Today, 26 years ago ( on the morning of the 10 November, Australian time) the Berlin Wall was opened. Next day, Berlin Time, the old border between West-Berlin and the GDR (East-Germany) was opened at the border to between Berlin and Potsdam.
Sign on Glienike Bridge, today
The sign reads, “Here was Germany and Europe until the 10th of November 1989 at 1800 hour divided”.
So it was astonishingly appropriate that we, my wife Uta and I, saw a film today that had that bridge as a dramatic backdrop. It was another story, from the time of the Cold War, that was told in the film “Bridge of Spies“. Here is a trailer of the film.
As a former resident of Berlin, I’m not unfamiliar with the bridge. I visited her many times and the bridge was once before the background for a movie. “Under the Bridges” was the last German film made before the end of the war but only shown after the end of the war.
This particular construction of the Glienicke Bridge was only completed in 1907.
In 1986, three years before it re-opening we were visiting her.
View across the River Havel towards Potsdam (1986)
The bridge with border sign and guard’s hut (1986)
This really was the border of the Western world. Wherever you were in West-Berlin, you always faced the East. (1986)
Today, you should take a walk across the bridge and let the full impact grab you. In the middle is a line marking the former border.
This marks the old East / West borderline.
This is the approach to the bridge from the Potsdam end of the border. Today the bridge is the border between the City of Berlin and the Federal State of Brandenburg.
And if you have made it to this spot, you are right in front of the beautiful cafe “Garage Du Pont”.
You can sit and ponder the history of the bridge while you indulge yourself.
Garage Du Pont
Here you can enjoy a coffee, an apple tart or a brandy or all three of them.
Bon appetite!
The film is not only based on a true event, but it is also a stark portrayal of the American justice system. Justice is not always been done but depends often on people like James B. Donovan 100 out of 100 for Tom Hanks too. The scenes at the border, in August 1961 when the wall went up, were just frightening to watch.
A few times I had to fight back tears as I saw how Berlin suffered.
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