East Berlin 1979. The frontage of the Palast der Republik, the seat of government of the DDR. The massive communist symbol of the state seen here was the first thing to disappear when the East German Communist party (SED) lost power in 1990. It was never officially abolished, apparently, just forgotten about once Germany reunited.
info from Wikipedia
East Berlin, a view towards Friedrichstraße and the Weidendammer Brücke in 1979. The old Friedrichstadt-Palast, a popular show-venue, can be seen extreme left. One year later from this photograph, it was closed down due to a poor safety report on the building’s foundations.
East Berlin 1979. The Berliner Dom under scaffolding. Taken with my little Russian ‘SMENA’ camera with the bad viewfinder. As so often with this camera, it is sharp but misframed. I suppose I should have tested it out before using it on something important.
East Berlin Friedrichstraße Bahnhof in February 1979. I was using a little Russian camera called a “SMENA’ in East Berlin, as I was scared to take my good equipment into the ‘Russian Zone’. The lens on the SMENA was sharp, but the viewfinder was terrible, hence the random framing, with way too much sky.
East Berlin Weidendammer Brücke 1979. Friedrichstraße Bahnhof centre right, with the ‘Tränenpalast’ visible above the moored boats. There’s a Stasi on the bridge staring at me, you may notice.
Berlin, the Reichstag building, February 1979. The Berlin Wall can be seen passing behind on the lower right.
Berlin March 1979. Kurfürstendamm. One of the first pictures I took on my first trip to Berlin. Three gentlemen chatting, each with a different hat on, is probably what took my attention here.
I think we should step away from the memes for a bit to look at these historical images from World War II, circa 1940. The Nazis were a cruel, cruel people.
