East Berlin Trabants & other classic cars 1989

Plenty of Trabants and Wartburgs here, but this is no classic car rally......just an ordinary summer day in communist East Berlin, East Germany in June 1989, just weeks before the Iron Curtain of communism came crashing down right across Eastern Europe. Filmed at Rosa Luxemburg Platz with a camcorder smuggled in from the West.

[@lugano1999]

I first visited East Berlin in 1984 and will never forget the Trabants ("Trabbies") as they passed by. They sounded like lawn mowers.

[@Zhiivago]

The me all these DDR vehicles, cars, trams, buses, motorcycles look so cute... I love the design.

[@user-ws8uu5od8x]

Trabbi, Barkas, Simson - das war klasse!

[@Yolticat]

I was warned by other Westerners to be covert with the camera in the East, and while I suspected this may be a bit exaggerated I did not wish to take unnecessary chances. I was accosted twice within a few hours by members of the East German public and told to put the camera away. So while 90% is as you say, I was concerned about the other 10%!

[@Isochest]

The Communists of then sound like the Islamists of today

[@frantav1]

Living in the Eastern bloc - you would understand. Anyone on the street with a camera was considered as collecting evidence (by police, secret police, etc.) against someone, or just for a case. Thus no one wanted to be recorded anywhere in no situation. Secondary - all westerners were considered as spies regardless of their appearance, official intentions, equipment...

[@piercehawke8021]

Fast forward to the USSR/Russia of today; drivers are specifically allowed to have dash cams, I believe said media can sometimes clear the name of the not 'at fault' motorist(s).

[@I_drink_cocoa_with_rum]

@@piercehawke8021 you cannot compare the USSR and modern day Russia in this sense.

[@wolfschultze7491]

Para pegar un clip en el cuadro de texto, tócalo.

[@MetalTrabant]

'Marty, we have to go back!' :D Oh, I'd love to spend a few days back in the DDR, if I'd have a time machine... although I have a Trabant, it's close enough :) Fantastic video, real historical document! Thanks for the upload!

[@adid.5585]

This quality! It looks like it was yesterday. It looks so much like my hometown. I love it!

[@Miniorpernik]

Thank you for uploading it!What good old memories!

[@Jesus19794]

i remember this time very well,in Berlin as well as in Prague :-)

[@Ndrwboi]

IKARUS Bus of Hungary and Robur spotted!! :) Budapest looked the same with just the same cars on the streets!! This traffic provided u a never-forgottable sound of traffic, that I remember kindly! :)

[@rollingthunder1400cc]

I can't get over the quality... it's amazing! :)

[@carrickdamian]

I think in that times was very loud on streets compere to this days

[@nephilimcrt]

Not to mention the air quality...

[@chadwahl9085]

From what I saw, the 2 main cars were the Trabant or a Lada 2100 series. I've been in both , I'd go for the Lada and that's not saying much.

[@CaptHollister]

If you look carefully, you'll spot a bunch of cars from non-communist countries. There's a Citroen GSA (2:26), a couple of Mercedes (0:21 and 1:39), Ford Escorts (0:22, 3:52), a Volvo 260 (1:35) and a 343 (4:49), a couple of Mazda 323(4:51, 4:53) and a bunch of VW Golf (0:24, 0:43, 1:43, 3:41), and VW Transporter (3:52). These cars might all have been visiting from West Berlin, or they may have been local imports. East Germans could own any car from any country, but if it was a "western" car, it had to have been gifted to them by a relative, something that happened a fair bit: western and eastern relatives would meet while vacationing in Hungary and the car would be given to them. The Volvo 260 is a special case because they were used by government officials and the VW Golf was actually exported into East Germany in the late 1970s.

[@oldskoolranger2078]

What a cleanliness of streets and bus stops. There is no ubiquitous muck, scribbles, pseudo-graffiti

[@sitothedonkey]

Interesting video :) I went back to where this was shot on Google Street View...can't say too much has changed!

[@DSC800]

Citroen(?) with a surfboard at 2:25, he's got a ways to go to find waves. I don't see many smoking in this clip. I was there on vacation last month and so many are smoking. Great glimpse of the past.

[@pienodise]

It's seems to be there! Thanks for sharing.

[@simsonoldtimer]

Thank you for this video! Lots of Lada´s and Wartburg´s also, but on 0:40 a Karmann Ghia! RARE! ;-)

[@Martin9476]

Very good video quality for 1989. And at least the streets are clean. Although I’m English I used to spend my childhood summers in (the then) Czechoslovakia and also visited East Berlin (and the wall!) a couple of years before it fell. The sight and sound of the Trabants really takes me back 😀😀😀

[@granskare]

we traveled thru the ddr in 1975 but did not stray far from the railway stations and did not use our camera - I guess I was pretty well intimidated in those times :)

[@PhilippBln]

Nice Video... But it was not forbidden to bring a personal camcorder in GDR...

[@breadop67]

The game im making is set in East Germany so these videos really help thanks!

[@lafftripvideos2217]

Great video for those curious between West-East differences. I found the exact location you filmed from around 0:03 to 4:30 on Google Earth (images dated 2008). Does the uploader or anyone else know the exact location of the areas filmed later? Obviously it has improved in the sense of technology (the vehicles have _obviously_ improved), but it also looks much worse in certain respects. All of the signs, railings, etc. appear to have since been replaced or removed, and ugly posters for all sorts of events are wrapped around the remaining street-poles, almost as though a layer of wallpaper has been added, but without the neatness. Ugly scrawlings totally deface a lot of the walls around the areas you caught on camera. The true survivors are the buildings; all which seem to remain, though with minor alterations since made. In some sense, I get the impression that (culturally speaking), the area is so socially liberal to the point of being like a gigantic (albeit more functional) commune. A commune writ large. Literally everyone appears casual-men in their leather or imitation leather jackets, and women's dress is often easy to think of as being immodest or revealing, indeed, really just like what we commonly associate with the Western "hippie" movement. The air is like the inverse of what is commonly considered oppressive; instead, it feels licentious. Casual, carefree, open, youthful. No obvious cameras, police, etc. It is fascinating how that is combined with what seems a contradictory inability to simply emigrate, and where there exists both a one-party state and notorious groups like the Stasi. Yet in a sense it also has the odd trapping of conservatism if one looks for it. The odd family holding hands, and the relative cleanliness/orderliness. There does not even appear to be a poster or piece of graffiti in sight, whereas the same obviously cannot be said for the same spot in 2008. Anyone-especially those who lived there at the time-have any thoughts on pre- and post-unification changes, especially as regards culture, dress sense, family, morality, etc? Even better if you could realistically compare West-East during the same time period (i.e. you routinely moved between both of them because of work or family being on the other side).

[@slighter]

Interesting perspective from someone who is obvioulsy a complete outsider. As someone who gre up there post 89' and still resides there frequently I can give you jsut some remarks on the area. Torstraße and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz ara got heavily gentrified. In the video you are standing at the north-eastern point of Torstraße at the end of Schönhauser Allee. All of the Green Spots you see there were sold to investors, who build modern office buildings there, thus making it a little less worthwil to stay there and a little more anonymous. The next scene is at Alexanderplatz next to the entrance of the U2 and Berliner Sparkasse. The sight is different, nowadays as they build the Saturn Buildung and the Alexa at the other side of the street. Last shot must be S-Bahnhof Storkower Straße, the bridge has quite some history: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu%C3%9Fg%C3%A4ngerbr%C3%BCcke_Storkower_Stra%C3%9Fe

[@slighter]

And if you can, have a look at FKK. It may be a good start to look at the psyche of the people back then.

[@DD-ws6cu]

Sir, this a Wendys

[@eddielung31]

can't imagine how they face the big change to come later that year

[@jenslowe7910]

Schlanke Menschen, bunte Autos, ein dichter Straßenbahn-Takt von dem man heute träumt, alle hatten wir Arbeit, das Leben war schön.

[@user-in5wp8yo2i]

Is trabant rare on streets of berlin at 2021 ? Can we see trabi ??

[@marklems5894]

Yes, its rare to see them, when the wall fall a lot of Trabis were dumb of the streets

[@henryseidel5469]

Hardly ! I still got a combi version of it to be used for short distances as a 'mule' in winter (Shopping etc) It is still absolutely reliable, by the way.

[@DSC800]

@@henryseidel5469 I was there on vaca last month. There is a Trabant tour group. They probably have over 100. We were tempted but it wasn't in our budget. Love those simple old cars.

[@drumstick74]

Great footage, and you were a brave cameraman. Lada, Skoda, Trabant, Wartburg extravaganza 🙂 Probably a _Party member_ in a Citroën at 2:26...? I don't think it was easy to get a French car. PS: The mom and boy at *1:12* _returns_ at *3:34*...!

[@CaptHollister]

If you look carefully, you'll spot a bunch of Western cars. The Citroen did not have the come from France. GSAs were assembled in many countries, including Yugoslavia. I also spotted a couple of Mercedes (0:21 and 1:39), Ford Escorts (0:22, 3:52), a Volvo 260 (1:35) and a 343 (4:49), a couple of Mazda 323(4:51, 4:53) and a bunch of VW Golf (0:24, 0:43, 1:43, 3:41), and VW Transporter (3:52). These cars might all have been visiting from West Berlin, or they may have been local imports. East German could own any car from any country, but if it was a "western" car, it had to have been gifted to them by a relative, something that happened a fair bit: western and eastern relatives would meet while vacationing in Hungary and the car would be given to them. The Volvo 260 and VW Golf are special cases, the 260 was used by government officials, while several thousands (10k +) Golf were actually exported to East Germany in the 1970s in exchange for different types of goods.

[@drumstick74]

@@CaptHollister Thanks for clarifying....Did you live in DDR?

[@flute4hire]

Weeks before try months before. I have a trabby with original engine here in the UK.

[@Concionator]

Wow... Great look! :oD

[@markusalexander]

The ambulance at 0:36 is definetely from West Berlin. I wonder what they have done in the East, and the guy at 2:09 carries a plastic bag from a supermarket in West Berlin. What's wrong here?

[@Connyconrad1]

I think its 1990.

[@markusalexander]

Yes. I think so as well. The uploader says it's June 1989, but I don't believe that.

[@_fabio1978]

1990 better...

[@Steve14ps]

Tourists in Berlin (West) often spent a day in the East Sector, the cost of a day visa was DM 5.00 plus also it was compulsory to exchange 25 West Marks into East Marks at the rate of one to one, so it was not uncommon to see people carrying bags with West German (or even British) names on them, although this was sometimes frowned upon. I once made the mistake of travelling to East Berlin wearing an Adidas T-shirt, this was an advert that I was from the West and several times I was asked to exchange money at black market rates! As for the ambulance, although it is definitely a Mercedes, I could not quite catch the number plate, it may have been bought from the West as the East Germans occasionally did or it may have been a West German ambulance, the Eastern Authorities did give special dispensation on matters of medical emergencies from time to time. I hope this may explain.

[@ALP839]

Almost every visitor from the west brought his plastic bag. You could see such things since the sixties all over the place. Aldi, for instance, was as well known as "HO" (which is Handelsorganisation/ trade organisation) in the GDR. Only difference here: HO had no plastic bags. Ok, and different goods to sell... 😅 And concerning the ambulance: maybe they sent it from West Berlin to take a Westerner back home who got sick during his visit in the east? Nothing impossible, I think.

[@Finsami71]

Good old times ..

[@MrResha2010]

какая прелесть

[@503WE]

Eu adoro os vídeos dessa época 😃

[@Yolticat]

@seriousbe Thanks!

[@Hunkiralyfi]

Many of the buses seems to be imported from Hungary. At least they look the same way.

[@conradsz]

Ikarus was THE city bus in majority of Eastern Block countries

[@Hunkiralyfi]

@@conradsz If I know well, they only were made in Hungary.

[@Steve14ps]

They gave a bumpy ride compared to West Berlins MAN buses

[@Hunkiralyfi]

@@Steve14ps Yes, this is true for everything made by Communist license.

[@xgamerbih]

@@Hunkiralyfi no it is not true. The buses we made in Yugoslavia were appearntly were comfortable, and were exported all over the world, even in the west. None really complained about the ride quality.

[@BEUSA42]

Lots of old Soviet cars

[@janhoppe894]

Most noise is from trams. They were powering electric grid with brown coal and still do the same. Lada was smoking the same amount of oil as Trabant per 1000 km

[@seriousbe]

Volvo spotted! Nice vid!

[@subbookkeeper]

Does anyone know what that 0:40 old timer car is? Never seen such car before.

[@Miniorpernik]

on the right it is the legendari trabant and to the left uv got skoda!120 model

[@sailentpredato5218]

subbookkeeper looks like a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

[@MetalTrabant]

Yep, that's a VW Karmann-Ghia, just with some ugly aftermarket grill on the front...

[@jagdpanther2224]

@0:41 What was that odd little two doors car(Green couple)? I never saw such a car, who was the maker? It seems 1960s design

[@ilijazivanovic3698]

Volkswagen Kharman Ghia

[@Yolticat]

@rollingthunder1400cc Thanks!

[@freedomformen2548]

Great video ❤👍

[@conneruno2803]

very good

[@jeremyhaines4481]

Interesting Vehicles

[@bedientvondeutschland1779]

1989 was the year where they allowed in the GDR to wear Jeans.

[@simsonoldtimer]

Hat mich auch gewundert. Eindeutig ein MB Bus, West DRK.

[@nicholasjanosy2214]

Well dressed people. None of them overweight.

[@v.dargain1678]

I saw a few fat bellies .

[@Valena.]

Too many Western indicators. *This is not June 1989* , but rather early summer 1990. I'm sure, because: "Ich bin ein Berliner!"

[@sarahdotswift]

Hi - just following up to see if you have any objections to this footage being used in a UK TV programme? Thank you, Sarah

[@nolibtard6023]

So viele Westautos das muss doch nach dem Mauerfall gewesen sein

[@compressorhead02]

More trabants than I have brain cells

[@ALP839]

Poor guy. I count some 250 Trabants... Don't give up!

[@Ndrwboi]

@MadeInReality Barkas war als Rettungswagen benutzt, oder?

[@DFVkamillo]

BUT I SEE ONE MERCEDES :D

[@MarkusDuesseldorf]

This video was recorded definitely not in June 1989. It is from the time after the fall of the wall and the German reunification (probably early or summer 1990). During communistic era, there wasn't any Mercedes.

[@vangestelwijnen]

There were several West cars to be seen in East Berlin. Mostly visitors living in West Berlin, of which many had a Merc or BMW.

[@ALP839]

@@MarkusDuesseldorf After 1965, when the border from west to east became a bit more permeable for one-day visitors, the number of western cars especially in East Berlin grew considerably! To say there were no such cars like Mercedes in the east is pure nonsense. There were thousands of them every day! And even a number of citizens of the GDR owned cars of western origin, all types and brands.

[@joemenendez1337]

2 actually

[@Anonym-kd5wf]

@@MarkusDuesseldorf wrong. As a West person you could drive in the east with your own car.

[@reptiloid2005]

Как советский город той эпохи и моды одинаковые. Эх,детство,детство,ты куда ушло.... Судя по году Берлин уже открыт

[@sabrinaclarus6290]

Why ?!

[@MrRotstift]

'smuggled in from the west' - I had scores of west german relatives who came over bringing their camera with them very overtly. Do you want to prove your own western stereotypes about the East right with a lie?

[@wan4891]

Zufaelligerweise war Ich (von den Niederlaenden) gerade in diesem Jahr / Zeit in Berlin und habe mit einem Bus eine Fahrt gemacht zu Ost Berlin. In einem Park habe Ich da spaziert und ein Bier getrunken (Preis so etwas wie 57 pfennig oder so) und Ich muss sagen dass ich es da wirklich gemuetlich fande.

[@norbertkrugel5286]

@wa n In Rummelsburg, dem Knast für Westler, dürfte es nicht so gemütlich gewesen sein.

[@guntherirgendwas197]

Schön der Kollege mit der PLUS Tüte bei 2:07😂

[@ALP839]

Wow, eine echte Westtüte! Und weder wurde er verhaftet noch wurde ihm die Tüte von den zahlreichen Hungernden entrissen! Nochmal: wow!

[@pierrepinson2906]

😮😮😮It looks like Russia on 2021, with old Lada cars, tramways, trucks and buildings.

[@timart3049]

Ou, high speed in city :-o

[@stefanjovanovski6035]

I didnt know LADA 2101 was popular on the streets of berlin

[@AndreiTupolev]

What's that at 0:40? East German version of the Karmann Ghia? * Citroen GS 2:27, another Western interloper!

[@conradsz]

If you were lucky and rich you could own a Western or Japanese car.

[@ALP839]

That old Carman Ghia was a visitor's car, I guess.

[@spreeathener1972]

And more ...Stasi-Volvo 244, Mazda 323 (2x)

[@wanderlust660]

Wie laut die Autos doch damals waren und gestunken haben sie. Heute gibt es dort die Hipster und den Apple Store und seit kurzem leider keinen bezahlbaren Wohnraum mehr.

[@MsCajt]

great video on the surface East Berlin didnt look like a bad place to live but of course actually being amoungst it would be another thing all together

[@flopunkt3665]

East Berlin was the place where East Germany wanted to show what they were capable of. So life there was better than in the rest of the East.

[@jbtc-zn9ih]

Heute ist nur die Berliner Optik schöner. Ansonsten ist Berlin die schrecklichste deutsche Stadt.

[@Neo459]

Ich liebe diese Beschreibung / I love this description: "Filmed at Rosa Luxemburg Platz with a camcorder smuggled in from the West."

[@michaelwest7874]

Looking back it weren’t that bad was it.??

[@carguy3217]

0:20 why e200 is in the East part?

[@EIGHTIESRIDER]

Could be tourist

[@ALP839]

And why not?

[@hotrodeldorado811]

Interesting vehicles

[@gumda472]

der Rettungswagen bei 0:37 ist aber westlich´(Mercedes) wie kommt das?

[@wanderschlosser1857]

Evtl. Krankentransport von Ost nach West, z. B. ein Westbesucher, welcher im Osten erkrankt oder verunfalled war? War auf jeden Fall wahrscheinlicher einen WestKW im Osten zu sehen als umgekehrt, wegen Fluchtgefahr des medizinischen Personals. 😁

[@paoloangelopapaaurisicchio3966]

Pues yo no veia tan mal a la berlin oriental, mucho trafico, edificios modernos y la gente se ve muy bien, otra cosa es como lo pintaban

[@crusinclassicslucas6218]

Very cool

[@siemenstraffic]

At 1:34 a Volvo 240 rolled by the intersection.

[@ersal119]

Hi Yolticat, i am Japanese artist, Hikaru Suzuki. I am making film about Havana. The topic is about socialism. Your this footage as an image in east country is very good for my film. I was wondering if i am able to use this video for my film? I would wait for your reply. Thank you for your kindness. All the best, Hikaru Suzuki

[@jonni8721]

Ein Mercedesambulanzwagen bei Sekunde 37?.....Nie im Leben 89! Trotzdem cooles Video!

[@s3sextel]

Ein schönes Zeitdokument. Was mag aus den ranken, schlanken jungen Frauen geworden sein?

[@Runeakb]

Wasn't it terrible to breath back ein Ostberlin? The air must have been soo polluted from the Trabi-exhaust as the Trabis needed oil in the petrol as lubrication and hadn't any filters what so ever

[@TurnerEckhardt]

I have been to Minsk, Belarus and Budapest, Hungary many times and you can still see cars like these regularly. Some of them emit terrible black and blue clouds of exhaust!

[@summitsvift]

people were much slimmer !!

[@RegrebEwuNews]

Tolle Sache!

[@PurePure00]

Schade das es den Originalton nicht gibt.

[@user-kg3gu5yl8t]

Car museum live!

[@seidi81]

Das einzige, was mich für 1989 stutzig macht, ist, dass einer bei 2:05 ein Einkaufsbeutel mit der Aufschrift "Plus" trägt. Soweit ich weiß, gab es in der DDR nur HO oder Konsum.

[@DriveLongRoad]

Storkower Strasse at 5:22 :)

[@lexifillems]

@@jesper99 It is.

[@spreeathener1972]

Stimmt. Der lange Tunnel. Ehemals S-Bahnhof Zentralviehhof.

[@NicolaiFleckenstein]

Der MB W124 bei 0:20 wirkt in diesem Video wie aus einer anderen Welt... :-D

[@krypt0nitis]

Btw i catch and some vw's idk why this is east berlin.

[@amjkodaz]

Why did they not like you filming?

[@mutterschied]

Mouth-watering cars... and chicks!!

[@franciscomoisespalomaescal4253]

2:26 Very rare is a GS Citroen in East 🤔

[@user-ky7uc6rx6u]

1:24 - KamAZ 53212

[@BadBullPc]

0:15 why is it a Mercedes bus in ddr???

[@southeparkfreak]

Probably because the DDR didn't have enough production capacity to keep up with demand. They imported 10.000 VW Golf cars in 1977 because of the same reason.

[@4ever242]

communist guy It's so strange for you? For example, here in former Czechoslovakia, we had a lot of vehicles from the West. Travel agencies in Prague had buses Mercedes, Neoplan... And Prague ambulance had since the mid-80s Mercedes cars. Wealthier individuals who had access to western money, also had cars from the west.

[@RetroGUY77]

Yeah, the East German government officials used to drive Citroen CXs and even West German Volkswagen Golfs!

[@boandlkramer2539]

Andere Zeiten Kinder 😎

[@JuanCarlos49086]

Those Trabants were kind of plain looking, but were probably well built, built to last a long time.

[@bebtozoltan55]

Ikarus bus

[@12valvepower4]

ring ding ding

[@crusinclassicslucas6218]

0:36 ambulance

[@admirninta8868]

Well,not so gray after all. Thats what I thought,when I saw those colored toys on four wheels.

[@christophlange7005]

This is not before the Iron Curtain fell. Western cars driving around, people carrying bags from West-German supermarkets etc. I supposed it´s summer of 1990 or 1991.

[@ALP839]

Blablabla. Schon mal was von westberliner Besuchern gehört, die den Osten zu Tausenden bevölkerten? Essen gehen für dreifuffzich? Billige Fachbücher kaufen? Onkel Klaus mit ner Alditüte voll Dr-Oettker-Schais beeindrucken? Oder halt Plus. Mein Gott.

[@mathiasmuller291]

That is NOT 1989, it‘s later. Early 90s. For sure.

[@panpizza5863]

Stasiland

[@ALP839]

Sieht man auch gleich an jeder Ecke, was? All die unglücklichen, unterdrücken Menschen! Kaum, dass sie sich auf die Straße trauen! Und all die Bettler! Der Dreck! Der HUNGER!! 🤪

[@DFVkamillo]

0:41 vw karmann?? classic :))

[@volkerh.9933]

Richtig

[@adriansdarick2345]

Los Mercedes son los más bellos. W123🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪❤