costums.
The vast site of the East-German checkpoint was converted into a commercial park named Europarc Dreilinden. All that remains of the checkpoint is the former main control tower.
No man's land in Dreilingen
The Berlin Wall was 140 kilometres long. In June 1962, a second, parallel fence was built some 100 metres farther into East German territory. The houses contained between the fences were razed and the inhabitants relocated. It became known as the "Death Strip". The Death Strip was covered with raked sand or gravel, rendering footprints easy to notice, easing the detection of trespassers and also enabling officers to see which guards had neglected their task; it offered no cover; and, most importantly, it offered clear fields of fire for the wall guards.
Sculptur of the artist Eckhart Haisch in answer to the former memorial, a soviet tank
Bundesautobahn 115
A115 was opened in 1921 as Germany's first limited access road. After the World War 2, it served an important function as a transit road between West Berlin and West Germany. In 1969, a small part of the highway was moved eastwards by GDR authorities so that the Checkpoint Bravo
would be fully on West Berlin territory. Previously, one would enter
East German territory again briefly after passing the border check into
West Berlin, which posed some problems for the East German regime. This portion of the highway is since this time abandonned. Today, there is not so much to see about this part of road.
Friedhofsbahn
6: ERNST THALMANN PARK, Berlin
Ernst-Thälmann-Park
is a park in the centre of the Prenzlauer Berg district in Berlin. For the 750 years jubilee of Berlin, the East German government
set up plans for an "inhabited park", including a memorial, a public
pool, a planetarium, a school and a housing estate for 4,000 residents.
The park was inaugurated on 16 April 1986, Thälmann's hundredth
birthday. After the reunification, there had been some discussion about
the name, a majority of dwellers voted against a change in 1997. Today
the park features public houses as well as art galleries and a small
theatre.
Ernst Thälmann (16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was the leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years, before being shot in Buchenwald on Adolf Hitler's orders in 1944.
After 1945, Ernst Thälmann, and other leading communists who had been murdered, such as Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were honoured in East Germany, with many schools, streets, factories, etc., named after them. Many of these names were changed after German reunification though it is still easy to find streets named after Thälmann in cities like Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt an der Oder. The East German pioneer organisation was named the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation in his memory.
After 1945, Ernst Thälmann, and other leading communists who had been murdered, such as Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were honoured in East Germany, with many schools, streets, factories, etc., named after them. Many of these names were changed after German reunification though it is still easy to find streets named after Thälmann in cities like Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt an der Oder. The East German pioneer organisation was named the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation in his memory.
The Ernst Thälmann bronze monument with a height of 14 m was created by Lev Kerbel between 1981 and 1986. Disputed from the beginning, some plaques with political slogans were removed in the 1990s. It is today a protected landmark.
The Zeiss-Großplanetarium was opened in 1987 as one of the biggest and most modern star theaters at this time. Since april 2014 the planetarium is closed for renovation and modernization. The reopening is planned for the beginning of 2016.
sample of architecture
In only three years, from 1983 to 1986, 1332 houses for 4000 inhabitants were built by over 1300 construction workers under administration of the architect Erhardt Gisske. This type of building is call "Plattenbau". Plattenbau is a building whose structure is constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs, it's often considered to be typical of East Germany. In Ernst Thälmann Park, you can see the model WBS 70.
The multicoloured mosaic figures on the star playground behind the planetarium were developed by the artist Steffi Bluhm together with children.
5: ZEITZ, Germany
Zeitz is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated on the river Weiße Elster, between Gera in south and Leipzig in north. 220 kilometers from Berlin.
From 1950s till 1990, Zeitz was an important industrial town with more than 30 factories: mining and machine-building industry, baby carriage, clavier and wood goods production as well as chemical industry. Most babies in all east Germany grew up in stroller made in Zekiwa. The industry developpement was making this city attractive for workers. Numerous news districts appeared in the city, like "der Stadtteil Völkerfreundschaft" (friendship between nations) in the 1950s or the living building area in Zeitz east in 1965. this last one was the first district with long-distance heating coming from a central.
Zeitz Ost
But afterwards the wall came down and the reunification the city experienced a rapid decline. Factory closed or moved, the buildings have been left vacant ever since. Many people find themselves unemployed. The city lost more than one quarter of its citizens.
Kaffee Brühl (2010 and 2015)
Ernst Weitze opened in 1920 in the Nikolaiplatz 9 his cake shop. As well as in other Zeitzer cafés, artist's concerts took place here, even sometimes with a grand piano. Today does not stay more than the facade that the municipality renovated, and an underground parking established by the previous owner.
Villa Weltfrieden
The villa Steineck (know as well as Villa Weltfrieden = world peace) was built in 1900 by Richard Naether, founder's son of the VEB ZEKIWA. The family Naether lived in the villa up to 1946. From this year till the reunification the villa became a Haus des Volkes (People's house). It was the headquarter of FDJ and many associations, dance groups, restaurant. A lot of events took place there. Zeitzer were used to coming to walk in the park. After the fall of the wall, the house becomes again the property of the family Naether, in 1993. During approximately three years the family undertook big efforts to animate the old house again. The attempts failed and the property was sold but never maintained.
Pianofortefabrik Albert Fahr (1880-1953) and DLK Dienstleistungskombinat
From 1880 to 1953, the production of the famous piano factory Albert Fahr took place in this building. In 1900, it reached an annual range of 500 instruments. In 1960, the factory was used by a service company. In the end of 2013, the municipality decided to evacuate the destroy part of the building, empty for 20 years.
Zeitzer Brauerei/ Brewery of Zeitz and Muckefuk
The most important brewery of Zeitz, F. Oettler was created in 1858. It was expropriated in 1972 to become a State Ownership. Besides the sorts of beers usual in GDR, the brewery also produced numerous mineral waters and ice. On account of the ailing condition of the buildings, the enterprise was disused directly after the fall of the Berlin wall. The Zeitzer beer was still brewed till 1992 in Wetzlar.
A part of the building was used for a few years as the place "Muckefuck" (name of the east brands of coffee) where the young people met themselves. Today, on the main facade of this empty builiding we can read a graffiti: "Kultur Tod" (death of the culture).
A part of the building was used for a few years as the place "Muckefuck" (name of the east brands of coffee) where the young people met themselves. Today, on the main facade of this empty builiding we can read a graffiti: "Kultur Tod" (death of the culture).
Zeitzer Drahtseil-Eisenbahn / Cable Railway of Zeitz
This cable railway was the first of this kind in Germany. It worked from 1877 till 1960. During 83 years it carried up and down horses and carts, hand trucks and persons in the Wendischen mountain.
After the closure of the cable railway, the building was used as "Station junger Naturforscher und Techniker Zeitz Richard Leißling". There were stations of young naturalists and technical engineers in all big cities of GDR. It offered to childrens the possibility to continue the education in the area of the sciences: mathematics, physics, electrical engineering, informatics... Courses were offered during the afternoons as well as during the school holidays. The participation for the various class was always free of charge. After the reunification, this stations have been closed for financial reason. Few are still opened.
After the closure of the cable railway, the building was used as "Station junger Naturforscher und Techniker Zeitz Richard Leißling". There were stations of young naturalists and technical engineers in all big cities of GDR. It offered to childrens the possibility to continue the education in the area of the sciences: mathematics, physics, electrical engineering, informatics... Courses were offered during the afternoons as well as during the school holidays. The participation for the various class was always free of charge. After the reunification, this stations have been closed for financial reason. Few are still opened.
ZEKIWA: Kinderwagen-Hersteller / baby carriage manufacturer
Zekiwa was created in 1846. At times of GDR the factory produced for the whole RGW (Council for mutual economic aid, an international organization of the socialist governments under guidance of the Soviet Union at the moment of the cold war), but also for West German enterprises, and exported to 17 countries. It became the biggest baby carriage factory of Europe. In the best time it was manufactured annually 450.000 baby carriages and 160.000 doll's strollers. 2200 peoples was worked there.
After the political turn in 1989, ZEKIWA developed itself into a dynamic medium-size enterprise and was privatized in 1993. The production was moved from Zeitz to Döschwitz. A museum in the city castle, and the empty buidings are the only rest of this production in Zeitz.
After the political turn in 1989, ZEKIWA developed itself into a dynamic medium-size enterprise and was privatized in 1993. The production was moved from Zeitz to Döschwitz. A museum in the city castle, and the empty buidings are the only rest of this production in Zeitz.
Ehemalige Bibliothek / ex bibliotheque, actually empty
Theater im Capitol / theater
Zeitz had during DDR a important cultural programme. The Capitol was for decades a big cinema. Besides there were two other cinemas: "Metropole" and "die Centralhalle" which served from 1947 to 1955 as an officer's club to the Soviet garrison. Then after some renovation this place have been used as a cinema "Theater der Freundschaft". It closed for good the 21th december 1989. Cinemas were well visited in GDR time. However, the film directors stood under constant pressure of party and government
Today, the Capitol stay the theatre of Zeitz and it's manage by the city. Here theater performances, live concerts, readings or cabaret evenings take place.
4: STASI ARCHIVES, Berlin
The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MfS), commonly known as the Stasi, was the official state security service of the German Democratic Republic. It has been described as one of the most effective and repressive intelligence and secret police agencies to have existed.
The Stasi was headquartered in East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city.
The Stasi was headquartered in East Berlin, with an extensive complex in Berlin-Lichtenberg and several smaller facilities throughout the city.
Between 1950 and 1989, the Stasi employed a total of 274,000 people in an effort to root out the class enemy. The Stasi had one informer per 6.5 people. In some cases, spouses even spied on each other.
During the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, Stasi offices were overrun by enraged citizens, but not before the Stasi destroyed a number of documents (approximately 5%) consisting of, by one calculation, 1 billion sheets of paper.
In 1992, following a declassification ruling by the German government, the Stasi files were opened, leading people to look for their files. Between 1991 and 2011, around 2.75 million individuals, mostly GDR citizens, requested to see their own files.
111 kilometers of documents are kept in this building
3: EISENHUTTENSTADT, Germany
Eisenhüttenstadt (literally "ironworks city" in German) is a town in the Oder-Spree district of the state of Brandenburg, Germany, at the border with Poland.
The city planned originally for 30 000 inhabitants, should become an ideal city in Germany where work and living comfort with social quality of life combine to a political-cultural community. Plannung of the architect Kurt W.Leucht is to made the city in four residential complexes with the highest standarts of the time: with a center and the necessary equipments that the peoples need.
Today Eisenhüttenstadt is a heritage site, the largest monument area in Germany, and is considered outstanding example of city planning after 1945.The city is an important steel-making center which knew its peak at the time of GDR, which is a part of the group ARCELORMITTAL.
Rathaus / Town Hall
Platz des Gedenkens: Sowjetisches Ehrenmal / Square of the memory: Soviet monument
Hotel Lunik
Wohnkomplex 3
die erste Schule der Stadt / the first school of the city
Wohnkomplex 1
das Krankenhaus / the hospital
der Eingang der Fabrick/ the entrance of the factory
Gaststätte Aktivist / Restaurant Aktivist
Wohnkomplex 2
2: WARSHAW, Poland
Pałac Kultury i Nauki / The Palace of Culture and Science
The building was originally known as the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science (Pałac Kultury i Nauki imienia Józefa Stalina), but in the wake of destalinization the dedication to Stalin was revoked. It was conceived as a "gift from the Soviet people to the Polish nation", and was completed in 1955. The structure was built in three years according to the design of the Soviet architect Lev Rudnev. Architecturally, it is a mix of Socialist realism and Polish historicism inspired by American art deco skyscrapers. The tower was constructed by 3500 workers from the Soviet Union, of whom 16 died in accidents during the construction. It was the headquarters of many companies and public institutions, such as cinemas, theaters, libraries, sports clubs, universities, scientific institutions and authorities of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It also hosted performances by notable international artists, such as a 1967 concert by the Rolling Stones, the first by a major western rock group behind the Iron Curtain.
Departement store Spolem
Planners established norms so that each locality would be serve by a predeterminate number of shop selling a specified rangs of products. "Spolem", a co-operative business established in 1908 and effectively nationalized in 1948 sold basic foodstuff in towns. Peoples got a ration book with a limit amount of product. .There was constantly a waiting line in front of this type of stores to obtain some products. Some products like meat was very rare, and some others, like the "exotic" one (banana for exemple) was simply inexistant.
ZSD Nysa 522
The Nysa van was produced in the town of Nysa, Poland, from 1958 until 1994. A big part of production was exported, mostly to Eastern Bloc countries, especially Bulgaria, Russia and Hungary, but also to West Germany and some Asian and African countries.Many vans were sold to the Militia, which was the only form of police during the Communist era in Poland. The Militia was under the control of the Security Bureau, which used it to instill fear in the local populace. Blue Nysa vans became a kind of "trademark" of the Militia.
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Ministerstwo Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi / Ministry of Agriculture
Grand Hotel
The Grand Hotel was built between 1954 and 1958 after the plan of architect Stanisław Bieńkuński and Stanisław Rychłowski. It was made to offer accomodation for the delegation in visit in Warshaw. The building was elegant with a café on the last floor (11th floor) from where it was possible to get a view of all the city. 416 rooms with 3 stars level. For the opening, the hotel was called "Grand Hotel Orbis". The polish olympic team use to get his headquarters in this place. A paint with runners are still visible in the entrance.
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Plac Konstytucji / Constitution Square
The square was constructed in the initial post-war years as a main element of social realist urban project, based on the designs of Jankowski, Knothe, Sigalin and Stępiński.Together with the Palace of Culture and Science it was the main architectural social realist investment of Warsaw in 1949-1956. Its name comes from the Stalinist constitution adopted in communist Poland in July 1952. Architects envisaged the square to be the final point of First of May parades. The sign MDM visible in every corner of the square is for Marszałkowska Dzielnica Mieszkaniowa, which mean Marszałkowska residential area. The square is a part of this area.
Smyk, departement store, before Centralny Dom Torwarowy
The Smyk Department Store was constructed in 1948-1952. The store's original name was 'Centralny Dom Towarowy' Central Department Store. The building was designed in the late modernist style, however, the majority of new projects being built in Warsaw at the time were constructed in the politically favourable socialist realist style.The modernist design of Smyk made it a unique building at the time, and also a very controversial one. Stalin believed that modernism was the architecture of capitalism.In the 80s the former "CDT" for Centralny Dom Torwarowy, by now renamed "Smyk", became a member of the 'Central Department Stores' group.
Centrum Bankowo-Finansowe before Dom Partii / Bank and finance center
Memorial for the freedom of expression
The building in the rondo Charles de Gaulle was earlier the seat of the central committee of the Polish united workers' party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza) and was generally called party house. PZPR was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. This building was built by obligatory subscription and colloquially called White House or the House of Sheep, it was the best guarded building of Poland. This place was the starting point of all the important decisions, about Warsaw and about the whole country. Inaccessible buildings for usual citizens, numerous legends curled - one said, it has a row of underground ways by which one could get to the cultural palace or to a secret platform. The irony is that from 1991 the Warsaw security stock exchange was accommodated here. Today is a bank and finance center.
This black band occupies a wide space in the street Mysia. It take place where was formerly situated the office of censorship. During more than forty years, not a book, not a show, not a song could enter the public place without having been, beforehand, submitting to the control of the censors. The sculptur gets up towards the sky, symbolizing the victory of those who fought for the freedom of expression. During the inauguration, president Komorowski reminded the key role which played Poland in the fight against the media censorship, as well as its contribution in the fall of the communist regime. He underlined that " it is here in Poland where everything began, where the freedom bagan (…) Ending with the destruction of the Berlin Wall ".
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Empik, media store
The building was conceived as a gift from the Soviet people to the Polish. It was build in style of Socialist Realism by the architect Zygmunt Stępiński in 1949. At the end of the World War 2, Warsaw was totally distroy. It was even question to move the capital of Poland to another city. This building was one of the first to be reconstruct, and a sentence was directly writing on the facade, "CAŁY NARÓD BVDVJE SWOJĄ STOLICĘ”: "All people is building his own capital".
The store Empik opened in this building. A place where it was possible to get away of the Polish communist reality with flicking some western magazines. After a time, Empiks became a synonym of an open cultural and educational space which decadently smelt of printing ink and… freshly ground coffee.Very often, people lined up in giant queues, striving after a newly released book or a record that was impossible to get in any other place. It became windows overlooking the world of culture and inaccessible civilization of the free world. Of course, events like lectures on “secularization”, exhibitions entitled “Alliance of the World of Work with Culture and Arts, celebrations of USSR’s 50th anniversary or inauguration of the Soviet Song Contest also had to be present at MPiKs.
MPiK Language Schools promoted not only popular European languages like English, German and French, but they also provided the opportunity to learn Swedish or even… Japanese, which was a special treat in the 1970’s. With time, the MPiKs turned into language education centres.
The store Empik opened in this building. A place where it was possible to get away of the Polish communist reality with flicking some western magazines. After a time, Empiks became a synonym of an open cultural and educational space which decadently smelt of printing ink and… freshly ground coffee.Very often, people lined up in giant queues, striving after a newly released book or a record that was impossible to get in any other place. It became windows overlooking the world of culture and inaccessible civilization of the free world. Of course, events like lectures on “secularization”, exhibitions entitled “Alliance of the World of Work with Culture and Arts, celebrations of USSR’s 50th anniversary or inauguration of the Soviet Song Contest also had to be present at MPiKs.
MPiK Language Schools promoted not only popular European languages like English, German and French, but they also provided the opportunity to learn Swedish or even… Japanese, which was a special treat in the 1970’s. With time, the MPiKs turned into language education centres.
1: PRAGUE, Czech Republic
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| Národní památník na Vítkově / Mémorial National Vitkov
The
Monument was built in the years 1928–1938 in honour of the Czechoslovak
legionaries. After
1948, it was used to promote national ideology and regime. n 1950, following
the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, the Monument of
Liberation was converted in a proletariat pantheon, thus changing its
ideological function. In 1953 the Central Committee decided to set up the Klement Gottwald Mausoleum in the Monument. Mausoleum
lasted here until 1962.
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| “Kachlíkárna“, Státní Bezpečnost / StB State Security Headquarter
In former Czechoslovakia, State Security or StB / ŠtB, was a
plainclothes secret
(political) police
force from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and
counter-intelligence agency, it dealt with any activity that could possibly be
considered anti-communist. StB was bound to and controlled by
the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
In early
1700s, Jesuits built the Church of St.Bartholomew that still stands on
Bartolomějská Ulice (at No.9), along with a convent and gardens. By the middle
of 19th century, the property found its way into the hands of the Congregation
of Grey Sisters of St. Francis. Up to a 1,000 nuns lived in the convent in its
heyday. One night in 1950, the nuns were taken away to a detention camp in the
country and the whole complex was taken over by the State secret police called
StB.
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| Kotva, department store
Kotva was
built between 1970 and 1975 designed by Czech architects It was constructed by a Swedish company
which was very unusual that time. Its ground plan consists of many
interconnected hexagons.
When opened
– in 1975 – Kotva’s retail area amounted to 22,160 m², 2000 employees were
supposed to serve 75,000 customers a day. After opening Kotva became the
largest department store in the then Czechoslovakia and a trip to Prague
to visit the store was for long time one of the main attractions for Prague’s
visitors.
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| Žižkovský vysílač / Zizkov television tower
The Žižkov
Television Tower
is a unique transmitter tower built in Prague between 1985 and 1992.
Rumours
have circulated that the tower was planned to be used to jam
incoming western radio and television transmissions (particularly Radio Free Europe) and that it had a potential use as
a communications facility for Warsaw Pact forces in the event of an attack on
(or attack by) NATO.
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| Pražský metronom
The Metronome
is a giant, functional metronome in Letná Park, overlooking the Vltava River and the city center of Prague. It was erected in 1991, on the plinth left
vacant by the destruction in 1962 of an enormous monument to former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
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| Pomník obětem komunismu / The Memorial to the victims of Communism
The Memorial to the victims of Communism is a series of statues in Prague commemorating the victims of the communist era between 1948 and 1989. There is a bronze strip that runs
along the centre of the memorial, showing estimated numbers of those impacted
by communism: 205,486 arrested; 170,938 forced into exile; 4,500 died in prison; 327 shot trying to escape; 248 executed.
The bronze plaque nearby reads:
"The memorial to the victims of communism is dedicated to all victims
not only those who were jailed or executed but also those whose lives were
ruined by totalitarian despotism"
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| Hlávkův most, Jana Stursy |
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| Panelak
Panelák is a colloquial term in Czech and Slovak for a panel building constructed of pre-fabricated, pre-stressed concrete, such as those extant in the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in the former Soviet bloc.
According to census statistics, around one in three Czechs still live in a panelák. Similar buildings were built in all communist countries, from Poland to Mongolia.Paneláks resulted from two main factors: the postwar housing shortage and the ideology of Czechoslovak leaders. Planners from the Communist era wanted to provide large quantities of affordable housing and to slash costs by employing uniform designs over the whole country. They also sought to foster a "collectivistic nature" in the people. |
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| Hotel International
Hotel International (formerly Hotel Družba, Hotel Čedok, Hotel Holiday Inn and Hotel Crowne Plaza) is the largest Stalinist architecture building in Prague,
The original intention was to build an army dormitory on a simple rectangular ground plan that would bear a name Družba (Friendship), which should have served as an accommodation facility for the officers commuting to Prague. However, the originalproject was gradually changing to reflect the context of the era. Czechoslovakia was being visited by numerous Soviet delegations and advisors, for whom there was no accommodation available at a corresponding level. It turned out that the army would not be able to use such an abundant accommodation space and that the Soviet delegations would fail to fill up this overrated capacity just by themselves. It was therefore decided that the building under construction would become “only” a luxury hotel. The absurdity is demonstrated with a project as this one, it was assumed that Stalin himself would take part in its festive opening. To enable all the forty-four generals, which Czechoslovakia had at that time, to line up alongside the central staircase, two extra steps had to be added to the already completed staircase. This requirement had necessitated some substantial structural adjustments and eventually resulted in a change of the height zoning affecting a whole section of the building, which has remained apparent up to the present day. |
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town hall and financial office
The Lennon Wall or John Lennon Wall, is a wall in Prague, Czech Republic. Once a normal wall, since the 1980s it has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles' songs.
In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for the communist regime of Gustáv Husák. Young Czechs would write grievances on the wall and in a report of the time this led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the nearby Charles Bridge. The movement these students followed was described ironically as "Lennonism" and Czech authorities described these people variously as alcoholics, mentally deranged, sociopathic, and agents of Western capitalism. |
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