Transit West Berlin | Across the Iron Curtain in the 1980s

Welcome to Berlin, well it's now 33 years  since the Berlin Wall came down to 32 years   since German reunification so in this video I'm  going to do a sort of Cold War battlefield tour   with you I'm going to take you back in time  36, 37 years just before the Wall came down   and show you how we got from West Germany to  West Berlin using the Berlin Transit Corridor   through the German Democratic Republic for  East Germany. So here I am in my Tesla, a car   which would have been science fiction in the  Cold War of the 1980s in what was once West   Germany heading now eastwards towards  what was once the Inner German border   for reference I'm going to set our adventure in  the year 1987. Actually in that year I was based   in British Forces Germany as a 19 year old army  Corporal as we recall from my intro to this video   East and West Germany were divided by the fortified  enclosed Inner German Border The DDR Democratic   Republic or East Germany as we called it was under  Soviet proxy control, Berlin was likewise split it   into east and west; west being controlled by  the allied powers and East by the Soviets   if you were a Western Power military, if you needed  to get to West Berlin you had three options you   could fly which is very easy you could take a  special closed military train from West Germany   to West Berlin or you could use the West Berlin  Transit Corridor which we're gonna do today   the Soviets allowed the Western Military Powers  the use of one Autobahn to get from West Germany   to West Berlin through their controlled territory  in East Germany you had one point of entry and one   point of exit these were known by their checkpoint  names Checkpoint Alpha and Checkpoint Bravo   there is a third Checkpoint which I'm sure  you've heard of through popular culture and   that was in the center of Berlin which transited  from West Berlin to East Berlin and that's called   Checkpoint Charlie even though it's a staple  of many spy films we rarely used Checkpoint   Charlie as nobody really had much call to go  into East Berlin so I'm not going to mention   it again in this video Checkpoint Alpha and  Checkpoint Bravo are the two we need to remember   now you couldn't just grab your car and drive off  to West Berlin from West Germany you needed one of   these, an Allied Movement Order or in Russian ПУТЁВКА this   was your authority to enter Soviet and East German   territory, for us Brits it was a BTD1 form and you  got one of these through your Movements Cell, now   generally you weren't allowed to travel single  crewed but for the sake of this exercise I'm going   to drive on my own so I've got my Movement Order  and I'm now off to the Border Town of Helmstedt   today Helmstedt is a sleepy little Lower  Saxony town with a Autobahn and a Rastatte  nearby, but in 1987 it was a Frontier Town  in the classic sense, a bit like Dodge City   sitting right on the edge of the Inner German  Border Helmstedt was the gateway to West Berlin   and played host to the West German border  control station and Allied Checkpoint Alpha   for British Travelers, before we could proceed  to the Checkpoint and the Border we first had   to report to this place, the Royal Military  Police ACD Autobahn Control Detachment. If   you were in a military vehicle you exempt this  stage but if you are driving your own private car   then this part was mandatory. The ACD was a small  Outpost of 246 Provost Company, they covered the   Helmstedt to Zisar section of the Transit  Corridor; they're comprised of a Control Room   a Duty Desk, Autobahn Sweep cars REME recovery  and a Royal Medical Corp Paramedic and ambulance   During the Working Day there was a Roadhouse  here.... No! Not like that.. but it's a good 80s   reference.. where you can get a coffee and a  meal and importantly use a toilet, but the   main reason you were here was to get your moving  order examined by the RMP and be issued your movement   pack ; and watch a couple of mandatory videos. There now follows a short statement concerning security   West Berlin is unique it is the only location  where servicemen and uk-based civilians traveling   to and from the city by Road have direct  face-to-face contact with the Soviet military   personnel it is therefore vital that any attempt  to engage you in a conversation or trading for   military items be reported to the checkpoint NCO  at the end of your journey should you be spoken   to by a Soviet or East German National in English  or in the language you both understand at any time   during your journey through East Germany you must  do the following remember as much detail about the   conversation as you can as well as the physical  description dress and rank of the individual   remain non-committal throughout  and do not agree to anything do not become overly nervous or aggressive once  it is realized that you are not responding you'll   be left alone and remember you only attract  attention to yourself by speaking in Russian to   the Soviet checkpoint Personnel so don't do it if  you are approached at all during your journey you   must report the incident to the rmp checkpoint  NCO and complete the short performer provided   be assured your journey will not be delayed in any  way if you're in doubt then ask the rmp checkpoint   NCO for assistance please help us to help you  It being the 1980s generally if you're were a junior rank   the RMP treated you and spoke to you  like utter dirt, but eventually you would walk   out with a Berlin Travel Pack including an A4  laminated Union Jack which I'll cover the reason   for in a bit you're now ready to hit Checkpoint  Alpha. The second Mandatory video you had to watch   before you left for Alpha gave instruction how to  use the corridor in its entirety, So what I'm going to   do I'm going to use it to illustrate parts of our  journey and split it down into parts, So let's go you will travel along a 103  mile route through East Germany   this is the only road that the Allies  may use to travel into West Berlin   at the start and finish of the journey all Allied  Travelers are subject to Identity check by Soviet   soldiers at Soviet Checkpoint Alpha and Bravo  before going to the Soviet checkpoint at one   end and after leaving the Soviet checkpoint  at the other end you're required to stop at   the appropriate Allied checkpoint either Allied  Alpha or Bravo you do not need to worry about the   trip if you listen carefully to this brief it  will give you all the details that you require   from Helmstedt ACD to Checkpoint Alpha was  a very short hop about a kilometer or about   five minutes drive, this is an aerial view of  Checkpoint Alpha Helmstedt, there's a lot going   on here so let me break it down for you the  actual checkpoint building is already labeled   in the foreground is West Germany and this  is the actual border with East Germany   contrary to popular belief there was no  No Man's Land on the Inner German Border   the board itself was simply marked with stripy  poles the Border defenses started some distance   back from this border and were all in East  Germany marked in red now is the death strip   there was also a DDR Surveillance Tower right  on the border in an armored compound which we'll   cover in some detail in a minute unfortunately  covering the border of Defences in detail will be   another video in its entirety, but all you need to  know is this the wall facing West Germany was the   final denial barrier, just east of that was a 50  to 100 meter wide sand strip known as the death   strip and then behind that a concrete patrol track  and then one to two kilometers behind that was the   Hinterland fence the zone between the two fences  was a total exclusion zone to East German citizens   the term the death strip was not ironic  it was a death strip it was the free fire zone   for the DDR Greztruppen and you could be  shot if you were sighted on the death strip   In addition to the risk of being shot from  1960 onwards the death strip was mined in   places with anti-personnel minds and then from  1970 one onwards the SM-70 fragmentation mine   on a tripwire was fitted to the fences. in  total from 1961 to 1989 916 East Germans   were killed trying to cross the border into the  West the last to die was Chris Gueffrey - 20 years   old and he was shot dead on the 5th of February  1989 just nine months before the war came down and very sobering that was, and how he felt  sorry for the East German people but your   risk of being shot in the East was virtually nil  and your biggest risk was dangerous DDR drivers   okay now we're going to refer to our travel  pack and video which will tell us how to   cross the border into the DDR the first thing  we're going to do is pull up and park our car   in front of Allied Checkpoint Alpha here we are  in the present day at the site of the original   Checkpoint Alpha and the Checkpoint building  itself is now a Zoll Amt a customs office building looking over this wall and we're down  onto the road you can see what would   have been the original East of West German border to leave the allo checkpoint in you travel to  the Soviet checkpoint along the following route   as you leave the Ally checkpoint car  park turn right onto the Autobahn   you are advised to set your trip meter to assist  you with your navigation take care of lorries   and cars coming from your left move into the  left-hand Lane which is clearly marked military visible from the checkpoint and an imposing  presence was this DDR surveillance Tower   it are butted right onto the border and had full  visibility of the whole western side of the Border   complex it was resourced 24 7 by DDR grandstrupen  they had long range CCTV acoustic and electronic   eavesdropping equipment so even before you left  checkpoint Alpha the East Germans had you under   observation the tower is still here today it  now belongs to the German forestry service now   I did want to climb it for the video but it has  a no trespassing signing German and a forestry   worker was watching me like a hawk but from  the front edge of the ground level you can see   how close it was to Allied checkpoint Alpha for  reference I would now be standing in East Germany   stay in this Lane obeying all speed limits  and traffic signs past the East German crash   barrier under a sign entry up to an East German  barrier stop and wait for the barrier to be raised   once the barrier is raised move forward  crossing the Autobahn that comes from your right   traffic from your right should give way but  take care as this does not always happen past the first Soviet barrier move into  the right hand lane and halt at the stop   sign outside the Soviet checkpoint  building before the zebra Crossing   the checkpoint should be meant by  Soviet soldiers who look like this   if the checkpoint is meant by East  German soldiers who look like this   you should either return to the alloy  checkpoint or demand to see a Soviet officer   if you are prevented from returning or a Soviet  officer does not arrive you should remain where   you are until rmp come to assist you and we're on  the way on our right now is checkpoint Alpha as   we pass it and we're entering East Germany  right now you can see the mark on the road   the next thing you'll see in slow time is  the DDR surveillance tower on your right and covered up on your left is the next  Landmark which is a DDR National Monument   this would have signified welcome to the DDR two  columns of concrete and a round door with a hammer   and signal in the center obviously the Randall's  now being removed on reunification then it's a   quick three minute drive up to the marion-born  Soviet and DDR border complex also known as the   Death Star to clarify in 1987 you would not  have been able to drive on like those trucks   are you would have had to have pulled in here  the rest of the Autobahn would have been blocked   we nicknamed it the Death Star with good reason  the DDR and Soviet Border Station at marionborn   was the largest in the Eastern Bloc now today  half it has been flattened and turned into a   modern truck stop and Service Station but half  of it has been left as it was during the Cold   War as a memorial to the division of Germany as  a plug now in a sister video to this one I cover   the marion-born museum and other checkpoints in  a lot more detail I can do in this video link   in the top right hand corner check it out if  you're interested it could take a West German   civilian traveler with a transit Visa to West  Berlin six to eight hours to clear Marion Bourne   thankfully we Allied Travelers because we  didn't recognize the authority of the DDR   went straight to the Soviet checkpoint and  missed out all the pain of the Death Star   and this is where you stop your car and you're  reported too the tower is actually the master   control tower of the marioborn complex run  by the DDR Grands Trooper the Soviet control   checkpoint is now demolished and all that's  left is foundations which I'm still on now   the person you have nominated takes  the travel and identity documents   do not take any other documents  or your travel pack with you   approached the Soviet Century who will be standing  close to the small Hut on the left of the road   he will salute you you must irrespective of your  sex status or formal dress return his salute   hand your travel and identity documents to him   he will check your documents and once  satisfied as to their accuracy will   return them to you and indicate that  you take them to the checkpoint office on entering the building you will see on the  right hand side about waist high a document   trade similar to those in Banks only the glass has  been painted over place your travel and identity   documents in the tray they will be taken by  a sovereign officer or Soldier for checking   when the Soviets have finished this check  the documents will be returned to the tray   take them and check that all ID cards  and passports have been returned and   that passports have not been stamped if  they have returned to the alloy checkpoint   also check that the travel Document  has been stamped by the Soviet official   return to the Soviet century and hand the trouble  and identity documents to him he will check the   Soviet stamp and return all documents to you  and indicate that you may continue your journey   he will again salute you return his  salute and return to your car and proceed As you move forward the century will give  his final salute which must be returned   as you approach the barrier it will rise cross  the junction beware of traffic from your right   observing all speed limit and road  signs continue to the end of the   checkpoint area where you will see this  sign you are now on the open Autobahn   note the maximum permissible speed for a car on  the East German Automan is 100 kilometers per hour   and heavy Goods vehicles or cars with Caravan  or trailer is 80 kilometers per hour do not   exceed these speed limits or any other lower  speed limit you encounter obey all road signs   we acknowledge East German traffic regulations  although only accept Soviet Authority on Route you will pass numerous  lay-bys such as the one you can now see   you may stop at any of these to stretch your legs  or rest but if there are any East German police   or Soviet or East German soldiers in the lay-by or  any enter it whilst you're there you must move out you will pass for rastatin during your journey  such as the one shown here you must not stop at   or use any of these rastatin there are certain  things you should know about Corridor travel do not take your travel pack into the Soviet  checkpoint building only those persons listed on   your BTD Freight document or attached nominal  role May travel in your vehicle photography   is forbidden between Allied checkpoints  keep cameras binoculars Etc out of sight   if you are in difficulties and rmp Patrol will  commence searching for you after five hours breakdowns a toe may be accepted  from other Allied Travelers   if you choose not to accept a toe or  cannot get one follow this procedure   turns apart five of your travel pack take out and  complete the breakdown card as fully as possible   make sure the travel pack  number is entered on the card   stop a West German or Allied Traveler you can  use the Union Jack at 5c to make yourself obvious   give them the breakdown card wait for Recovery do  not move even if you repair the fault ensure you   place out a warning triangle if you are involved  in a road traffic accident do the following   minor accidents exchange particulars  make a quick sketch plan and proceed for major accidents carry  out the breakdown procedure   do not make any statements to the East German  police do not allow injured Allied persons to   be removed by Soviet or gdr ambulance unless  absolutely necessary if necessary request the   presence of a Soviet officer using the incident  card rmp ncos will come to your assistance in cases of other instances during your journey  and if you are stopped by gdr officials for   any reason do not pay fines or tolls do not  allow them to search your vehicle or person   do not admit liability for any offense  request the presence of a Soviet officer   if not allowed to proceed stop an Allied traveler  and send a message to the nearest checkpoint   in military vehicles show no identity documents  in BFG Vehicles display your BTD at the window if a Soviet officer arrives you may show him  your BTD Freight documents and identity documents   you may pay a fine but have the receipt signed  or countersigned by him if in doubt wait for   the rmp patrol to find you it's easy to  get now in 30 years but back then East   Germany at the USSR were totalitarian oppressive  regimes where State surveillance was absolute   by using the corridor as a Westerner you are  under surveillance from start to Absolute finish   a common misconception from the cold war was  that your biggest threat in the East was from   the Soviet KGB that can be further from  the truth certainly as a corridor Traveler   the KGB would have considered it beneath  them to get involved in anything you did   nope that was left at the bottom feeders  of the stats that Sega Hyde State's SSD   or mole commonly known as the starsi now  obviously these guys are actors but they   get the look down to a t bad haircuts porn  star tattoos beige 1970s clothing but unless   you did something absolutely stupid it's very  unlikely you'd have any contact with the starzy   you'd have to get a camera out or pick up an  East German hitchhiker for them to pull you over   these actors I don't know what film is from but  it's quite accurate this is what we would have   called a starsy goon car a goon car would have  been a Larder either two up with two stars the   operatives or four starsy all staring intently at  you obviously because they're a covert asset well   they work very covert but because you didn't see  them all the time it's easy to forget how prolific   the started were on the corridor so this is a  map taken from the starsy museum in present day   Germany and it has all the patrol sectors for the  starsy from checkpoint Alpha to magdeburg not even   halfway to Berlin as you can see there's some 40  cool Signs Now not all of them would be deployed   any one time but that's about 30 goon cars on  the road and any one given time on the corridor   look I said the Stars he generally wouldn't  mess with you if they wanted you stopping they   would get the vopo to do it the DDR Volkswagen  otherwise known as fopo with a state police and   state enforcers they were to a man bullies and  thugs they were also often corrupt their most   common trick was to pull a western traveler over  accuse him of speeding and demanded cash on the   spot fine because the West didn't recognize  East Germany as a legitimate State Allied   Travelers did not recognize the authority of  the vopo if pulled over we were to lock our   doors and put this aside in your side window  demanding the presence of a Soviet officer   if you count upon the volpo usually they wouldn't  use force on you they would simply box you in and   await the arrival of a Soviet officer close to  magdeburg you would probably get a captain or   a major with a English interpreter come out  from the Garrison in one of these uaz trucks   nearer to checkpoint alpha bravo you would  probably get a border specialist officer   who spoke some but not much English because of  World War II generally the Soviets dislike the   East German people but they absolutely detested  the vopo so usually unless you've done something   egregiously bad the Soviet officer would take  your side and allow you to carry on your way   although they had absolutely no powers at least  Germany the rmp had sweep cars that would Patrol   the Autobahn if you went missing for more than  five hours they would come and search for you   if you got yourself into trouble they might be  summoned by the Soviet authorities to come and   deal with you quite often that would involve a  Mexican standoff between the vopo the Soviets   and the rmps and a massive diplomatic instant  being sorted out at Army headquarters level   you could be there several hours before  you released back to checkpoint Alpha and   Bravo upon which the rmp would give you hell and  you'd end up charged with a disciplinary offense   one of the easiest ways to get into  trouble in the corridor was to get lost   at kilometer Stone 81 you  will cross the elbe river the next focal point is these  are at kilometer Stone 43 the   halfway point between Homestead and Berlin so a word of navigation it is a big thing it's  uh detailed in both the video and in your BTD   pack the reason for that is the Allies had all  authority to use one root at one route alone if   you made a navigation error you were off-root  now if you Aid at a mistake and backtracked   and got back onto Route straight away Charles  saw you be left alone but if you got horribly   lost a compound Vie era then ended up on slide  roads or in an East German Town or Village you   were gonna get boxed in the Soviets were getting  involved and a diplomatic instant would kick off and it's kilometer spoon 0.5 you will come to the  first of three intersections you must negotiate   this is 79.5 miles from helmstedt follow the signs black on  yellow Transit West Berlin at kilometer Stone 99 you will  come to the second intersection   again following the black on yellow sign Transit  West Berlin at this intersection go straight on beware of traffic from your left  as you join the next Autobahn at kilometer Stone 88 you come to  the third and final intersection follow black on yellow sign Transit West Berlin your third turn is very close to the end  of your journey so it's time for your   co-driver to get your BTD travel back  out and start revising the process for   going through the Soviet checkpoint  at Bravo you have now negotiated all   three intersections from here it is  a straight run to the checkpoint area the approach is well signed move into the  military Lane as soon as possible you will   come to a short barrier when this is fully raised  move forward to the Soviet checkpoint barrier stop and wait for it to be raised don't be alarmed  if this takes several minutes once the barrier has   been raised move forward so the position indicated  by the Soviet Sentry before the zebra Crossing   the nominated person only gets out of  the car with travel and ID documents only   carry out the same procedure as  at the first Soviet checkpoint   the checkpoint office is on  the left hand side of the road as you pass the final Soviet barrier take  great care to watch for traffic from the left keep in the military Lane passing the East German  pressure barrier to Allied checkpoint Bravo   this is the modern day Autobahn approach route  to checkpoint Bravo unfortunately there's   Road Works going on which doesn't  make for a really realistic video unfortunately the Soviet and DDR border control  Station address has been completely and utterly   demolished and flattened it's now a retail  stroke Business Park known as Euro Park   pay attention to the white Arrow  because that indicates the station   control tower which still survives as  a small Museum and this is it today the DDR Soviet station control tower is a  small Museum unfortunately it was closed   on the day I visited and the weather wasn't  particularly brilliant there is a panorama   Vista board which shows you what the Border  area would have looked like back in the Cold War this is a modern view looking from the Soviet  DDR side back towards Allied checkpoint Bravo   and this is the same view  taken in 1987 but from the air   the death strip is the same layout as  you found in Marion Bourne at checkpoint   Alpha but this time you have a fully enclosed  modern Watchtower looking towards the Border   another point of interest is the Panzer dank  mouth the Panzer Memorial on the right I'll   cover in a second and finally in the top center of  the photograph you can see Allied checkpoint Bravo   sadly Dad could sell my trees in the modern  day but on the right hand side you would now   be passing was familiar to anybody used the  corridor in the 1980s the pads are dead well   or the tank Memorial this was a Soviet War  Memorial constructed in 1968 and decked   with a World War II era t-34 tank when the war  came down in 1989 it became very unpopular and   was regularly vandalized so in 1991 when the  Soviet Army now defunct withdrew back to the   newly created Russian Federation they took the  memorial with them in 1993 with the Soviet tank   gone and the concrete plinth now redundant and  abandoned have forgotten about an enterprising   German artist decided to paint a snow loader  pink and get it craned onto the top of the plinth   principally as a joke and a work of art but it  is remained ever since it is now quite famous Memorial you're now crossing the original  death strip and then it's a straight run into   checkpoint Bravo a quick reminder for the 1987  air photograph about what the death strip looks   like or hit Bravo because we're now going to go  on foot into the area of the former guest after   German reunification in 1990 much of the original  Cold War Death strip remained in government hands   certainly in Berlin this real estate has  been rewilded and has been turned into a   public footpath public right-of-way known as  the Berliner malaveg or Berlin Wall footpath   this is where the death strip closest to  checkpoint Bravo and the Border was cited   and is also the site as I blend in now of  the closest control tower towards the Border the balls are between the DDR and West Berlin  is a Footbridge we're about to Garden it now   your destination is okay and this is how the former  Allied checkpoint Bravo looks today   let's go back in time to 1987  and see what we've got to do here   Park in the Allied car park 30 meters short  of the checkpoint if this car park is full   you may Park against the curb but make  sure you do not obstruct the Allied Lane take your BTD travel pack and speedometer  reading to the rmp NCO at Allied checkpoint Bravo   that is through the door marked Ally  checkpoint Bravo and up the stairs   report any occurrences or incidents to the rmp NCO and I think we'll Trace that famous  Journey now in the present day   I thought this site was redundant actually  it's not it's a working construction company   office and I was getting filthy looks  from the people in the office as I was   filming so sorry about this I made  one quick run in and then ran away from Chipotle Bravo looking across the  Autobarn to the opposite carriageway and   service area is the famous dry Linden rash data  this was a building built in 1968 and was quite   iconic in Berlin at the time unfortunately  now it's long past its sell by date it is   redundant derelict and boarded up but it's  a good piece of architecture together review one quick last look at Allied Check white Bravo  and then back in the car on the Auto Barn and   into West Berlin we're now home safe and dry  and the final indicator of this was the Statue   of the Berlin bear placed in 1953 on the onto a  bar that told you you're in West Berlin foreign thanks so much for watching this video If you  enjoyed it please click like it really does help   me out and if you enjoy Cold War content please  consider subscribe to my channel thank you bye

Channel: Andy Mcloone

Views: 334,497

Keywords: Berlin, Cold War, Checkpoint, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Helmstedt, Marienborn, Marianborn, Dreilinden, Stasi, DDR, Soviet, EastGerman, Lada, West, East

Id: 5i7z6bS-LqY

Length: 38min 9sec (2289 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 08 2022