The gates opened.

A little over two years after Reagan's famous speech:

I was assigned to Kitzingen, Germany in northern Bavaria with the US Army in December 1991 and it was very clear they were still two separate countries, even thought their reunification had happened officially and the borders erased.

The West was modern, clean, orderly.

The East was shabby, dirty and felt like you were in a bad neighborhood of an otherwise nice city.

It took them years and billions of Marks to erase that.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I was assigned to Kitzingen, Germany in northern Bavaria with the US Army in December 1991 and it was very clear they were still two separate countries, even thought they reunification had happened officially and the borders erased.

The West was modern, clean, orderly.

The East was shabby, dirty and felt like you were in a bad neighborhood of an otherwise nice city.

It took them years and billions of Marks to erase that.

I went to Berlin in '92 and I certainly did not need a map or compass to tell if I was on the east or west side of the city. The east side was just drab gray concrete buildings, no color and was depressing.

And the Trabants flooded in

I was there in West Germany right after the wall came down. On the Autobahns, a Trabant could go at most 45-50mph. While thr Trabants were doing 45-50, the BMWs and Mercedes were doing 120 MPH and higher. The Trabants might as well have been stopped in the road at that speed. It was scary coming up on them.

I remember seeing a couple Trabants parked. The West Germans were pointing and laughing at the Trabants.

I was working on a NATO contract at the time. I remember going to a very nice drinks and dinner event, with Generals all around me. This was in a hotel on the Rhine River. The generals were all very nervous about what was going to happen to their jobs!

i was in FRG with 18th MP Bde from 88-92. when the wall came down, it was an amazing time. I travelled to Berlin and traded cigs and coffee from my rations card to the EG and Russian soldiers for anything and everything.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I was assigned to Kitzingen, Germany in northern Bavaria with the US Army in December 1991 and it was very clear they were still two separate countries, even thought their reunification had happened officially and the borders erased.

The West was modern, clean, orderly.

The East was shabby, dirty and felt like you were in a bad neighborhood of an otherwise nice city.

It took them years and billions of Marks to erase that.

True. I got to spend 2 weeks on vacation traveling in the eastern zone after the wall came down. Much of it looked like France right after the war. Paved roads were nothing but a collection of huge potholes. We were over there 3 times in total. Visiting family and friends.

Even took the duty train to Berlin before the wall came down. Interesting to say the least.

I remember those revolutions. Especially Romania's, the only one that was violent. Its rulers, the Ceaușescus, got the firing squad.

This July I spent a day in Berlin. Did the remaining Wall and the sights. Oddly, our train arrived in East Berlin and we arrived at Brandenburg gate from the East.
Where the Wall was is now shown by a line of cobblestones.
Checkpoint Charlie is now a bad tourist trap.
As for the city, it looked the same wherever we were.