this page is preliminary. As the ongoing reunifcation is. It's a small storybook and you have to discover a lot of the signs in it yourself. It's a snapshot, taken yesterday.
These pictures are from a trip with some 10 other folks that we did sometime in 1989, the formal reunification was not even close to being achieved but one could cross the border without paperwork. The journey took us via Eisenach, Weimar, Leipzig and Dresden. We basically got in our cars and drove there without any further planning but just our curiousity to see more and deeper, move freely without the fear of being arrested. Most of the picture below are from around Weimar, which just made the deepest impression on me personally. However we met incredible people all along our way, were invited to stay in dorms and occupied houses, found the sights and clubs in Dresden, where I returned two or three times after this first expedition.
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The border
The white landmark with the red insignia of the GDR marks the point of no return. Lights above road help to see everything, fences are everywhere and you know that there will be more and more of these to come. But the border patrol build during the totalistic GDR regime has lost its teeth and would not even check our papers. |
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Weimar this is the town of the German classic, Goethe lived here and was meeting Schiller, as well as a lot of world famous musicians and composers. Today its a rather quite place, this is a view from the balcony of the famous Weimarer theater. The monument in front of the theater shows Goethe and Schiller exchanging a laurel wreath. Who give the laurels to whom has been a long debate ... |
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Around the corner:
The monetary union and the new washer As an irony of the history people got a cottonmouth from products sold in West Germany, against West German Deutsche Mark of course. And that's what Chancelor Kohl promised them. The display says "Exhibit -- buy after the monetary union", As a matter of fact, a lot of washers sold in West Germany during the cold war were produced in East Germany. The shop was some 200 feet away from the balcony of the Weimar theatre. |
| These guys are different ....
This is really a big question, what kind of impact do 40 years of different development have on people ? Folks are different, but how much, And does it matter ? Let's talk !
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The common history
As close as all the places you have seen above are together, just within direct eyesight of the classic towncemter of Weimer is a place that is associated with the worst horrors of the naziregime. Is there a relation between these places ? Is it just an historic accident without any meaning? Why is this place in such a beautiful scenery? Why, why, why ? |
