Susanne Buddenberg / Thomas Henseler. chronicles. avant-verlag

Transcription

1 Susanne Buddenberg / Thomas Henseler chronicles avant-verlag

2 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 / Berlin [email protected] ISBN First edition All rights reserved Find out more about our books and how to order them at

3 Table of Contents 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

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

5 regina zywietz: How the Wall Nearly Put an End to My High School Career East Berlin, Friedrichstrasse Railway Station, August 16, 1961 [Banner on train station: Neues Deutschland proclaims: A Dark Day for Warmongers] But the borders have been closed for the past 4 days. 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 mr. münzel dr. rintelen 7

6 bullet 7.62 x 39 mm caliber

7 ursula malchow: The Hospital by the Wall west berlin, late-summer 1961: The Lazarus Hospital at bernauer strasse We ve been living and working here since My husband GÜNTER works as a male nurse. I bring the patients their meals. 25

8 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 Gdr 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. 26

9 Time and time again people desperately try to escape into the West. Some flee over the rooftops, the border guards in hot pursuit. The West Berlin police try to protect those on the run. GDR border guards try to pull others back up into the East while West Berliners try to pull them down into the West. Some escapees rappel on bed sheets tied together. Others jump into the fire department s rescue nets. The sheets often tear 27

10 Handmade pulley with shoulder strap

11 The Holzapfel Family: Ziplining over the Wall leipziger strasse berlin wall otto-grotewohl-strasse east berlin, House of Ministries: The GDR was founded here in July 28, 1965: Leipziger Strasse, Employee entrance heinz holzapfel from Leipzig The 34-year-old industrial economist and production scheduler is here for a bi-monthly meeting. He has lost his faith in socialism. 41

12 Exa 1b model from VEB Certo Kamerawerk Dresden

13 detlef matthes: The Other Side east berlin, summer 1976 My father is playing tour guide for our visitors from the West. Here you can see some representative architecture from the past two centuries: the Berlin Cathedral, which is now being re-built and the new landmark of East Berlin - the recently opened Palace of the Republic. 59

14 The family strolls along the boulevard Unter den Linden. Here s the magnificent embassy of the USSR. Dad what s that white thing over there? That s the Wall. Hmm? 60

15 What s West Berlin? The Wall? Yes, and behind it is West Berlin. The other part of Berlin. The other part of Berlin was terra incognita for me. Our maps showed it as undeveloped territory. 61

16 A chunk of the Berlin Wall

17 jan hildebrandt: My 18th Birthday East Berlin, Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 3, November 9, 1989 My sister ELSKE My best friend frank My mother regine It wasn t even 8 o clock yet and my 18th birthday was already over. I ll be in my room. Put it over there. I ll take care of it. 79

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19 The Authors 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. 97

20 BERLIN A City Divided Chronicles 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.