All remaining Berlin Wall watchtowers

Here are the links:
Book:
Berlin Wall Trail - Cycling Guide: A Route for Cyclists, Hikers and Skaters Along the Path of the Former Berlin Wall - Michael Cramer - amzn.to/3DxrLJF
Watchtowers:
Links to the watch towers:
1) Bernauer Strasse
www.stiftung-berliner-mauer.d...
2) Kieler Eck
www.stiftung-berliner-mauer.d...
3) Erna Berger Strasse
diemauerthewall.de/watchtower/
4) Mühlenstrasse - East Side Gallery
www.privateroofclub.de
5) Schlesischer Busch
flutgraben.org/en/
6) Checkpoint Bravo
www.checkpoint-bravo.de
7) Teltowkanal
www.city-camping-berlin.de/hi...
8) Potsdam Jungfernsee
grenze-potsdam.de/en/stations...
9) Nieder Neuendorf
www.hennigsdorf.de/Stadtleben...
10) Hohen Neuendorf
www.sdw-naturschutzturm.de/de...
Sources:
• Schematic drawing command post - By Nemracc - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
• Kierler Eck 1988, Foto der Grenztruppen, Berliner Mauer-Archiv, Hagen Koch

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thanks for all your comments and for your ideas for new videos!

[@pierre2808]

Olaf how can I get hold of you to discuss an interview for the Cold War podcast I am involved with?

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

@@pierre2808 the easiest way would be to drop me an email (visible in the Info section). Thanks!

[@williamharris9525]

Danke Olaf for your series! I literally stumbled upon this series as I was browsing through KZbin. I served on the Czechoslovakian, West German border with the United States Army in the late 1980s in Weiden and never had the opportunity to go north to the East German, West German border (Saw several Soviet soldiers patrolling on the opposite side of the line). I did get the chance to actually see the Fulda gap border when I returned in 1992 and what station will the 11th armored cavalry out of bad Hersfeld, but the border had since been deactivated by then, and already saw remains of it.

[@SiegfriedDerDrachentoter]

Nice to see your channel is finally getting the traction it deserves

[@Buckshot9796]

The further the DDR recedes in the rear view mirror the more strange and interesting it becomes. Thanks! Great video!

[@jasonfleischer3622]

As a DDR enthusiast this channel is incredible. If I could request one video it would be a video about the Trabant.

[@andrewmcphee8965]

Excellent videos, I am really enjoying watching them. Born in 1960 I grew up in the Cold War and wondered what life was like on the other side, I am learning a lot, thank you very much from Australia.

[@ImAHeroOnHiroin]

hey im also australian but y’know, born around 50 years after you haha

[@illu3925]

I'd like to suggest as a topic vacation/holidays in the DDR. There were lots of state-owned holiday homes/centers where people went on vacation, for example in the Harz Mountains, Thuringian Forest, Ore Mountains, Baltic Sea and the lakes covering Mecklenburg (Mecklenburger Seenplatte). Some luckier people also had the chance to visit Czechoslovakia, Poland or Hungary (of which my parents have quite fond memories of). Another great topic is the state of the environment (air, water, soil pollution due to the sorry state of the old machines and processes used in the VEB), especially around the centers of chemical industry like Bitterfeld, Dessau or Leuna. Connected to this is the general state and organisation of the VEB (like the reorganisation under Honecker into Kombinate). There's also the tragic fate of many old town centers which fell into disrepair during the DDR and which were torn down partially to either make room for "denser" housing (like the standard high-rise buildings made from prefabricated concrete slabs, "Plattenbauten") or car-friendlier street layouts. The situation of housing in the DDR would make for an entirely different video as well. Greetings from Thuringia (former DDR), I really enjoy your content.

[@brucedanton3669]

I remember here in Britain/the UK of old in the 1980s or so the Radio Times and other papers would list travel not only to then West Germany; but also to the East as well, under the name Berolina as far as I know at the time too. Not that we ever went from here, but of course we wondered what it must have been like too? Thank you.

[@illu3925]

@@brucedanton3669 There were also privately-owned vacation homes, however these were very rare and likely only for foreign visitors like the Interhotels which were primarily for collecting "Devisen" (western currencies). In the 50s there was a quite peculiar case where in the resort town of Oberhof in the Thuringian Forest nearly all owners of vacation homes and hotels were expropriated, so Walter Ulbricht could transform this town in the skiing center of the GDR (he really liked the area around Oberhof and even build a secret vacation home for state officials and mainly himself there), which led to the demolition of the majority of the old buildings in favor of high-rise hotels.

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thanks for these suggestions!

[@brucedanton3669]

Thank you for the highlighted reply of course so too as well.

[@MikeSiemens88]

I had 2 tours as a technician of the Canadian Air Force in Cold War Germany. On the 2nd tour I was stationed in Lahr with 444 Tactical Helicopter Squadron which flew Light Observation helicopters at the time. Our fall NATO exercise always took us to Bavaria near the East German/Czech border. 1988 while in Hof, we visited the wall & had a binocular viewing exchange with guards manning a BT-6 tower on the other side. We were wearing our combat uniforms at the time, no doubt piquing more than casual interest from the tower occupants. Residential buildings of a small town were everywhere behind the tower, not a soul to be seen in any of the windows. ;)

[@danditto6145]

My U.S.Army Unit deployed for Reforger in case Free Germany or it’s Free World NATO partners were ever attacked by the Warsaw Pact. We were an MP Unit and we relieved local MP’s on the West German and Czech Border during part of the exercise so they could participate in the exercise. We also went to Berlin and I remember thinking that East Germany was more terrifying than most Prisons. Glad to get out of there. The Officers had instructions to ignore the instructions of the East Germans but to cooperate with the instructions of the Soviet Officers as they were allowed to be there by the occupying forces agreement that allowed us to pass through Russian lines. We worked with British, Canadian and West German soldiers, mostly MPs escorting and guiding convoys too. Or orders were to leave no NATO personnel or vehicles behind if there was a problem, for fear the Soviets would arrest them for spying or other trumped up charges. The civilians had orders not to interact with our convoys, but the women and young people Alyways smiled at us. Small boxes of candy and other hard to find items often fell from our convoys as we passed areas with nearby farm workers and road workers. The GIs were terrible about doing that against orders. I wonder if any East German civilian ever comments that they got a box of chocolates, oranges, coffee and cigarettes after a convoy went by.

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Interesting! Thanks for sharing.

[@vazhanatroshvili7523]

I remember all this, served 2 years, in soviet army in DDR, 1986/1988 . 6 month at training base near Glau , the rest of the time at Maisen

[@davidstrohl]

Wonderful, another E Germany Investigated. What a great Sunday morning surprise! Those old towers, I have watched the people in them as they watched us during a US Army/US Air Force cross-service support event. We spent several hours watching the watchers. I always felt bad for the E German soldiers stuck with that duty, it looked like the most boring job in the world. I’m sure they had things to do, all military organizations do, but at the end of the day, 99% of what they did was watch, and the towers reminded me of high security guard towers here in 5he USA located around prisons, which I suppose is appropriate because East Berlin (and the DDR) always felt like a vast open-air prison facility to me. Thanks for this video, and all the others. Keep them coming, yours is a great voice on the subject! Best regards!

[@lugsdin]

Your videos are very fascinating given that I visited West Berlin in 1978 and crossed through Checkpoint Charlie for a day visit to East Berlin. My how things have changed.

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

Three years ago my wife and I visited Berlin and “discovered” some of these towers. If only your videos were available then. I definitely would like to return and “find” these interesting remnants. Thank you for making this wonderful series. 👏👏👍😀

[@holgerandersengrn3457]

Very interesting videos that give a good picture of the GDR, thanks from Denmark.

[@ottohashmi]

04:49 I had the honour of being able to work and perform in the Schlesischen Busch tower last Summer, there is some footage from inside on my channel :) thank you for the informative video!

[@k.r.baylor8825]

As an amateur Cold War historian, I really like your channel and your selection of topics. I have been reading extensively about the Berlin Wall and the city's history post-1945. And as an American public relations professional, I especially like your presentation technique--it's very German. Direct, without a lot of frills, and a homage to a less complicated era in broadcasting. It's a refreshing change. And your English is excellent, certainly much better than my "dummes Deutsch." A video about the MfS prison complex at Hohenschönhausen might be a good future topic to consider. I was very impressed with what has been preserved when I visited in 2016. I'm very much looking forward to your next presentation--you've hit a gold mine of information that deserves attention on KZbin.

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you for sharing this!

[@jeroenk5]

This guy is dutch.. not German :)

[@turingmachine4617]

Hello from an American living in Ireland. I’m enjoying your videos very much. I’m also interested in daily life in the GDR.

[@user-zp6yj4fy3e]

Хотелось бы увидеть ролики про: 1. Ноту Сталина 1952 года 2. Возможен ли был путь объединения Германии по образу Австрии 3. Возможно было бы объединение Германии не по 23, а по 146 статье Конституции ФРГ 4. Про позитивные стороны ГДР, уничтоженные в ФРГ: детские сады, социальную сферу, армию и т.д. 5. Про перебежчиков из ФРГ в ГДР 6. Про деятелей ГДР, которых судили или пытались судить, но которые не были сломлены режимом ФРГ 7. Про спецслужбы ФРГ, что они делали в ГДР, вербовка, сколько людей убили и пытали, что с архивами спецслужб ФРГ, открыты ли они, можно ли прийти и узнать, кто на кого стучал, что он коммунист или симпатизант или потенциальный РАФовец 8. Про кино ГДР: особенности и показывают ли его в современной в ФРГ 9. Какое отношение к ветеранам из ГДР, допускают ли их к музейной и просветительской деятельности 10. Про то, как преподавали идеологию социализма в ГДР и как её заменили на преподавание либерализма и теории политических режимов после объединения, скольким запретили преподавать в школах и вузах и на сколько это демократично

[@wtfbuddy1]

Nice video of the history they are preserving around Berlin. Cheers and stay safe

[@hk53nld]

Your welcome , have shared this channel in a couple of DDR Facebook groups

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you!

[@hk53nld]

@@eastgermanyinvestigated graag gedaan 😉

[@Alaskancrabpuffs21]

Just discovered the channel, thanks for teaching me what my crapy Highschool history classes didn't.

[@neno1983]

Love your channel! Please do videos more often!

[@azureazure01]

Considering this is a one-man project with editing, researching, and all between this is just fine.

[@joebueno]

I live in Pankow and everytime I take the road west, in the direction of Hamburg, I first pass a watchtower when we leave the DDR area towards Charlottenburg, and then another one when we leave what used to be West Berlin towards the DDR

[@Veritas419]

The history of DDR shouldn’t be forgotten.

[@ogpu1]

Well presented and researched. Thanks for posting!

[@antikoerper256]

That's awesome, I hope I could visit them all someday as I'm bulgarian and having been born in 1990 I've always had keen interest on the Cold War and especially the division of Germany, the DDR & the Berlin Wall / border between the East and West. Bulgaria being heavily influenced by Germany pre-1945 this continued even in the sphere of naming schools or streets - for example in my neighborhood, one of the major technikums or technical high-schools carried the name of Wilhelm Pieck. That book looks VERY interesting

[@JohnSmith-se9yl]

Your videos are both informative and entertaining. The GDR was a interesting place, and your explanations are insightful. Thanks for your efforts to inform us all of life in a bygone age...

[@williamharris9525]

danke mein Freund for this amazing site! I find these productions, very interesting and, of course, historically significant! I served on the border with the United States Army between Czechoslovakia in West Germany, at a site known as camp, Pitman in Weiden, West Germany. We weren’t that far from East Germany, but I never had the opportunity to go up north onto the border and see the operations when they were active. I only saw what was left when I returned to Germany in 1992 and it was a shadow of what it was when it was operational, those border towers were still standing when I visited and watching your channel, gives me more of an insight into what east Germany was. Danke!

[@petermcfarlane6749]

Really interesting video. I love the channel. It's great to see documentary stories about the GDR in English. Thank you.

[@misterbacon4933]

A great channel! With a lot of history! Top! Greetings from the Netherlands! 🇳🇱👍🇩🇪

[@Cardinal-cw5xr]

Nice video, your subscriber increase well deserved

[@Chunky246]

Another great video. I fight the whole DDR subject fascinating.

[@mikkoheirila702]

This channel is a gem, i'm visiting Berlin next week and will surely be checking out atleast one of these sites.

[@mrh9170]

Over the years I’ve visited all of the towers at some point. The Nieder Neuendorf tower is well worth seeking out for its fabulous museum. I can also endorse the Berlin Wall Trail guide. I used it when I cycled the Berliner-Mauerweg trail a few years ago but it’s also a great reference book for so many parts of the border.

[@flimsedom]

Thank you very much for your videos - especially for a non-German audience! They are incredible! I‘m a history teacher myself, working in Berlin and I couldn’t find any mistakes so far in your videos but I will keep searching for them. 😜 Veel groeten uit Potsdam!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

You are welcome and thanks for checking for mistakes! 👍

[@lolita19711]

can you do a video on old DDR factories that are now gone

[@Tobi-ln9xr]

I think it’s very sad that the history of East Germany (and even West Germany) is very underreported in the English language. East Germany is in English media mostly treated as a Soviet sector but in reality as long as the countries were following the socialist ideology, the countries of the Warsaw pact had a relatively big autonomy and were mostly sovereign countries. Even the Berlin Wall was actually planned and built by East Germany which a lot of English-speaking people also don’t know. Channels like yours really help people in the English-speaking world to get a better understanding of East Germany and the other side of the iron curtain. Thank you very much!

[@ZGryphon]

That "as long as the countries were following the socialist ideology" is doing some _very_ heavy lifting. Imre Nagy and Alexander Dubček would like a word.

[@mike_chr_]

Hello from Zypern! I just visited Leipzig for the second time this month and it was very interesting exploring East Germany first hand.. I have been learning German for 4 years now and it was a great opportunity to practice!

[@mauricebeguin7646]

Congrats from Frabce for the quality of this channel. In addition to the story of the wall and the border, I think it would also be very interesting to know how the inhabitants of the GDR were able to travel (in the Eastern bloc).

[@CA999]

Thank you for posting a rather obscure topic. As an Australian I find any international land border confronting. However to the vast majority of people in the world its "normal". We only have thousands of kilometres of coastline. The onky search tower you see are for the surf Life savers... 😊

[@1998Danielon]

Thank you for sharing this. I will make sure to visit AT LEAST a few of them during my next visit later this year to Berlin. Danke schon.

[@Hongaars1969]

Thank you for alerting us to the remaining towers especially how and when to visit them. Noting how few remain, hopefully by further raising awareness of their historical importance this shall help ensure that they are retained. As many historical aspects of the Cold War in Berlin must be retained and not whitewashed from memory.

[@venomdust1]

Aloha from Hawaii . I enjoy your videos and the information you give . You put out quality content so your channel will grow .

[@monsieurlespaique2333]

Excellent, as always. Your videos are dependably thorough and interesting.

[@edocsil123]

Excelent video. Went to Berlin last week, bought some DDR products you showcased in your video and ate/drink them on the flakturm while watching the sunset.

[@theUnicornOfPower]

Would you make a video about Hotel Stadt Berlin? Today known as the Park Inn by Radisson Berlin Alexanderplatz. I have stayed there several times and enjoyed the view from the window. I would love to know if the building has any interesting history. 🙂🙂

[@TheGhostofCarlSchmitt]

Seems like the channel is growing! Super! Macht weiter so!

[@wertywerrtyson5529]

Thanks for informing us non Germans about this interesting time period. I would like to know more about daily life in the DDR. Housing for regular people for example. Also food and clothing and everything else related to everyday life.

[@DondieGarcia]

Keep making these videos. They are very informational and very interesting. Danke!

[@Hansaman58]

Quite an interesting video. I visited Berlin twice in the 1970’s and twice in the 1980’s (most recently in 1985. Your series of videos are excellent.

[@linusfotograf]

Your videos are great for when I visit Berlin next time

[@Dirk80241]

Your channel is important for documenting the history of East Germany. I was born and grew up in the Netherlands, your neighbor and I visited Germany a few times (Trier, Berlin) but not enough. The history of WW2 and the seperation of East Germany under USSR influence was very sad, and needs to be preserved.

[@TSEEMOD_618]

I recently discovered your channel (Italian living in Poland for a long time) and enjoyed watching almost all of the videos literally today :D Keep up the remarkable work! :)

[@ashleyupshall7641]

Another interesting vid Olaf. Thanx for posting.

[@Alby_Torino]

Your channel is really very interesting! Greetings from Italy

[@supergilliar]

Really awesome videos and rock on!

[@xaverlustig3581]

The square type of towers were the exception. The majority were of the the "wine glass" shaped type (probably BT11). Weird that only one of those survives. Greetings from near tower #9

[@bapples]

Thanks for the video. I got to Berlin for the first time in July and saw this tower 3:00

[@mosmarb]

I lived in Berlin for a year and have visited quite often since, but the only one of these I've seen was the Erna-Berger-Strasse one - interesting to see the different types and locations of the others. I enjoy the exhibit on the Geisterbahnhöfe at Bernauer Str., maybe some more investigation on those would make for a good future video?

[@HansBezemer]

I've been told the BT-6 weren't very popular with the "Grenztruppen", because they were terribly cold in winter. The Fronau tower made me smile: before the fall of the wall, a lot of railway installations had been laying unused there for decades - and the border at that time was very much alive. Now the reverse has happened - the railway has been restored and the border installations are being reclaimed by nature.

[@SobriquetSobriquet]

Excellent detail! I've seen some of these.

[@TheTranceCartel]

Can you do a video on East German television programming? I think that is something I'd like to see

[@HansBezemer]

"Der schwarze Kanal" with Schnitzler. I wanted to see that at a time - but I had to do it alone. My then girlfriend didn't want to see it - she was disgusted by that guy. "Aktuelle Kamera" was also a thing, of course.

[@dinasaurusregina]

Outstanding videos, I really enjoy watching your channel and learning more about the history of the DDR and Germany currently. Trouwens, zie ik daar nou Nederlandse boeken op de achtergrond? :-)

[@Josh-io8yr]

I love your channel! Very happy to see it growing! please Keep making content.

[@pascalcoole2725]

Alweer een geweldige video... thanks !

[@Sherpa199]

Your content is very well made, many thanks.

[@robertbrodie5183]

used to pass a bt6 when doing the berlin bde speed marches was about at the half way march often had a rope colored in inch wide sections each section cut off each day by the short timer occupying it short timers in every army have some things in common lol swift strike 4/502

[@jcdenton6074]

Thank you, quite a good video as always.

[@vsbaratinho]

que canal espetacular! / This channel is insanely great!

[@olafneuhaus]

Obrigado!

[@richardabbot4695]

I find your channel totally fascinating. The details of German history I find so interesting. I watch all your videos and look forward to the next. Congratulations and good luck

[@usa_kenyan]

This is a wonderful channel. Very fascinating. Maybe one day you'll do something about President John F. Kennedy's Berlin speech from the point of view of East Germany. I'm a big fan of Kennedy.

[@williamboo9017]

Thank u for sharing. My relatives were from the former Danzig. Had an uncle supposedly taken away by russians.

[@swissbianco]

i was back then on one by the gropius stadt sector, it was a smaller one, 2x2. i see on google maps its all gone, it was already damaged and sprayed back then eaven as the ddr grenzschutz was still driving there, i did talk with them too.

[@mabbrey]

great vid well done

[@charlesk1089]

I would suggest a video on the DDR media such as the Neues Deutschland, Junge Welt, but also magazines like SF-Utopia published by Das Neue Berlin.

[@eyzmin]

Thank you for doing these videos, its so hard to find anything about East Germany in English

[@fairlyamused]

Very interesting... great to see this kind of content in English since I don't speak German and my family came from Germany generations ago

[@Ronald_U_Swanson]

I'm really impressed with this whole series. I've thoroughly enjoyed each video you've posted. I was a young kid when the wall fell, so I never really understood the ramifications until I was older. This channel has been great in my quest for deeper knowledge of the DDR.

[@bertnijland1772]

Leuk kanaal veel is leerzaam zijn dingen wat ik nog niet wist maar veel wel. Lijkt wel opfrissen van de ddr geschiedenis. Zelf een keer aan de duits duitse grens gestaan blijft indrukwekkend ga zo door

[@matthewcarden7958]

Well done on your Channel .. it is an excellent source of information and fascinating history .. your work here is valued and enjoyed 😊

[@tritron777]

Former russian instalations would be interesting to see. I rember going to east Berlin on vacation and seing tank crossings over railroads.

[@fightingfalcon1986]

I'd like to find a little more about the reunification of Bundeswehr and Nationale Volksarmee, i remember to have read a bit about that in the Spanish publication Defensa

[@fightingfalcon1986]

Another interesting topic about the story of the Berlin Wall it's about the tunnels that were built, in order to help East German dissidents (also called as Republikflüchtling) to go away West Germany.

[@hax007]

A video about Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen would be interesting.

[@WSDFirm]

Can you do a video about industrial activity in East Germany versus West Germany, specifically, how it’s changed in Brandenburg now that Tesla is there?

[@Danny30011980]

Ironic I came across this channel on 13th of August

[@jamesthewineguy]

Thank you for the video. What is interesting is how elusive the towers were and are--a regular DDR citizen could not have entered or even been terribly close and now after the Wall's fall there are only but a few that you can visit and I wonder during the fall if regular citizens visited the watch towers just after the fall. Also, was there any organization or perhaps association that photographed the layout of the border areas before they were demolished? Even though the Fall was not that long ago; I wonder if anyone had taken an entire set of photographs of the wall's border area? I ask because when I see videos or read articles they are reported as if all parts of the border wall areas were the same in it's entirety and as you know they were different in all sections. I suspect that photographs were completed by individuals in many sections of the wall but not all areas and that those photographs are not readily available as they are with many different people and perhaps organizations. I did a video 5 years ago called "Berlin Wall: Complexities and Unintended Consequences" kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaa4nmCQo9p3esU Again, thank you for the video

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thanks for your comment. To your question: Matthias Kupfernagel managed to go along the wall before it was demolished. A CD with his photos, called 'The Berlin Wall 1989' was published, but it seems to be not available anymore. Also a book with the same title was published and I found a few on stock on Amazon in Germany.

[@jamesthewineguy]

@@eastgermanyinvestigated Danke schön!

[@annefrankenstein15]

Hallo aus Kanada

[@blutryforce762]

One video idea I'd like to see is the history of vinyl pressings in East Germany, through it's state run record label Amiga. Or a video on the history of popular music in East Germany.

[@xaverlustig3581]

I recommend "Pop 2000", a documentary series produced by German television about the history of popular music in Germany from rock'n'roll until techno. It contains East and West Germany, but the focus on the east is quite strong. Unfortunately it's not on DVD, but maybe you find episodes online. Can't say much about the history of vinyl in the GDR, except that the technical quality was generally good.

[@blutryforce762]

@@xaverlustig3581 I'll have to check that out, thanks! Also about vinyl quality, I wonder if they used the same equipment as the west? Because West German vinyl pressing are very highly regarded in the vinyl community.

[@xaverlustig3581]

@@blutryforce762 I don't know what equipment they used, but it seems unlikely they would have bought western devices when they could make their own, which I therefore assume must have happened. But there's nothing wrong with that, as I said the pressing quality of East German records is considered good. Some general information I can give you: There was ever only one East German record company, "VEB Deutsche Schallplatten" headquartered in Berlin. It had three major sub labels: "Litera" for spoken word, "Eterna" for classical music, and "Amiga" for anything regarded light music, including jazz, schlager, rock, pop, disco etc. They started back in the shellac era, so you can find 78s on the Amiga label in antique shops, usually 1940s jazz or German schlager of the era. Later they went vinyl, even later they also released cassettes which might be worth checking. Towards the end of its existence in spring 1990 they even released a set of CDs. They were all classical music, thus on the Eterna label. Anything rock related you'll find on Amiga, both domestic rock groups, rock from other communist countries, as well as repressings of western artists which the East German fans were quite keen on. Besides LPs there was a series of 7'' 4-track EPs called "Quartett" by different domestic and foreign artists worth checking.

[@blutryforce762]

@xaverlustig3581 It makes sense that East Germany would have their own equipment. I figured they would have some connections in the West to at the very least help in building there pressing plants over there. I didn't know that Amiga was just one of the names VEB Deustche Schallplatten used for pop music. Though EMI would essentially do the same, mainly for budget releases. I will check out the Quartett series of EPs. I will also need to familiarize myself more with Schlager and Neue Deustche Welle too, I'm only really familiar with are Dschinghis Kahn and Nena respectively (and I guess Falco too, though he's Austrian). I was looking through some Yugoslav music a few weeks ago. So, I'm always looking for more foreign music to listen to. Thanks for the history on East Germany's pressings and sorry for my rambling.

[@xaverlustig3581]

@@blutryforce762 Think of "VEB Deutsche Schallplatten" as the company, and "Amiga", "Eterna" etc as some of its brandnames. This arrangement is not unusual, western record companies have been doing the same since forever. Even though keeping track of what label name belonged to what company at what time, when they changed ownership or when they merged or split is a science of its own. Schlager is a genre of "cheesy" simplistic songs popular in the German speaking and Nordic countries. The closest American equivalent might be crooner music, Frank Sinatra and such, but that's a very coarse comparison. Most rock fans sneer at schlager, they consider it for children and grandmas 🙂. But sometimes that's an unfair prejudice, there is some good schlager out there (but not much). Neue Deutsche Welle was Germany's answer to British new wave. It sprang from early German punk, and grew into waveish rock and synthpop. At first it was considered underground, but around 1981 out of nowhere Neue Deutsche Welle songs started topping the charts to the point when the entire West German top 10 was nothing but NDW songs. So the record companies reacted and quickly released a huge number of NDW songs by bands put together quickly to make a fast buck. This caused the general public to become fed up so they stopped buying those records from 1983 on. It was a very short lived phenomenon, but for a while it was quite popular in all German speaking countries. Nena is the best known artist from that era, but she was part of the later "sellout" phase, and not really typical for the genre.

[@ikbenpascal]

Mocht je ooit een excursie reis organiseren naar Berlijn in het teken van de DDR, ik ben zeker geïnteresseerd!

[@jsmith498]

That was a weird episode of The League of Gentlemen.

[@van0tot100]

your intro is so epic, how did you make it?

[@More-than-ladyboys]

Not only is the watchtower at Bernauerstrasse not Berlin original, the wall there is the wrong way around. The flat foot section would have been in the east, in the death strip. Not in the west.

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

You are absolutely right! I never realized this.

[@tuttomoltointeressante6840]

What about standing pieces of the Wall abroad? I've seen one in Tirana.

[@ridhobaihaqi144]

Like ushanka show, but east germany.

[@juanman75]

Thank you for another very interesting and informative video, it's a fascinating piece of history.

[@Love.life.ashigzoya]

Very well produced and engrossing. AL lso tragic that Germany git occupied. I feel the splendour of Third Reich was truly Germanic. Thank you maj gen Indian Army

[@polonezcaro1.6gle53]

Maybe something about DDR's relations with the People's Republic of Poland?

[@gcopp81]

Fenks vor ze veedeeo!

[@kiwimedic319]

Did the west have watch towers watching the border and the east?

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Good question. Thanks! The answer is 'no'. But there were a few watch towers or guard houses at 'special' locations. Also, the west patrolled the border.

[@KilravockMusicSWS]

Hey Olaf! Been enjoying these videos a lot. I am a collector of Eastern Bloc instruments and I have several Musima guitars that were manufactured in Markneukirchen in the 60s and 70s. (I also have several Soviet and Czech instruments as well.) If you’re looking for a topic to discuss, I would be happy to help on that topic in any way. I have footage here: All Musima, All The Time! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪 kzbin.info/aero/PLi7lRMRVn5sxEF3vVVEtNMB7kpveqo0zk

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thanks!