From then on West Berlin turned into an 'electricity island' within a pan-European electricity grid that had developed from the 1920s, because electricity transfers between East and West Germany never fully ceased.
The territory of Germany, as it existed in 1937, would be reduced by most of Eastern Germany thus creating the former eastern territories of Germany.
It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945.
Another amendment was added in 1945 at the border between the British sector of Berlin (ceding West-Staaken) and the Soviet zone (ceding the Seeburg Salient) so that the Wehrmacht airfield at Berlin-Gatow became part of the British sector and the airfield at Berlin-Staaken became part of the Soviet sector.
One railway connection between West Berlin and Oebisfelde (E)/Wolfsburg (W) was reserved for freight trains only. In July and August 1945, the three Western Allies and the Soviet Union decided that the railways, previously serviced by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Reich Railways), should continue to be operated by one railway administration to service all four sectors.
Finally, the Reichsbahn agreed to surrender operation of the S-Bahn in West Berlin, as had been determined by all Allies in 1945, and on 29 December 1983 the Allies, the Senate of Berlin (West; i.e.
In 1948, the Soviets tried to force the Western Allies out of Berlin by imposing a land blockade on the western sectors—the Berlin Blockade.
Therefore, all inhabitants of Staaken could vote in West Berlin's city state elections in 1948 and 1950.
On 4 July 1948, British European Airways opened the first regular service for civilians between West Berlin and Hamburg.
Until 1961, East Germany sparsely issued permits to West Berliners to visit the cemeteries on the Catholic feast of All Saints on 1 November and on the Protestant Day of Repentance and Prayer. In 1948–1952, the Reichsbahn connected the western suburbs of West Berlin to its S-Bahn network.
Gradually the eastern authorities disconnected and separated the two parts of the city. While the Soviets blocked all transport to West Berlin (Berlin Blockade between 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949), they increased food supplies in East Berlin in order to gain the compliance of West Berliners who at that time still had free access to East Berlin.
This was so in East Berlin until the Communist putsch in Berlin's city government in September 1948 – the unitary City Council of Greater Berlin (link=no|Magistrat von Groß Berlin) for East and West. By July 1948 a mere 19,000 West Berliners out of a total of almost 2 million covered their food requirements in East Berlin.
In West Germany rationing of most products ended with the introduction of the Western Deutsche Mark on 21 June 1948.
For this reason, on 9 November 1948, they opened checkpoints on 70 streets entering West Berlin and closed the others for horse carriages, lorries and cars, later (16 March 1949) the Soviets erected roadblocks on the closed streets.
From 15 November 1948, West Berlin ration stamps were no longer accepted in East Berlin.
Although no specific date on which the sectors of Berlin occupied by the Western Allies became "West Berlin", 1949 is widely accepted as when the name was adopted.
In May 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade, and West Berlin as a separate city with its own jurisdiction was maintained. Following the Berlin Blockade, normal contacts between East and West Berlin resumed.
However, the culmination of the schism did not occur until 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall. ==Legal status== From the legal theory followed by the Western Allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) on 23 May and of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) on 7 October.
In their notification of permission of 12 May 1949 the three western military governors for Germany explained their proviso in No.
After the founding of East Germany on 7 October 1949 it gained responsibility for the Reichsbahn in its territory.
Gradually the eastern authorities disconnected and separated the two parts of the city. While the Soviets blocked all transport to West Berlin (Berlin Blockade between 24 June 1948 to 12 May 1949), they increased food supplies in East Berlin in order to gain the compliance of West Berliners who at that time still had free access to East Berlin.
For this reason, on 9 November 1948, they opened checkpoints on 70 streets entering West Berlin and closed the others for horse carriages, lorries and cars, later (16 March 1949) the Soviets erected roadblocks on the closed streets.
In the East, however, the Soviets had arbitrarily decreed a rate of 1 for 1 and exchanging at other rates was criminalised. On 12 May 1949, the Blockade ended and all roadblocks and checkpoints between East and West Berlin were removed.
The Berlin Airlift, however, continued until 30 September 1949 in order to build up supplies in West Berlin (the so-called Senate Reserve), in readiness for another possible blockade, thus ensuring that an airlift could then be restarted with ease.
On 2 May 1949 power stations in East Berlin started again to supply West Berlin with sufficient electricity.
On 1 December 1949 the new powerhouse West (link=no|Kraftwerk West, in 1953 renamed after the former Governing Mayor of West Berlin into Kraftwerk Reuter West) went online and West Berlin's electricity board declared independence from Eastern supplies.
1974. ==References== ==External links== Berlin 1969 in the forgotten midpoint of the Cold War...twenty years after the Berlin Blockade...twenty years before the fall of the Berlin Wall Berlin Exclaves History of the Western Allies in Berlin City-states Berlin, West Former enclaves Former republics States and territories established in 1949 West Germany 1949 establishments in West Germany 1990 disestablishments in West Germany
Hence, the Basic Law was not fully applicable to West Berlin. On 4 August 1950, the House of Representatives, the city's legislature, passed a new constitution, declaring Berlin to be a state of the Federal Republic and the provisions of the Basic Law as binding law superior to Berlin state law (Article 1, clauses 2 and 3).
Therefore, all inhabitants of Staaken could vote in West Berlin's city state elections in 1948 and 1950.
On 4 June 1972, West Berlin's public transport operator BVG could open its first bus line into the East German suburbs since 1950 (line E to Potsdam via Checkpoint Bravo as it was known to the US military).
Supply was interrupted from 1 July until the end of 1950 and then started again until 4 March 1952, when the East finally switched it off.
On 1 February 1951, East German Volkspolizei surprised the people of western Staaken by occupying the area and ended its administration by the Spandau Borough; instead, western Staaken became an exclave of the Soviet occupied borough Berlin-Mitte in the city centre.
Western coaches could stop only at dedicated service areas since the East German government was concerned that East Germans might potentially use coaches to escape into the West. On 1 September 1951 East Germany, because of a shortage in foreign currencies, started to levy road tolls on cars using the transit routes.
On 28 August 1951, trains usually serving Berlin Lehrter Bahnhof were redirected to stations in East Berlin, while trains from West Germany were redirected to the Western Berlin Zoologischer Garten.
The Reichsbahn also closed down both Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof and Berlin Nordbahnhof, on 18 May 1952. On 28 August 1951, the Reichsbahn opened a new connection – from Spandau via Berlin Jungfernheide station – for the S-Bahn lines connecting East German suburbs to the west of West Berlin (namely Falkensee, Staaken) with East Berlin, thus circumventing the centre of West Berlin.
On 4 June 1954, the Bahnhof Hennigsdorf Süd station located next to West Berlin was opened solely for border controls, also to monitor West Berliners entering or leaving East Berlin, which they could still do freely, while they were not allowed to cross into East Germany proper without a special permit. In 1951, the Reichsbahn began construction work on the Berlin outer-circle railway line.
In 1952, the East German government began sealing its borders, further isolating West Berlin.
However, on 1 June 1952, western Staaken's de facto administration was placed with neighbouring East German Falkensee in the East German district Nauen.
Until 1952, the Reichsbahn also permitted stops at other stations on the way through the Western sectors.
On 27 May 1952, East Germany closed its border with West Germany and its -long border with West Berlin.
The Reichsbahn also closed down both Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof and Berlin Nordbahnhof, on 18 May 1952. On 28 August 1951, the Reichsbahn opened a new connection – from Spandau via Berlin Jungfernheide station – for the S-Bahn lines connecting East German suburbs to the west of West Berlin (namely Falkensee, Staaken) with East Berlin, thus circumventing the centre of West Berlin.
Supply was interrupted from 1 July until the end of 1950 and then started again until 4 March 1952, when the East finally switched it off.
The 'electricity island' situation was noticed most in situations of particularly high demand; in other areas of Europe peaks in demand could be met by tapping into electricity supplies from neighbouring areas, but in West Berlin this was not an option and for certain users the lights would go out. In 1952 West Berliners were restricted entry to East Germany proper by means of a hard-to-obtain East German permit.
East Germany closed the borders between East and West Germany and sealed off the border with West Berlin in 1952; but because of the quadripartite Allied status of the city, the -long sectorial border between East and West Berlin remained open.
The last checkpoint to remain open was located at the Glienicker Brücke near Potsdam, until it was also closed by East Germany on 3 July 1953.
In June 1953, the Reichsbahn further cut off West Berlin from its East German suburbs by the introduction of additional express S-Bahn trains (link=no|Durchläufer).
From 17 June to 9 July 1953, East Germany blocked off any traffic between East and West due to the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany. From 4 October 1953, all S-Bahn trains crossing the border between East Germany and Berlin had to pass a border checkpoint in East Germany.
On 1 December 1949 the new powerhouse West (link=no|Kraftwerk West, in 1953 renamed after the former Governing Mayor of West Berlin into Kraftwerk Reuter West) went online and West Berlin's electricity board declared independence from Eastern supplies.
However, the East continuously reduced the means of public transport between East and West, with private cars being a very rare privilege in the East and still a luxury in the West. Starting on 15 January 1953 the tram network was interrupted.
On 4 June 1954, the Bahnhof Hennigsdorf Süd station located next to West Berlin was opened solely for border controls, also to monitor West Berliners entering or leaving East Berlin, which they could still do freely, while they were not allowed to cross into East Germany proper without a special permit. In 1951, the Reichsbahn began construction work on the Berlin outer-circle railway line.
On 30 March 1955, East Germany raised the toll for passenger cars to 30 Deutsche Marks, but after West German protests, in June of the same year, it changed it back to the previous rate.
With the completion of the outer-circle railway, there was no further need for express S-Bahn trains crossing the West Berlin border and thus their service ended on 4 May 1958, while stopping S-Bahn trains continued service.
However, for countries which did not require stamped visas for entry, including Switzerland, Austria, and many members of the then European Economic Community, including the United Kingdom, West Berlin identity cards were also acceptable for entry. Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s.
This was the case between 29 August and 1 September 1960, when ex-prisoners of war and deportees, homecomers (link=no|Heimkehrer), from all around West Germany and West Berlin met for a convention in that city.
From 8 September 1960 on, the East subjected all West Germans to apply for a permit before entering East Berlin. As the communist government in the East gained tighter control, and the economic recovery in the West significantly outperformed the East, more than a hundred thousand East Germans and East Berliners left East Germany and East Berlin for the West every year.
The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically separated West Berlin from its East Berlin and East German surroundings until it fell in 1989.
However, the culmination of the schism did not occur until 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall. ==Legal status== From the legal theory followed by the Western Allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) on 23 May and of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) on 7 October.
Starting from 31 May 1961, East Berlin was officially called Berlin, Hauptstadt der DDR (Berlin, Capital of the GDR), replacing the formerly used term Demokratisches Berlin, or simply "Berlin", by East Germany, and "Berlin (Ost)" by the West German Federal government.
These different naming conventions for the divided parts of Berlin, when followed by individuals, governments, or media, commonly indicated their political leanings, with the centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung using "Ost-Berlin" and the centre-left Süddeutsche Zeitung using "Ostberlin". ==Period following the building of the Berlin Wall== After the Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961, West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer suggested to U.S.
Until 1961, East Germany sparsely issued permits to West Berliners to visit the cemeteries on the Catholic feast of All Saints on 1 November and on the Protestant Day of Repentance and Prayer. In 1948–1952, the Reichsbahn connected the western suburbs of West Berlin to its S-Bahn network.
With the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, any remaining railway traffic between West Berlin and its East German suburbs ended.
However, international visitors could obtain visas for East Berlin upon crossing one of the checkpoints at the Wall. Following the policy of détente of the Federal Government under Chancellor Willy Brandt, West Berliners could again apply for visas to visit East Germany, which were granted more freely than in the period until 1961.
Free entry to East Berlin remained possible until 1961 and the building of the Wall.
As there was freedom of movement between West Berlin and West Germany, Easterners could use the city as a transit point to West Germany, usually travelling there by air. To stop this drain of people defecting, the East German government built the Berlin Wall, thus physically closing off West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany, on 13 August 1961.
On 14 August, under the pretext that Western demonstrations required it, the East closed the checkpoint at the Brandenburg Gate 'until further notice', a situation that was to last until 22 December 1989, when it was finally reopened. On 26 August 1961 East Germany generally banned West Berliners from entering the Eastern sector.
Eastern controls were slowly eased into spot checks and finally abolished on 30 June 1990, the day East and West introduced the union concerning currency, economy and social security (Währungs-, Wirtschafts- und Sozialunion). ===Traffic between different parts of West Berlin crossing the East=== When the Wall was built in 1961, three metro lines starting in northern parts of West Berlin passed through tunnels under the Eastern city centre and ended again in southern parts of West Berlin.
Passengers of these trains experienced the empty and barely lit ghost stations where time had stood still since 13 August 1961.
A tripartite planning group known as LIVE OAK, working together with NATO, was entrusted with potential military responses to any crisis. On 26 June 1963, President Kennedy visited West Berlin.
Until June 1963 the East deepened its border zone around West Berlin in East Germany and East Berlin by clearing existing buildings and vegetation to create an open field of view, sealed off by the Berlin Wall towards the West and a second wall or fence of similar characteristics to the East, observed by armed men in towers, with orders to shoot at escapees. Finally, in 1963, West Berliners were again allowed to visit East Berlin.
West Berliners were granted visas for a one-day visit between 17 December 1963 and 5 January the following year.
In 1964, 1965, and 1966 East Berlin was opened again to West Berliners, but each time only for a limited period. East Germany assigned different legal statuses to East Germans, East Berliners, West Germans, and West Berliners, as well as citizens from other countries in the world.
Until 1990 East Germany designated each Border crossings in East Berlin for certain categories of persons, with only one street checkpoint being open simultaneously for West Berliners and West Germans (Bornholmer Straße) and Berlin Friedrichstraße railway station being open for all travellers. On 9 September 1964, the East German Council of Ministers (government) decided to allow Eastern pensioners to visit family in West Germany or West Berlin.
In 1964, 1965, and 1966 East Berlin was opened again to West Berliners, but each time only for a limited period. East Germany assigned different legal statuses to East Germans, East Berliners, West Germans, and West Berliners, as well as citizens from other countries in the world.
The following year, 1965, East Germany opened the travelling season for West Berliners on 18 December.
In 1964, 1965, and 1966 East Berlin was opened again to West Berliners, but each time only for a limited period. East Germany assigned different legal statuses to East Germans, East Berliners, West Germans, and West Berliners, as well as citizens from other countries in the world.
In 1966 it opened for a second harvest of Western money between the Easter (10 April) and Pentecost (29 May) holidays and later again at Christmas. The situation only changed fundamentally after 11 December 1971 when, representing the two German states, Egon Bahr from the West and Michael Kohl from the East signed the Transit Agreement.
On 2 October 1967, six years after the Wall was constructed, tram tracks in West Berlin were lifted because the authorities wanted to promote car usage, meaning that the tram system remaining today runs almost entirely within the former East Berlin. ===Road traffic=== There were no dedicated walled-off-road corridors between West Germany and West Berlin under West German jurisdiction, and travellers needed to pass through East Germany.
From 11 June 1968, East Germany made it mandatory that West Berlin and West German "transit passengers" obtain a transit visa, issued upon entering East Germany, because under its second constitution East Germany considered West Germans and West Berliners foreigners.
East Berlin's public transport operator Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG-East, BVB as of 1 January 1969) staffed all trams, whose lines crossed the sectorial border, with women drivers, who were not permitted as drivers by the BVG (West), West Berlin's public transport operator.
1974. ==References== ==External links== Berlin 1969 in the forgotten midpoint of the Cold War...twenty years after the Berlin Blockade...twenty years before the fall of the Berlin Wall Berlin Exclaves History of the Western Allies in Berlin City-states Berlin, West Former enclaves Former republics States and territories established in 1949 West Germany 1949 establishments in West Germany 1990 disestablishments in West Germany
However, for countries which did not require stamped visas for entry, including Switzerland, Austria, and many members of the then European Economic Community, including the United Kingdom, West Berlin identity cards were also acceptable for entry. Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1966 it opened for a second harvest of Western money between the Easter (10 April) and Pentecost (29 May) holidays and later again at Christmas. The situation only changed fundamentally after 11 December 1971 when, representing the two German states, Egon Bahr from the West and Michael Kohl from the East signed the Transit Agreement.
On 4 June 1972, West Berlin's public transport operator BVG could open its first bus line into the East German suburbs since 1950 (line E to Potsdam via Checkpoint Bravo as it was known to the US military).
This was followed by a similar agreement for West Berliners, once more allowing regular visits to East Germany and East Berlin. After ratification of the Agreement and specifying the relevant regulations, West Berliners could apply for the first time again for visas for any chosen date to East Berlin or East Germany from 3 October 1972 onwards.
This financial relief did not last long, because on 15 November 1973 East Germany doubled the compulsory exchange to 10 Eastern marks, payable in West German Deutsche Marks at par. One-day visas for East Berlin were now issued in a quickened procedure; visas for longer stays and visas for East Germany proper needed a prior application, which could be a lengthy procedure.
On 11 December 1974 East Germany and West Berlin's garbage utility company BSR signed a contract to dispose of refuse on a dump right beside the Wall in East German Groß-Ziethen (today a part of Schönefeld).
After easing of tensions between East and West Germany, starting on 30 May 1976 transit trains going westwards, southwestwards, or southwards stopped once again at Wannsee.
For transit trains going northwestwards, a shorter line was reopened on 26 September 1976 with an additional stop at the then Berlin-Spandau railway station, entering East Germany at Staaken. Many Reichsbahn employees working in West Berlin were West Berliners.
In addition, when the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held in 1979, West Berlin's three members were instead indirectly elected by the House of Representatives. However, as West German citizens, West Berliners were able to stand for election in West Germany.
Two such towers were built, one antenna in Berlin-Wannsee and later a second in Berlin-Frohnau, finished on 16 May 1980 with a height of .
On 20 November 1981, East Germany reopened the western entrance, which required two more vessel border checkpoints – Dreilinden and Kleinmachnow – because the waterway crossed the border between East Germany and West Berlin four times.
These were replaced on 20 November 1982 by a new autobahn crossing at Zarrentin (E)/Gudow (W).
Finally, the Reichsbahn agreed to surrender operation of the S-Bahn in West Berlin, as had been determined by all Allies in 1945, and on 29 December 1983 the Allies, the Senate of Berlin (West; i.e.
the city state government) and the Reichsbahn signed an agreement to change the operator from Reichsbahn to BVG (West) which took effect on 9 January 1984. On 9 November 1989 East Germany opened the borders for East Germans and East Berliners, who could then freely enter West Berlin.
While many restrictions remained in place, it also made it easier for West Berliners to travel to East Germany and it simplified the regulations for Germans travelling along the autobahn transit routes. At the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, U.S.
On 1 January 1988, the new Stolpe checkpoint opened on this route to West Berlin.
The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically separated West Berlin from its East Berlin and East German surroundings until it fell in 1989.
Gorbachev, tear down this wall! On 9 November 1989, the Wall was opened, and the two parts of the city were once again physically—though at this point not legally—united.
On 14 August, under the pretext that Western demonstrations required it, the East closed the checkpoint at the Brandenburg Gate 'until further notice', a situation that was to last until 22 December 1989, when it was finally reopened. On 26 August 1961 East Germany generally banned West Berliners from entering the Eastern sector.
the city state government) and the Reichsbahn signed an agreement to change the operator from Reichsbahn to BVG (West) which took effect on 9 January 1984. On 9 November 1989 East Germany opened the borders for East Germans and East Berliners, who could then freely enter West Berlin.
The regulation concerning one-day-visas on entering the East and the compulsory minimum exchange of 25 Western Deutsche Marks by 1989, continued.
Finally, on 22 December 1989, East Germany granted West Berliners and West Germans free entry without charge at the existing checkpoints, demanding only valid papers.
On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was officially reunified, East and West Berlin formally reunited, joined the Federal Republic as a city-state and, eventually, once again became the capital of Germany. ==Origins== The Potsdam Agreement established the legal framework for the occupation of Germany in the wake of World War II.
1, clauses 2 and 3, were deferred for the time being; the clauses became valid law only on 3 October 1990 (the day of Germany's unification).
However, this wording remained on the visas throughout the rest of the entire period of West Berlin's existence. West Berlin remained under military occupation until 3 October 1990, the day of unification of East Germany, East and West Berlin with Federal Republic of Germany.
On 3 October 1990—the day Germany was officially reunified—East and West Berlin formally reunited as the city of Berlin, which then joined the enlarged Federal Republic as a city-state along the lines of the existing West German city-states of Bremen and Hamburg.
This situation was undone on 3 October 1990, the day of German unification, when western Staaken was reincorporated into united Berlin. ==Post and telecommunications== West Berlin had its own postal administration first called Deutsche Post Berlin (1947–1955) and then Deutsche Bundespost Berlin, separate from West Germany's Deutsche Bundespost, and issuing its own postage stamps until 1990.
Until 1990 East Germany designated each Border crossings in East Berlin for certain categories of persons, with only one street checkpoint being open simultaneously for West Berliners and West Germans (Bornholmer Straße) and Berlin Friedrichstraße railway station being open for all travellers. On 9 September 1964, the East German Council of Ministers (government) decided to allow Eastern pensioners to visit family in West Germany or West Berlin.
Eastern controls were slowly eased into spot checks and finally abolished on 30 June 1990, the day East and West introduced the union concerning currency, economy and social security (Währungs-, Wirtschafts- und Sozialunion). ===Traffic between different parts of West Berlin crossing the East=== When the Wall was built in 1961, three metro lines starting in northern parts of West Berlin passed through tunnels under the Eastern city centre and ended again in southern parts of West Berlin.
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