Tempelhof: end of an era

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Linton

I remember visiting the East for a day through Checkpoint Charlie.Having walked around looking at a lot of concrete buildings it was time for lunch.This was taken in the revolving restaurant in the Telecom Tower.This restaurant was a very prestigious spot in the East.East German marks were converted at 1 to 1 for West German ones and the minimum exchange was 25.Ost marks were useless in the West and there was nothing to buy in the East so I remember having an extensive lunch and leaving a very large tip for a very mediocre meal.A party of Koreans/Chinese seemed to enjoy it though.I have been back ten years ago and the whole city was totally different
As to being watched ,the West was divided into three military districts patrolled by each of the occupying Western powers.You could be arrested by the MPs if you were in the wrong bar when a fight broke out.

The MP arresting civilians rarely if ever happened, as long as no Allied soldiers were involved! Which also was not often in the news. The Allies used to keep strictly for themselves, and had their own bars, with the exception of some mixed clubs like the LaBelle, unfortunately, but that is another story. It was rare that you saw them in public places, bars, movies, whatever. especially the americans had their own (beautiful, green) city for themselves. My first friendship with Americans i made as a teenager, when jogging in the Grunewald, where they occasionally practiced, and colliding with an American teen-age boy. I became good friend with two families in the aftermath. But such friendships were very, very rare to take place. We lost contact, unfortunately, the one I never heared of again after 9/11, and of the other I know that the son went to Afghanistan short after - military was a tradition in that family.

Hope they are fine, nevertheless.