chronicles

susanne BuddenBerg / Thomas henseler

avant-verlag

The comic book “Berlin – a city divided” is based on actual events.

With the support of

The Federal Foundation for the reappraisel of the sed dictatorship

scenario and gray tones: susanne Buddenberg

scenario and drawings: Thomas henseler

Zoom und Tinte Buddenberg und henseler gbr

editor: markus Pieper

historical texts: dr. christian halbrock

historical consultant: dr. maria nooke – Berlin Wall memorial

english translation: rick minnich

Typesetting and graphic design: andreas rupprecht

Photos 1986/1987: detlef matthes

Photos 2012: anna schmelz

Publisher: Johann ulrich

avant-verlag / rodenbergstrasse 9 / 10439 Berlin

info@avant-verlag.de

isBn 978-3-939080-75-6

First edition

all rights reserved

Find out more about our books and

how to order them at www.avant-verlag.de

regina ZyWieTZ: how the Wall nearly Put an end to my high school career — 7

ursula malchoW: The hospital by the Wall — 25

The holZaPFel Family: Ziplining over the Wall — 41

deTleF maTThes: The other side — 59

Jan hildeBrandT: my 18th Birthday — 79

Table of contents

S-Bahn ticket to West Berlin from August 16, 1961

7

East Berlin, Friedrichstrasse Railway Station, August 16, 1961

regina Zywietz (19). The East Berliner goes to high school in the West and will be taking her finals soon.

Meeting my teachers who want to help me flee to

West Berlin.

dr. wellmer

dr. rintelen

mr. münzel

But the borders have been closed for the past 4 days.

[Banner on train station: Neues Deutschland proclaims: A Dark Day for Warmongers]

regina ZyWieTZ: how the Wall nearly Put an end to my high school career

bullet 7.62 x 39 mm caliber

25

west berlin, late-summer 1961:The Lazarus Hospital at

bernauer strasse 114-118

We’ve been living and working here since 1958.

ursula malchoW: The hospital by the Wall

My husband GÜNTER works as

a male nurse.

I bring the patients their meals.

26

We live with our children on the mezzanine floor next to the emergency room.

Across the street begins East Berlin, another country, the GDR.

lazarus Hospital

bernauer strasse

sophien parish cemetery

G d r

The buildings there belong to the East. The exits to the West are being sealed

off one by one.

Whenever we notice people fleeing, we try to act normal

so the border guards don’t become suspicious.

27

GDR border guards try to pull others back up into the East while West Berliners try

to pull them down into the West.

Time and time again people desperately try to escape into the West.

Some flee over the roof-tops, the borderguards in hot pursuit.

The West Berlin police try to protect those

on the run.

Some escapees rappel on bed sheets tied together.

Others jump into the fire department’s rescue nets.

The sheets often tear …

Handmade pulley with shoulder strap

41

east berlin, House of Ministries:The GDR was founded here in 1949.

The holZaPFel Family: Ziplining over the Wall

The 34-year-old industrial economist

and production scheduler is here for a bi-monthly meeting. He has lost his faith in socialism.

otto-grotewohl-

strass

e

ber

lin

wall

leipziger strasse

July 28, 1965: Leipziger Strasse, Employee entrance

heinz holzapfel from Leipzig

“Exa 1b” model from VEB Certo Kamerawerk Dresden

59

east berlin, summer 1976

deTleF maTThes: The other side

Here you can see some represen- tative architecture from the past

two centuries: the Berlin Cathedral, which is now being re-built and …

My father is playing tour guide for our visitors from the West.

… the new landmark of East Berlin - the recently opened

“Palace of the Republic.”

60

The family strolls along the boulevard “Unter den Linden.”

Here’s the magnificent embassy of the USSR.

Dad …

Hmm?

… what’s that white thing over there?

That’s the Wall.

61

TheWall?

Yes, and behind it is West Berlin.

What’s West Berlin?

The other part of Berlin.

The “other part” of Berlin was

terra incognita for me. Our maps showed it

as undeveloped territory.

A chunk of the Berlin Wall

79

My sister ELSKE

Jan hildeBrandT: my 18th Birthday

East Berlin, Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 3, November 9, 1989

It wasn’t even 8 o’clock yet and my 18th birthday was

already over.

My bestfriend frank

My mother regine

I’ll be in my room.

Put it over there. I’ll take care of it.

97

Susanne Buddenberg and Thomas Henseler studied design at the

Fachhochschule aachen and film at the hochschule für Film und Fernsehen

“Konrad Wolf” in Potsdam-Babelsberg. upon completing their studies,

they founded the company Zoom und Tinte Buddenberg und henseler gbr,

which specializes in film and illustration. Together they work in the fields of

comics, illustration and storyboarding for film productions, television stations

and advertising and event agencies. They also teach game design.

The authors

For 28 years, the Berlin Wall divided the city and tore apart friends and family.

comic book artists susanne Buddenberg and Thomas henseler interviewed

contemporary witnesses and recorded their stories. Five authentic tales bring

to life a past which, although not far away, seems hardly imaginable now:

a young woman tries to leave east germany with a fake id card. a refugee is

shot on the border, and no one can come to his rescue. an entire family hides

in an east german government building near the Wall, hoping to flee from here

into the West. a young man covertly photographs the border fortifications and

falls into the clutches of the secret police. an east Berlin student ventures into

West Berlin and experiences the party of a lifetime.

“Berlin – a city divided” also takes us to the original locations of the stories:

Friedrichstrasse station, Bernauer strasse, Wilhelmstrasse, the Brandenburg gate,

and the former border crossing in the Bornholmer strasse, where readers can

search for remnants of the dramatic events.

Berlin – a city dividedchronicles