photography, sailing

It’s been twenty years this November since the the Berlin Wall ceased to be the barrier between the “East” and the “West.” I was in Berlin, as well as, other parts of  East Germany, Hungary and Yugoslavia that first summer. The East German currency, the Ost Mark was still around but on the verge of being dropped for the West’s Deutche Mark – a looming event that made for a nation wide game of “hot potato” as everyone tried not to get stuck with Ost Marks. What used to be the eastern ‘city limits’ of  West Berlin was now ground zero for the ‘New World Order.’ All the trappings of the Cold War were still there: long segments of the wall, guard houses and watchtowers. But crowds of West Germans, East Germans and tourists took what would have been fatal walks along the Wall, crossing on a whim from the one side to the other though gaping breaches in the 28 year old concrete. In essence, No-man’s Land had turned into public space.