Archive for the ‘Tête-à-Tête’ Category

Germany’s word of the year: 2015

Monday, December 21st, 2015

Germany’s word of the year for 2015 is Fluechtlinge – refugees. After having taken in 1 million refugees during the past twelve months – most of them from the Middle East – the word Fluechtlinge has been on the collective German mind. TIME Magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel “Person of the Year 2015” for standing her ground relative to the refugee crisis http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-angela-merkel-choice/. Despite growing discontent among the populace, Merkel has continued to put humanity, generosity and tolerance above all else and stated repeatedly, “Wir schaffen es – we can do it.”

How is the word of the year selected?

The Gesellschaft fuer Deutsche Sprache (Society for the German Language), located in the city of Wiesbaden, chooses a word or a group of words every December. The word is to embody a key topic that dominated German political, economic or social life during the preceding twelve months. This year’s word was chosen from close to 2,500 entries and published in “Wort des Jahres” (Word of the Year), the group’s annual publication.

Runner-ups for the word of the year

This year, the Gesellschaft fuer Deutsche Sprache selected Fluechtlinge as the word of the year. Runner-ups were Je suis Charlie – I am Charlie, the mantra of solidarity with Paris in the wake of the attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Another strong contender for the word of the year was Grexit, which refers to the scenario of Greece leaving the Eurozone. And lastly, Wir schaffen es – We can do it, coined by Angela Merkel and expressing her conviction that Germany can successfully cope with the massive influx of refugees.

Previous words of the year

Each year, the word of the year has reflected the zeitgeist. In 1989, the word was Reisefreiheit – Freedom to Travel, the demand of the East German people that led to the fall of the Wall. Post-unification in 1991, former East Germans sensed that their West German brothers had come to regard their achievements under communist rule as inferior. That’s when the term “Besserwessi” cropped up. “Besser” and “wissen” refer to knowing everything better, and “Wessi” was an informal name for a citizen of West Germany. The changeover from Deutsche Mark to Euro made Germans question whether the introduction of the Euro had not prompted a hidden price increase. And in 2002, the new currency came to be referred to as the Teuro, a pricey Euro, based on the German word “teuer,” meaning expensive.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on the home page of http://www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tukki-Turkey for Christmas Dinner

Monday, December 14th, 2015

Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and vegetables is the traditional Christmas dinner in the United States. Americans are said to consume an estimated 22 million turkeys on Christmas. In addition, roast beef and ham are quite common. In Germany, it is goose, duck or turkey on Christmas Day and potato salad with Wieners on Christmas Eve. When I was a child, goose was the feast of choice on Christmas Day, but because turkey meat tends to be leaner than duck or goose, turkeys are increasing in popularity at the Christmas dinner table.

Traditional Turkey Dinner

Traditional Turkey Dinner

Where did the turkey originate?

The turkey is a native to the Americas and classed in the family of Phasianidae (pheasants, partridges, grouse and others). Long before Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World, Native Americans were already domesticating turkeys. Research indicates that the birds were already domesticated in south-central Mexico at around 800 B.C. and in the southwestern U.S. at about 200 B.C. The Aztecs called the bird huexolotl and raised turkeys not for their meat but for their feathers, which were used in rituals and ceremonies.

How did the bird become known as “turkey?”

Christopher Columbus, or possibly the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes, brought the turkey from the New World to Europe. Since Columbus had sown the seeds of geographic confusion with his assessment that the New World was India, Europeans tended to name the bird after its alleged country of origin. Therefore, the French called it coq d’Inde (rooster of India); in Arabia, the turkey became known as the Ethiopian bird; in Lebanon it was called Abyssinian cock; the Portuguese named it Peru bird; the Greeks settled on galopoula (French bird – presumably, the Greeks got their first birds from the French); and the Germans called it Truthahn (male), Truthenne (female) or Puter (male) or Pute (female) – an anglicized version of “turkey.”

Then how did the English-speaking world end up calling the North American bird “turkey” when everyone else was heading off in the direction of India, Peru, or Ethiopia? As the story goes, Native Americans were calling the bird “toka” based on its vocalizations that sounded like “tok tok.” When the Spaniards arrived, they changed “toka” into “tukki.” Many decades later when the conquerors of the Americas became known as Americans, the “tukki” became known as the “turkey.” (see also Christmas Time in Berlin, Christmas Tree Tradition is German, and Christmas Calendar and Advent Wreath.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Genscher: detoxifier of East-West relations

Monday, December 7th, 2015

Eight-eight-year-old Hans-Dietrich Genscher is a highly regarded elder statesman of German foreign policy. Last September, his party, the Free Democratic Party – FDP (Freie Demokratische Partei), honored him for his role in German detente politics. Genscher’s proposals frequently set the tone and direction of foreign affairs among Western European democracies. He was instrumental to the final accord reached at the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) in Helsinki in August 1975, the Two Plus Four Treaty (Zwei-Plus-Vier-Vertrag) signed in Moscow in 1990 and to the first parliamentary elections held in the reunified Germany that same year.

German statesman Hans-Dietrich Genscher - photo by 50jahre.freiheit.org

German statesman Hans-Dietrich Genscher – photo by 50jahre.freiheit.org

Genscher’s life

Born in 1927 in Halle, Germany, (which became part of East Germany in the post-World War II era), Genscher served in the German Army during the Second World War and studied law and economics in Leipzig and Halle after the war. In 1952, he fled to West Germany, joined the Free Democratic Party and began practicing law in Hamburg, West Germany. Throughout his political career, he held several key posts in the FDP, including that of party chairman. In 1974, he became foreign minister and Vice-Chancellor of West Germany and retained those positions until 1992 when he stepped down for health reasons.

Genscher’s “Ostpolitik”

Beginning in 1969, Hans-Dieter Genscher helped shape West German Chancellor, Willy Brandt’s vision of easing hostilities between West Germany and the communist East. The de-escalation of hostilities and normalization of strained relations between the West and Eastern Europe is commonly referred to as Ostpolitik.

Genscherism

As Foreign Minister, Hans-Dieter Genscher promoted compromise between East and West. He advocated compromise and negotiated settlements to international problems. During the Cold War, skepticism about detente with the East was widespread. Genscher’s tendency to seek a happy medium often annoyed US policy-makers. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was especially fearful of a reunified Germany. Genscherism is a term that was coined in London at that time. It was meant to be derogatory and referred to Genscher’s quasi-neutralism. But despite diplomatic conflicts, Genscher was able to stay the course. And on March 4, 1991, the Soviet Union became the last treaty partner to ratify the Two Plus Four Treaty. Genscherism, it seems, won out after all.

Genscher and the Two Plus Four Treaty

Representing the Federal Republic of Germany, Genscher, was one of the six foreign ministers who signed the historic Two Plus Four Treaty. Officially known as The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, this document embodies one of the great moments in diplomacy. It was signed on September 12, 1990 and is an agreement between the four victorious parties (United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union) and the two defeated parties (East and West Germany) of the Second World War. The treaty ended 45 years of German division. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/two-plus-four-treaty/ Hans-Dietrich Genscher is credited with being one of the main players to organize German reunification following the fall of the Wall. In a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Two Plus Four Treaty, Christian Lindner, current Chairman of the FDP, honored Mr. Genscher by calling him “detoxifier of East-West relations.” http://www.dw.com/en/german-unity-genscher-and-the-two-plus-four-agreement/a-18709829

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Allied Control Council governs Germany

Monday, November 30th, 2015

Originally headquartered in the Kammergericht building in Berlin http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/berlins-kammergericht-appellate-court/, the Allied Control Council (Allierter Kontrolrat) was in operation for only three years – 1945 to 1948. The following year, it morphed into the Allied High Commission (Allierte Hohe Kommission), which met at the Hotel Petersberg, near Bonn, Germany. The Allied Control Council was disbanded when the final peace treaty of 1990 restored full sovereignty to the reunified Germany.

Location of the Allied Control Council between 1945 and 1948. Today, Berlin's Kammergericht is housed again in the building, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Location of the Allied Control Council between 1945 and 1948. Today, Berlin’s Kammergericht is again housed in the building, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Creation of the Allied Control Council

Preparations for the postwar occupation and administration of German affairs following the surrender of the Third Reich began during the second half of 1944. The European Advisory Commission – formed in 1943 – did most of the planning. It recommended shared-power administration. Therefore, following Adolf Hitler’s death in 1945 and Germany’s unconditional surrender, the Allies signed a four-power document that created the Allied Control Council. The Allied Control Council’s initial members were Marshal Georgy Zhukov (Soviet Union), General Dwight D. Eisenhower (United States), Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (Great Britain) and General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (France).

Potsdam Conference of 1945

The European Advisory Commission was dissolved at the Potsdam Conference. Germany was officially divided into four military occupation zones: American, British, French and Soviet. It was agreed that each occupying power would govern its zone. It was also agreed that all four Allies would jointly rule on all matters affecting Germany as a whole. A representative from each of the four powers would sit on the Allied Control Council.

Allied Occupation Zones of Germany (British, French, American and Soviet) - 1945 to 1990

Allied Occupation Zones of Germany (British, French, American and Soviet) – 1945 to 1990

Purpose of the Allied Control Council

During its three-year existence the Allied Control Council issued a substantial number of proclamations, laws, orders, directives and instructions. These dealt in large part with the abolition of Nazi laws and organizations, demilitarization and denazification.

Breakdown of the Allied Control Council

As time passed, the quadripartite meetings got more and more cantankerous. Relations between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union deteriorated, as did their cooperation in the administration of occupied Germany. On 20 March 1948, the Soviet representative on the Allied Control Council, Vasily Sokolovsky, walked out of the meeting and never returned. Since the Council was required to reach unanimous agreement on all decisions that pertained to the whole of Germany, Sokolovsky’s action effectively shut down the Council. Soon thereafter, the Soviet blockaded West Berlin. The three Western Allies countered with the Berlin Airlift. A Cold War between East and West ensued that continued until the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Post-Allied Control Council Operations

Although the Allied Control Council effectively ceased all activity in 1948, it was not formally dissolved. The only four-power operations to continue were the management of the Berlin-Spandau Prison and that of the Berlin Air Safety Center. Germany remained under nominal military occupation until 15 March 1991, when the final ratification of the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany, also known as the Two Plus Four Treaty (Vertrag ueber die abschliessende Regelung in Bezug auf Deutschland or Zwei-Plus-Vier-Vertrag) was signed in 1990. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/two-plus-four-treaty As part of the treaty, the Allied Control Council was officially disbanded.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

 

Berlin’s Kammergericht – Appellate Court

Monday, November 23rd, 2015

Most tourists visiting Berlin for the first time head for the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Radio Tower and a few other historic sites. A much less known gem is the 100-year-old Kammergericht (appellate court) in Berlin’s District of Schoeneberg. By the way, only Berlin’s Court of Appeals is known as the Kammergericht. All other German appellate courts are called Oberlandesgericht (High Court of Appeals).

Berlin's Kammergericht in the Heinrich-von-Kleist Park, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Berlin’s Kammergericht in the Heinrich-von-Kleist Park, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

History of the Kammergericht

Berlin’s Kammergericht is the oldest German court and the highest court of Berlin. It was established by the Electors of Brandenburg and first mentioned in 1468. Originally, it functioned as an arm of the royal court, but in 1735 it became an independent institution. At that time the Kammergericht moved into the Kollegienhaus in central Berlin, now the Jewish Museum. (also read www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/fallen-leaves-in-berlins-jewish-museum/) In the early 1900s, the court’s space requirements increased dramatically, and the Kammergericht moved into its own building in the Heinrich-von-Kleist Park in the district of Schoeneberg. It first opened its doors in 1913.

All About Berlin’s Kammergericht – Appellate Court

As a result of the division of Berlin following World War II, the city ended up with two appellate courts. While East Berlin’s Kammergericht remained in the Heinrich-von-Kleist Park, West Berlin’s appellate court moved to the district of Charlottenburg in 1949. In 1961, East Berlin abolished its Court of Appeals altogether. Following German reunification, the Kammergericht returned to the site in the Heinrich-von-Kleist Park in 1992 and, once again, serves the entire city.

Division of Berlin into four sectors (1945 to 1990)

Division of Berlin into four sectors (1945 to 1990)

Features of Berlin’s Kammergericht building

Constructed from sandstone and basalt, the Kammergericht is a 5-story building with over 500 rooms. Its entrance faces the Heinrich-von-Kleist Park. Two stately colonnades frame the edifice. The imposing entrance hall extends through all floors. The building’s interior is richly decorated, each floor in a different color. Sculptures decorate the stairwells.

Interim Uses of the Kammergericht building

–During the Nazi period, the Volksgerichtshof (Peoples’ Court) was housed in this building, and it became the site of the show trials against the conspirators in the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944.

–Between 1945 and 1948, the building served as the headquarters of the Allied Control Council (Allierter Kontrollrat). The four Allied powers met in this building to discuss issues concerning the four German Occupation Zones. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/allied-control-council-governs-germany/ After the Soviets stomped out of the Control Council in 1948, the Allies no longer met.

–In September of 1971, ambassadors of the four Allies signed the Four Power Agreement on Berlin (Viermaechte-Abkommen ueber Berlin) in the building’s chambers.

–Until 1990, the Allied Air Safety Center (Allierte Luftsicherheitszentrale) was housed in this building.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen Prison – Part 2

Monday, November 16th, 2015

 

Last week I wrote about the history of the dreaded Stasi prison Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen http://walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/berlin-hohenschoenhausen-prison-part-1 Today I will share my personal impressions after touring the former prison buildings.

My impressions of Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to take one of these guided tours of the Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen Memorial. Our guide was a West German woman who had been incarcerated here because of a romantic involvement with an East German man. Her account of the psychological intimidation methods employed by the Stasi was truly chilling. We were told that the overall goal of the Stasi was to destabilize prisoners and to make them feel powerless. To that end, prisoners were completely sealed off from the outside world and never even told where they were being held. They were strictly isolated from their fellow prisoners, and interrogations and manipulation to extract information were harsh. They involved isolation, sleep deprivation, water torture and threats to friends and family members.

Typical Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison interrogation room, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Typical Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison interrogation room, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Walking through the prison, we came to realize that the cells had no windows. The only air exchange occurred through a few small holes in the bottom of the cell doors. These doors had a small, latched openings through which the guards observed the prisoners. Even the cell toilets could be viewed through these openings. We also visited a padded room that had neither windows nor corners. Its purpose was to play havoc with the prisoners’ sense of orientation.

Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen observation window into prison cell, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen observation window into prison cell, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

The average prison stay at Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen was six months, although some prisoners were held captive without trial for years. Interrogators were trained psychologists who had been briefed on the prisoners and their families and used sophisticated methods to break down defenses. Their methods were so successful that a third of all Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prisoners were informants by the 1980s.

From personal recollections our guide added that lights were turned on and off at regular intervals throughout the night and that the guards awakened prisoners who did not maintain the “approved” sleep position. All prisoners were expected to sleep on their backs with their hands on top of the blanket. The Stasi did not allow any kind of contact between inmates. If a prisoner was lead through the corridor to an interrogation room and his path crossed that of another inmate, both were required to turn to the wall so that they could not get even a brief glimpse of each other. To reduce the chance of such encounters in the first place, a red and green signal on the ceiling indicated whether a prisoner was allowed to walk on or not.

Signal light at Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison indicating whether or not a prisoner was allowed to walk, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Signal light at Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison indicating whether not a prisoner was allowed to walk, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

The closing of Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen

Unlike many other government and military institutions in East Germany, demonstrators did not storm the Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In fact, prison authorities had time to destroy numerous pieces of evidence of the prison’s history. Therefore, today’s understanding of the methods employed at Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen comes mainly from eyewitness accounts and documents maintained by other East German institutions. It is estimated that more than 91,000 full-time Stasi employees and 189,000 unofficial collaborators maintained close, repressive surveillance over the East German populace until the Berlin Wall fell.

http://www.wired.com/2010/10/phillip-lohoefener/

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen Prison- Part 1

Monday, November 9th, 2015

Between 1951 and 1989 East Germany’s deeply feared State Security, the Stasi, operated a notorious political prison in Hohenschoenhausen. Located in Berlin’s northeastern district of Lichtenberg, some 40,000 political prisoners passed through the sprawling compound’s gates during its 38-year operation. Few people actually knew of the prison’s existence because the prison was located within a large, restricted military area and hermetically sealed-off from the outside world. It never even appeared on any East Berlin map. http://www.visitberlin.de/en/spot/gedenkstaette-berlin-hohenschoenhausen

History of Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen

In 1939, the Hohenschoenhausen compound was built as a canteen. In June 1945, at the conclusion of World War II, the Soviet Secret Police took over the area, transformed it into a detainment camp and called it Special Camp No. 3. During the winter of 1946-1947, the Soviets turned the camp into a prison and converted the cafeteria into an underground prison area.

Original Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison building, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Original Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison building, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

In 1951, the Ministry of State Security (Mfs) – better known as the Stasi – reopened the prison. In the late 50s, using prisoner labor, they added an additional building. It included 200 prison cells and interrogation rooms. The Stasi also converted the existing cafeteria. It became known as the “U-Boot” (submarine) among inmates because the Stasi applied water torture in some of its cells. Employing predominantly psychological torture to break the prisoners’ resistance and will, Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen functioned as a prison until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Most of the prisoners had tried to flee or emigrate from East Germany or had been persecuted due to their political views. The compound officially closed on October 3, 1990, the day of German reunification.

Expanded Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison building, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Expanded Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen prison building, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen Memorial

In 1995, the Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen Memorial (Gedenkstaette Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen) opened on the site of the former East German political prison. On the initiative of its former Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen inmates, the compound has become a registered memorial site. To help us comprehend the extent and methods of political persecution in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany), former prisoners conduct guided tours. In 2013, a museum opened as well. It displays close to 500 objects that tell the stories of those who were imprisoned here. The Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen Memorial is open year-round.

Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen Memorial from the outside, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen Memorial from the outside, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Read about my impressions of to Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen in next week’s blog. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/berlin-hohenschoenhausen-prison-part-2

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Wolfgang Vogel: East German Profiteer

Monday, November 2nd, 2015

Not only capitalist societies spawn profiteers. During the Cold War, Wolfgang Vogel, largely unknown to the general public but known to many prominent figures, pulled strings in Moscow as effectively as in Washington. For three decades, he was an extremely successful communist profiteer. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/23/world/europe/23vogel.html?_r=0

Licensed to practice law in both East and West Berlin, Vogel was the “point man” between East and West Germany. He was central to the exchanges of more than 150 spies from 23 countries and the last hope for many emigrants from East Germany. He earned millions in the process

Wolfgang Vogel was central to the exchanges of more than 150 spies from 23 countries, photo www.dw.com

Wolfgang Vogel was central to the exchanges of more than 150 spies from 23 countries, photo www.dw.com

The life of Wolfgang Vogel

Born in 1925 in Lower Silesia (now Poland), Wolfgang Vogel studied law in Jena and Leipzig and passed the equivalent of the bar exam in 1949. In 1954, he began practicing law in East Berlin. Three years later, he gained the right to practice in West Berlin as well. The East German Ministry for State Security, known as the Stasi, employed Vogel to make contacts among West German lawyers and politicians. These contacts eventually helped him broker exchanges of spies captured by the West for political prisoners held by the East. Vogel died in Bavaria in 2008.

Wolfgang Vogel’s famed spy swaps

Wolfgang Vogel brokered some of the most famous spy swaps between East and West. In 1962, he was instrumental to negotiating the exchange of both, the American U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers and the American Ph.D. student Frederic L. Pryor for the Soviet KGB spy, Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher (also known as Rudolf Abel). The exchange inspired the 2015 movie, “Bridge of Spies, starring Tom Hanks as James Donovan, Abel’s defense attorney, and Sebastian Koch as the East German attorney Wolfgang Vogel. For more information on the Glienicke Bridge, visit http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/glienicker-bruecke-bridge-of-spies/

In 1981, Vogel negotiated the exchange of East German Stasi-agent Guenter Guillaume for Western agents captured by the Eastern bloc.

 In 1986, Wolfgang Vogel brokered the exchange of Israeli human rights activist and author Anatoly Shcharansky for Czech sleeper-agent Karl Koecher and his wife.

Wolfgang Vogel – the profiteer

Representing the East German leader Erich Honecker, Wolfgang Vogel not only helped facilitate East-West prisoner exchanges, he also negotiated the re-location of thousands of East Germans to the West. However, his assistance did not come cheap. He became a wealthy man in the process.

Between the 1950s and 1989 (the fall of the Berlin Wall), Wolfgang Vogel was an official “representative of the German Democratic Republic for humanitarian issues.” In that capacity, he “sold” 33,755 political prisoners to West Germany. Their value varied according to their profession, their “crime” and how well they were known in the West. He also reunited 215,019 families and individuals in line with to the East German government’s maxim, “Human relief against hard Deutschmark”. http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/wolfgang-vogel-tot-der-anwalt-zwischen-den-welten-1.692361 The family reunion-seekers were individuals who had been left behind when the Berlin Wall was erected in August 1961, or they were relatives of escapees or relatives of those who had defected on business trips to the West. When these individuals turned to Vogel to obtain permission to emigrate, he was often able to negotiate the necessary permissions, provided these family reunion-seekers had private property to sell. Only then would Vogel locate buyers – for a fee, of course.

For his efforts, Wolfgang Vogel received benefits in cash and in kind. These benefits amounted to the equivalent of more than a half billion euros. http://www.welt.de/geschichte/article130633378/Darf-man-einen-Menschenhaendler-heiligsprechen.html At times, he earned half a million Deutschmark and more in just one year, practically tax-free. Still, Wolfgang Vogel saw himself as a humanitarian and a lawyer of the people. He said, “My ways were not white and not black; they had to be gray.”

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

 

Volkswagen: When Greed meets Technology

Monday, October 26th, 2015

In 1937, Adolf Hitler formed a state-owned automobile company in Germany to produce a reliable, low-cost “People’s Car” (Volkswagen). The car was to be called KdF (Kraft-durch-Freude)-Wagen (Strength-Through-Joy car). Full-scale production was scheduled to begin in 1939. But when World War II broke out production had to be halted. http://www.fastcompany.com/1512941/history-volkswagen After U.S. forces bombed and captured the Volkswagen plant in 1945, they handed it over to the British occupation forces, which in turn offered it free of charge to American, British, and French motor companies. All three declined.

Our family Volkswagen Beetle

Soon after the war, the British occupation forces began to use the cars for military purposes. And when the vehicles had reached the end of their useful military life, the Brits sold them. My father purchased one of these cast-off Beetles in 1951. I had many fun experiences in that car when I was a little girl in Berlin, Germany, during the post-war years. (Read the full story in my memoir: Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom).

Our family Volkswagen Beetle - purchased second-hand from the British occupation forces, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015

Our family Volkswagen Beetle – purchased second-hand from the British occupation forces, photo © J. Elke Ertle. 2015

Heinrich Nordhoff leads Volkswagen to success

Following World War II, General Motors-trained Heinrich Nordhoff had hoped for a leading position at GM’s newly rebuilt Opel plant in West Germany. But GM declined. In fact, GM told Mr. Nordhoff that he should consider himself lucky if he landed a job sweeping the street http://walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/mr-volkswagen-heinrich-nordhoff/. When the British occupation forces offered him a management position at the badly damaged plant, Mr. Nordhoff took it and went to work.

Conditions at the plant were bad. They were so bad that production had to stop when it rained because the roof and windows had been severely damaged during the war. The company even had to barter new vehicles to obtain steel for production. After Heinrich Nordhoff became managing director of Volkswagen in 1948, production increased from 12,000 vehicles in 1946 to 20,000 in 1948. By 1950, the company produced 100,000 and by 1955 one million Volkswagens. Mr. Nordhoff also began exporting the cars to the USA. Initially, customs agents just laughed at his promotional drawings. “That thing will never sell,” they hooted. But when the advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach launched a clever campaign in 1959, dubbing the pint-sized car “the Beetle” and encouraging consumers to “Think Small,” sales began to soar. By the 19960s, Beetle-production exceeded that of Ford’s Model T. Eventually, Volkswagen became the top-selling auto import in the United States, the largest automaker in Germany and – behind Toyota – the second-largest one in the world.

The Volkswagen Beetle’s Decline

Heinrich Nordhoff continued to improve the car’s underpinning while retaining its humpback styling. In the early 1970s, Beetle sales grew sluggish. Volkswagen introduced various other models (Golf, Passat, Jetta, Polo, Karmann Ghia – to name a few), but after nearly 70 years and more than 21 million Beetles produced, the last one rolled off the line in Puebla, Mexico in 2003. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/volkswagen-is-founded

When greed meets technology

In September 2015, the news spread that Volkswagen had deliberately installed emissions defeat software in its 2009-2015 diesel cars at home and abroad. The software was designed to decrease emissions during tests. During normal driving conditions, however, emissions control software was programmed to shut off. Then the cars polluted up to 40 times more than allowed by law. After having denied for 15 months that emissions defeat software was deliberately installed, Volkswagen finally acknowledged to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that their diesel cars’ emission controls systems were rigged.

Between 2009 and 2015, Volkswagen sold close to 500,000 diesel automobiles in the U.S. and 11 million worldwide. Following the news of defeat software installation, Volkswagen stock declined 20% on the first day and another 17% the following day. United States federal penalties may include fines of up to $18 billion and possible criminal charges. Legions of potential buyers will never purchase another Volkswagen. And, no doubt, there will be other consequences.

Looking at corporations, financial institutions, churches or politicians – worldwide – have moral integrity and ethical conduct been replaced by greed? Why else did Volkswagen executives conspire to defraud the public? And what made them think they would get away with it? (Also visit http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/mr-volkswagen-heinrich nordhoff/ and http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/those-tough-little-beetles/

Now, Volkswagen is hoping to make a comeback with the production of an all-electric, fully integrated e-generation bus. The vehicle should hit the market by 2022 and is intended to make Volkswagen a worldwide bestseller once again. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/volkswagen-comeback-e-generation-bus/

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on the home page of http://www.walled-in-berlin.com. Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War.

 

Beate Ulbricht’s Golden Cage – Part 2

Monday, October 12th, 2015

Read about Beate Ulbricht’s adoption in last week’s blog. http://walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/beate-ulbrichts-golden-cage-part-1/

Beate Ulbricht’s life

From the beginning, Beate Ulbricht’s life was beset with problems. She started school in Berlin where her classmates bullied her because of her privileged status. When she reached the age of 15, her adoptive parents, Walter and Lotte Ulbricht, dispatched her to Leningrad, Russia, to complete high school. She was lonely there, but her cries for help remained unanswered. Her parents only advised to keep a stiff upper lip. Following graduation, Beate was to remain in Leningrad to study Russian and History.

At age 18 and still in Leningrad, she fell deeply in love with Ivanko Matteoli, the son of an Italian Communist Party functionary. The pair contemplated marriage, but Walter and Lotte Ulbricht opposed the union. Beate prevailed. A year later, in 1963, she broke off her studies, returned to Berlin and married Matteoli against her parents’ wishes. The Ulbrichts used their influence to block Beate’s in-laws from entering the country to attend the wedding, and the Ulbrichts themselves stayed away as well. Relations between the Matteolis and the Ulbrichts quickly deteriorated. After Beate bore a daughter, Patrizia, the young Matteoli family decided to return to Leningrad to sidestep further confrontations.

In 1965, Ivanko left for Leningrad to prepare for the move. The Ulbrichts saw their chance. Only hours after Ivanko had left, they arranged to have Beate’s passport taken. As a result, the young mother and her daughter were no longer able to leave Germany and join Ivanko. Furthermore, Walter Ulbricht had all communications between husband and wife intercepted. Beate and Patrizia were stuck in Berlin for two full years. During that time, Walter and Lotte Ulbricht pressured their daughter into a divorce. When Beate finally relented, her passport was returned. Soon thereafter, the young mother and daughter flew to Leningrad to join Ivanko. But he had vanished. At that point, Beate decided to remain in Leningrad anyway. She wanted to be far away from her parents.

Back in Leningrad and unable to locate Ivanko, Beate reconnected with an old friend from high school, Juri Polkownikow. She fell in love for the second time and the two married in March 1968. The following year their son, Andre, was born. When Juri turned out to be an alcoholic and a wife beater, Beate returned to Berlin with her two children. But the relationship with her adoptive parents did not improve. After Walter Ulbricht’s death in 1973, Beate, found herself divorced from Juri and disinherited by Walter Ulbricht. She took back the name of her first husband, Matteoli. But with two children, no university degree and only occasional odd jobs, she sought solace in alcohol. Eventually, Lotte Ulbricht gained custody of Beate’s two children, and in December of 1991, Beate Ulbricht Matteoli was found murdered in her apartment. The case was never solved. http://www.welt.de/politik/article4187033/Wie-Ulbrichts-Adoptivtochter-dem-Alkohol-verfiel.html

The German Television station MDR (Mitteldeutscher Runkfunk) aired a television movie based on Beate Ulbricht’s tragic life. The program aired on August 2, 2015. http://www.bild.de/regional/dresden/walter-ulbricht/walter-ulbrichts-dunkles-familien-geheimnis-40319274.bild.html

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.