East Berlin was the capital city of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin.
From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. The Western Allied powers did not recognise East Berlin as the GDR's capital, nor the GDR's authority to govern East Berlin.
On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was officially reunified, East and West Berlin formally reunited as the city of Berlin.
These color pics were taken by HJ in Ches that show street scenes of East Berlin in 1969.
"In the summer and early autumn of 1969 I worked as a courier (i.e. guide) on a season of 7 coach tours of East and West Germany and Denmark.
These photographs were taken on our sightseeing tours of East Berlin, which Western coach parties could then visit under the auspices of the Reisebüro der DDR (the East German State Travel Office) and with one of their guides conducting the tour. Alighting from the coach was only allowed to a very limited extent and only in specified locations such as the Soviet War Graves at Treptow and at the Interhotel Berolina, where refreshments might be purchased. Because of those restrictions, most of the photographs in this set were taken from a moving coach and so, in some cases, reflexions in the coach windows can be seen."
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| East Berlin Skyline, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Berlin Cathedral and GDR Foreign Office, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Bomb Damage, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Brandenburg Gate from the East, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Flats Damaged and Repaired, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. House of the Teacher, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Karl Marx Allee Shops, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Karl Marx Allee, 1969.jpg |
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| East Berlin. Looking across the open land adjoining Wilhelmstraße where the Imperial Chancellery Buildings (Reichskanzellerei) had stood, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Neue Wache - The East German Volksarmee changing the guard, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. New Flats, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. St. Hedwig's R.C. Cathedral, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Strausberger Platz Fountain, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Strausberger Platz, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. The Former Arsenal, now the German Historical Museum, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. The Former Prussian House of Commons, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. The French Cathedral, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. The Old Library now the Faculty of Law of the Humboldt University, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. The Wall at Stresemannstraße, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Unrestored Flats, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Unter den Linden, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Unter den Linden, 1969 |
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| East Berlin. Wilhelmstraße and the Philharmonie, 1969 |