Klein Glienicke: the walled-in GDR exclave

Links:
1) Tour with historical pictures and stories: kleinglienicke.org/erinnerung...
2) Historical tour with quiz: kleinglienicke.org/erinnerung...
Sources:
• Teltow Canal Map - Strassburger, Jürgen: Gewässerkarte Berlin. Hamburg 2004 (Ed. Maritim), ISBN 3-89225-436-2...und weitere Quellen, CC BY-SA 2.5, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
• Organ of the Klein Glienicke chapel - By Subbass1 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

[@KomradZX1989]

Really neat seeing you on location and filming at a place instead of just old photos (nothing wrong with old photos though 😊). Your dedication to this really shines through in your videos. ❤ Have a great day!

[@TheFrewah]

Absolutely, that shows dedication and makes ot so mich more interesting.

[@larsrons7937]

Very interesting. I hope to be able to visit Klein Glienicke next time I go to Berlin. My first visit to Berlin was in 1988 when the wall was still there.

[@UAuaUAuaUA]

Having been able to travel from East Berlin to West Berlin as a tourist in 1983 I always enjoy your videos.

[@Jvd1925]

That’s so interesting! Did you ever feel like you wanted to escape to the West?

[@marcincichy6865]

👍👍🪂 1:02

[@TheFrewah]

I went there after the wall was gone. However, there is always something that shows exactly where thr wall was. Very exciting

[@UAuaUAuaUA]

@@Jvd1925 I did an individual trip from from Peking to West Berlin, and all by railway in 1983. It took ten interesting days and the price was only around 300 US$. As I used a western passport, I didn't have to escape from the GDR. But obtaining all the visas in Peking was a big hassle.

[@robertshonk518]

Please do a video on Steinstucken. This small neighborhood was in the opposite situation as Klein Glienicke - it was a West Berlin enclave surrounded by East Germany. Steinstucken's situation was more precarious, as it was much deeper into enemy territory.

[@fionad9913]

Way more atmospheric without sunshine. Loved the on location filming.

[@MyManicmonday]

I've been there once and i instantly wondered about the architecture and structure of the whole settlement. It is a really amazing place!

[@alabamatechwriter6959]

Thank you very much for your channel! My father was an American soldier in West Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. We toured many places in Germany and in other countries. One of our most memorable tours was Berlin and its wall tour and museum. This was a very interesting view of a part of Berlin I did not know existed. Please show us more.

[@turingmachine4617]

The filming was very good - nice to get the feel for the place. Thank you for sharing your research and insights.

[@bomcabedal]

This is developing into a really nicely in-depth series of videos, and the on location filming provided a lot of extra context. Said as a former inhabitant of Wannsee that commuted quite closely to this village for years en route to Potsdam, but somehow never visited. Great work!

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Thank you!

[@joerhorton]

I was in Berlin a few years ago and we travelled to Potsdam to take in the historic bridge and palaces. Klein Glienicke was a truly lovely place along with the rest of the surrounding area.

[@flimsedom]

I was there yesterday in bright sunshine. :) Beautiful spot and actually almost unimaginable how this was possible to live in this highly militarized spot. Kind regards from Potsdam!

[@joedellinger9437]

I remember the border of West Berlin was insane, with extensions along roads to random parcels of land, and places where the border cut into it to. Subway stations the West Berlin subway raced through without stopping like Stadtmitte. Such a bizarre thing.

[@JamieDouthit]

As someone who is stationed in the far west of Germany (in Rheinland-Pflaz) and is a huge history buff, I love your channel. Keep up the good work my friend!

[@ericmarkerink1223]

Last year we combined Klein Glienicke with the Glienicker Bridge and the House of the Wannsee Conference. Was already for many years on our bucket list. We booked a hotel in Potsdam and visited also the Stasi prison in Potsdam. All off the beaten track ❤ Already looking forward to your next video, enorm bedankt alvast

[@AlfaGiuliaQV]

I felt kind of sad about that poor 3d roofer who got thrown in jail for 2 years for staying in the GDR when his colleagues took a run for it.

[@derwolff2905]

AlfaGiuliaQV Yes, it's sad but the Secret Service says He knew about this escape or he could know this. And he had to make a report. 🤷🏻‍♂️🙄

[@juavi6987]

"Up to two years". So we don't know how long he got, maybe less.

[@pierremainstone-mitchell8290]

What a fascinating little tale! Well done and thank you!

[@vsbaratinho]

The like/views ratio of this channel illustrates the quality and dedication of this man. Amazing work!

[@Cesarc2]

Conozco el puente y la casa de Grosswansee y el centro de Potsdam pero no ese pueblito. Muy interesante video. Saludos.

[@peterlj613]

Thanks for this programme. I love GDR history and Berlin Wall in particular.

[@mohabatkhanmalak1161]

Thank you for bringing us these informative clips. Back in the 1970's I was a voracious reader of books, magazines, articles etc., anything educational and got to read a series of books on different countries - must have been from the same publisher - and the one from the GDR too. These books were hardback with around 500-600 pages and talked about the people, history, government, economy etc. There was one on eg. Italy, another on Japan, Phillipines, Venezuala etc. The GDR one talked glowingly about industrial output and other achievements, but nothing on the peoples freedoms and self determination. It was all a lie, written by a decietfull author.

[@edwardloomis887]

If you haven't already, please cover Steinstuecken, how it was walled off from West Berlin and required its own mini-airlift until a road was opened up. We ran that road. There were guard towers on both sides.

[@Buckshot9796]

Great video! Looks like a very nice and quiet place today. So strange to think it was on a frontline in the Cold War and would of been one if that war had turned hot. Thanks !

[@Chunky246]

Thanks for the video. This subject fascinates me.

[@cbhlde]

Thanks from Lübeck! ;) Really interesting accent, btw - I can't pinpoint if German with really good English or a Northern person with very good German pronunciation... 🤔😀

[@Charlie-jp6mx]

As someone who grew up in East germany and speaks nearly perfect dutch, its so funny to see a dutch guy, visiting all the places near Berlin/Potsdam with all the exitement about a history ive already learned way too much about, bc i grew up here. Funny dutch history guy, lekker zeg

[@Mark-yy2py]

Fascinating videos of a time past. Spent time in West Berlin (Tempelhof) while in the USAir Force from 1984, 1987-1988.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

We were there at the same time…I was in 38 (Berlin) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, based in Spandau.

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

Wow, as an American, I had not thought of exclaves much, very interesting video, thanks! Danka!

[@HighWealder]

Very interesting. We visited my wife's relatives in West Berlin back in 1988, but had not heard of the enclave.

[@derwolff2905]

HighWealder Sure, because Klein Glienicke is no part of Berlin and non-residents could NOT visit the place before 1990. Greetings

[@santerikajala8354]

i hate that i found this chanell after i went on a road trip to germany. you talk about stuff that is not on all the top 10 lists keep up the good work

[@fairytalereadingswithmanuh1378]

Interesting documentary on the peculiarities of the Berlin wall-well done!

[@dunkirchen1940]

Your videos are always so well done and so informative! I anxiously await your next installment!

[@eddavis1832]

Always educational and quite entertaining. I will have to visit Klein Glienicke on my next visit to Berlin. Thank you!

[@RabbitEarsCh]

Amazing work filming on location, about a piece of the GDR I had no idea existed before now. Thank you always for your hard work!

[@davincisghost9228]

I think the weather suited the subject matter wonderfully. Thank you that was fascinating.

[@brunokirchensittenbach9294]

…Beutiful spot still well preserved thanks für’s hochladen…!!! 🇩🇪🇷🇺🇩🇪

[@AndyNL]

Such a great story with all those details.Thank you very much, so interesting.

[@emmcee662]

This was so interesting and you chose such a good day to film - the rain and autumn foliage was so atmospheric. Some of the villas and houses look really beautiful. I need to go back to Germany and visit all these interesting places that I have discovered thanks to your very enjoyable channel. Best wishes from Australia

[@brendanmcnally9145]

Very interesting. Will definitely visit it next time I'm in Berlin. Cheers

[@Eurobrasil550]

Very interesting vídeo, it's interesting to see information about the border area in the Berlin suburban area, area from the city centre.

[@wernermirau3868]

Very fascinating and important work. Thank you so much for researching and sharing this with us!

[@Hongaars1969]

Thank you for another fascinating in depth review. Nice to see the beautiful chapel restored and the escape stories associated with it. The sheer ridiculousness of the wall is aptly illustrated.

[@ProphecyUK]

Another great video and insight into the GDR. Please keep up the good work as a reminder of how we should all learn from the mistakes of the past.

[@Themamduzopieniedzy]

Great document! Thank you very much for your work!

[@celebrityrog]

Klein Glienecke and Steinstucken are the two most interesting areas of the Berlin Wall in my opinion, how it affected both East and West Berlin as well as East Germany and the trading of certain enclaves and exclaves for access to one of them is just something else. Fascinating. BOTH of these areas are special to me for no reason other than that. They were difficult to get into and out of. That alone makes them interesting even if the area itself is lacking any interesting features, homes or entertainment value.

[@geraldwagner8739]

Entenschnabel was also crazy!

[@MrsBirdiegoeshell]

I'm really happy that I found your videos. A few weeks ago I visited the Dorfrepublik Rüterberg near Dömitz, which is another interesting case of how places near the former border were impacted.

[@jonremmers1828]

This was new to me! Thank you for your work, I enjoy it a lot!

[@AndreaPick]

Great video, thank you so much for your hard work.

[@seniorelzappo9919]

Very interesting thankyou from UK ..

[@EdgyNumber1]

More great little bits of information. Great video 👍

[@manfredamann137]

I will visit the place again, but I already was there in 2004 when we held there a Pacific Festival in a restaurant (forgot the name). Directly near the water. It was wonderfull to feel free in this enclave.

[@JacekBorowski-Lubowicz]

As far as I am concerned, the shooting in autumn gave special feel to your video, so for me it was even more climatic than shown during plain sunshine. So thanks for another interesting video!

[@prieten49]

Das war faszinierend. Vielen Dank.

[@caingreenberg4023]

Very interesting.

[@davidstrohl]

Another amazing video! Despite having lived in West Berlin during the waning days of the GDR and Reunification, I find myself learning so much new information about the country through your videos. I was familiar with this exclave only in that it existed, not of it’s history or use by the GDR. I had more familiarity with Steinstücken, the West Berlin exclave because of friends who were stationed there by the US Army during the Cold War and the stories they told about it. You’re a unique voice on the subject of GDR history for English speakers online, and I’ve enjoyed all of your videos to date. 👍

[@AJGeeTV]

Super interesting video. Back in January 1990, I took the double-decker bus to Wannsee which terminated at the Gleinicke Brücke, then walked back to the wall which was just in the trees from the main road. It was made from breakable horizontal sections I remember, and I could get inside the 'Death Strip' which was really narrow as I walked the length, only to be stopped by DDR Grenztruppen in a military Trabi. They only told me to go back because it was dangerous.

[@flitsertheo]

I wonder why it was considered dangerous. In the 1980s the East-Germans tried to make the Berlin Wall look more acceptable, "friendlier". There were cosmetic changes such as disguising concrete road blocks as flowerbeds but also removing the last Selbstschussanlage in 1984. The Berlin Wall had never been mined either as anyone blowing up on a mine would certainly not go unnoticed on the western side.

[@kevinkoster4543]

Thank you once again. Your channel brings so many interesting details and facts that I didn’t know before. Keep up the good work!

[@cannondale514]

A most interesting video- very well researched.

[@richardruda369]

Thank you for the wonderful, bittersweet history. Today the Village is both very beautiful and a painful reminder of the difficult lives of so many people in the DDR.

[@ChineseKiwi]

Those escape stories…. Wow.

[@EmilePoelman]

You deserve every like you get! Real quality content on a fascinating history!

[@peterpeterholt]

Another very interesting and well-researched video. Thank you for your dedication to this fascinating period of German history.

[@AlexHalt100]

always nice to see people discover the history of places you grew up in.

[@viniciussantana3383]

I really enjoyed this video! That's one more place that I want to visit when I travel to Germany someday! Thanks for this video!

[@hk53nld]

Always a pleasure to see the notification popup that's a new video 👍🏻

[@tdb7992]

Great video my friend. I really enjoy your uploads. 😊

[@frederikvanstolk5815]

Underrated channel

[@clazy8]

Your videos are terrific

[@tschibasch]

Excellent presentation, as always. A+

[@bobelliott2748]

Thank you for posting this. Very interesting

[@Veritas419]

Another excellent video!

[@MyLateralThawts]

I first came to West Berlin at the tender age of eight years old from Canada in 1970, staying until 1975. I was astonished to be told about the Berlin Wall and spent the years trying to figure out how we ever came to that, as every answer only raised further questions. I remember climbing the outer wall in Kreuzberg, taunting the East German border guards and calling them names. I wonder if they ever wrote a report on that annoying kid who kept making a nuisance of himself. Who knows, maybe there’s a picture or two in the border guard archives.

[@89volvowithlazers]

Thanks very cool video very well done

[@evelk5233]

Great as usual!

[@ned900]

Excellent thank you

[@IchimokuCloud]

So interesting!. I visited Glienicker Bridge last year and did not know about this place, so missed it. But I will go again. I did see some of the memorials around Sacrow for people that tried and failed to swim to freedom. The area there around Pottsdam is so beautiful.

[@glennwillems9924]

Interessante video's. Dank!

[@molliebov2082]

Your videos are the best

[@annehersey9895]

What a gorgeous area! Absolutely beautiful. That might have been a good place to live during the GDR if only how easy it would be to tell if you were being followed! Other than that I can see how difficult it would be!

[@john07973]

Good stuff 👍

[@freundschaft870]

An interesting idea you can make a video about is on the immigration from other socialist countries into the GDR and their lives. I remember there was a high amount of Vietnamese. Just an idea, many thanks for your great videos!

[@mootpointjones8488]

Interesting! I've subscribed 👍

[@ohayes86]

Fantastic video and channel thank you! Any chance you could do a video on Robotron? I’ve always been fascinated by this company and it’s high technology products

[@Ah01]

Your videos are pure platinum. Only problems are that they could be longer and come out more often. 😊

[@cropstar]

I enjoyed that, very good. Yor video's a great and a really good watch. Thanks for your time and effort. Berlin is one of favorite places, from my first viists in the 90's to now (I'm 50 now, how did that happen?)

[@mabbrey]

lovely little church

[@KomradZX1989]

I’m curious on the thoughts of the average East German when it comes to the fascist regime of the 1930’s and 40’s and then the communist regime of the Cold War. What I mean is, having lived thru two very totalitarian systems, did the Germans who experienced both regimes see the DDR as just another authoritarian dictatorship with the only real differences being the propaganda they put out, leading towards widespread apathy towards the state they lived in? Or did citizens of the DDR truly believe their state waa nothing like the fascists of the 30’s and 40’s? Having a hard time phrasing the question I have in my mind, but I’d be interested to know if Germans truly thought the DDR was separate from the Nazi regime or did they just see it as a continuation of the dictatorship, just with new window dressing, so to speak?

[@hahahaha5444]

I really like your questions. Many Germans are struggling with the concept of the GDR because it was a dictatorship but in some aspects its different than third reich. The third reich is mostly associated with one dictator, a horrible war, genocide and damages in architecture, culture and reputation of Germany. The GDR wasn't led by one dictator, it was a fishy group of old men, they even managed to rebuild some parts. In the early days of the GDR there were some hints that it is not a democratic country, they looked up to Dtalin, the 17th June,.... People who were considered "evil" were punished with mental tricks. It wasn't that obvious and the government actively suppressed talking with a help of a psychological warfare. I have spent my whole life in a part of former West Germany, the majority only knows about the deadly wall. They don't really care und they don't want to change that. It gruesome for the future of Germany

[@craiggaulzetti2255]

Most of the leadership of the DDR were in concentration camps or living abroad actively fighting and agitating against fascism during the third reich. The two states were diametrically opposed in every way. The DDR’s “propaganda” talked about egalitarianism, equality for all people including women, minorities, Jews, foreigners etc. East Germany didn’t do a de-nazification where it educated its citizens and children about the terrible things “Germany” did- they instead taught their citizens about the fight and struggle of anti-fascjsts against Hitler- a coalition which defeated Fascism after so many lives lost- a coalition in which the German Communists played an important roll. No one in east germany saw similarities between the regime that encouraged kristallnacht and murdered six million Jews - and the regime that was made up almost entirely by the few German Jews, Union Members, Communists, and Socialists who somehow managed to escape from getting murdered by the Nazis. East German propaganda was all about agitating against war and for peace, against racism and antisemitism and for equality. It also raged against the military industrial complex and the corporations and rich capitalists who fueled hitler’s war machine and saw no issue using slave labor and violent take overs of other countries’ resources to make more profit. Comparing the DDR to Nazi Germany and seeing similarities is moronic. You’ll be hard pressed to find any true anti-fascist who doesn’t have at least a grudging sense of respect and admiration for the German Communists and their work. Likewise, any apologist for Naziism is without question a violent opponent and full of visceral hatred towards the East German experiment which right wing Germans still view as a project conceived by and ultimately under the tutelage of Jews, Russians, and other “foreign” elements.

[@rudiegotbetter8730]

​@@craiggaulzetti2255it was however a centrally managed economy controlled by a party. There was persecution of dissent and genuine socialists were not permitted.

[@greyfells2829]

​@@craiggaulzetti2255it was part of the Soviet machine, it was part of a military industrial complex painted red instead of black. to say there were no similarities is tankie cope. it was an evil regime. Less evil than the Nazis, for certain, but still evil.

[@zymelin21]

@@craiggaulzetti2255 and you dare to talk about equality. the red princes aka the leadership had their own enclaves (Wandlitz) only west consumer goods in the fridge, western medicine bought at an apothek in West Berlin (daily run by Stasi) etc. etc. The germans are a disciplined people (east and west) thus there was no stasi-man hanging from every lamp post in Karl Marx Allee ( and it is looong). And most of the lower cadre of Nazis (blockwärte end such) just changed their cap badge and it was business as usual. Remember Generalfieldmarshal Paulus He came back to Dresden, and was in charge of organising the NVA. An d when you talk about "slave labor", where do you think IKEA got their stuff made?? East german prisons!!

[@michaelkrochmann7239]

Rode around there in '60 and '70 on my bicycle. Always wondered whats on the on the other side of the fence...

[@jachymhr]

now it look like a really nice place to live

[@efnissien]

I'd wondered about this when I tried tracing the Wall on google maps - strangely, I didn't think about the logistics of the enclave. Something which, thanks to your video, I am now. For example power, water, sewerage - were they routed to the GDR or via the west?

[@kidmohair8151]

Klein Glienicke looks like a very wealthy place. charming, but slightly too tidy. soignée, as the french say.

[@harryhole5786]

ein krankes System !

[@michaelfischer5800]

Exclaves and Enclaves are preciselly defined. When there is "only one access road", it can`t be an exclave.

[@ignacioignogrundinglestheg9089]

Looking at a map of Berlin I found a similar exclave of West-Berlin not far from Klein Glienicke only accessible by one road, I wonder if there are any interesting stories about this place

[@finlayfraser9952]

Hello, thank you, very interesting. Where is the "House by the Lake" as described by Thomas Harding in his book? I can't locate it on Google Maps, I understand that it is a community centre today.

[@JS-wg1qy]

Das ist ein sehr guter Kanal. Können Sie einen Film über die Tunnel machen, die zur Flucht gebaut wurden?

[@sergicb1533]

I missed a context map to see where is located the enclave. It's easier to imagine about what are we talking about if we see the context.

[@eastgermanyinvestigated]

Good point.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

Bottom south west corner, very close to the more famous Gleinicke Bridge

[@Gusararr]

I have one off topic question. Last summer I went to Berlin as a foreign exchange student and I was surprised by the number of those red/white construction fences everywhere. This moment 3:50 reminds me of my stay there. So my question is, why is Berlin filled with them? :)

[@derwolff2905]

Gusararr The infrastructure is completely dilapidated. 😮 So we need a lot of construction fences. 🙈🙄

[@alanrogs3990]

I recall seeing a video or reading about a small town that was on the east side of the Elbe (perhaps another river, I don't recall) but was West German territory. Do know what town I am referring to?

[@cehaem2]

Neuhaus/Elbe was transferred to the Soviet zone in 1945 as there was no bridge across the Elbe connecting it with the British Zone, in 1993 it came back to Niedersachsen. There were no exclaves on the other side of the river.

[@peterbrown6224]

Can I ask, what measures were taken against the families of escapees? Monitoring, obviously, but other forms of punishment? Were these proclaimed in the DDR constitution? I am not a native German speaker, though I'm okay at it. Were they framed as "taking such measures as necessary to preserve the safety and security of the State as seen fit"? Thank you again for this fascinating journey.

[@derwolff2905]

Peter Brown The Secret Service came to you or took you with them. They made interrogations - did you know? Could you know? Why didn't you made a report to the police? If you work in an important Job (Police, Teacher, Government) you may lost your Job and had to work in a factory, coal mine or whatever. In fact you have no fun anymore in your life. Greetings

[@derwolff2905]

And yes: additional monitoring and obviously of you, your friends, your Family and your collegues at work. May be that your friends are no longer your friends, because they were afraid of your total surveillance.

[@peterbrown6224]

@@derwolff2905 Thank you. They did scare me enough in the DDR when I visited East Berlin just the once 🙂

[@derwolff2905]

@@peterbrown6224 So be glad it's over. 🤗. I am happy to be able to travel freely 😊👍🏻

[@thermionic1234567]

I spent a hellacious ten days in East Germany in 1986. It was dirty and perhaps the most-polluted place I’d ever been to.

[@murfnturf23]

Can you expand on this?

[@thermionic1234567]

@@murfnturf23It was a school trip to “Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR” (hope you got the joke), Weimar, Dresden, Wittenberg, die Sachsische Schweitz, Sans Sousi. Food was bad and beer was worse. The air was a brownish-grayish-green and huge numbers of people were in uniform - and we actually saw a platoon of soldiers goosestepping. The worst part was the constant surveillance (as well as the perception one was being constantly surveilled). I’ll have to go and downgrade that now that we all live in a digital panopticon.