While attending the ITB trade show in West Berlin I was given the opportunity to visit East Berlin. The Berlin Wall was in the process of coming down, and having seen many East Berliners at the trade show I was curious to see where they lived. Janet Woods, the Director of St. Vincent’s Department of Tourism, had been invited to visit East Berlin with friends and had asked me to a accompany her.
If memory serves, the gentlemen who had organized the tour into East Berlin were prominent politicians and hoteliers from St. Kitts and Anguilla. When I was introduced to them they failed to mask their surprise, they had expected Janet’s friend to be West Indian, not a white Canadian. The driver arrived to pick us up, it was a rather tight squeeze but we managed! We made one stop en route, our host wanted to change his West German Deutsche marks into East German marks – he was treating us all to lunch and wanted to have the correct currency.
The famous Check Point Charlie was still in place, and our car was stopped by the East Berlin officials. My host from St. Kitts was a bit snarky about this, the wall was coming down so why all the questions? He was positive that our vehicle was being searched because its occupants were black and I was quite embarrassed by his comments. ALL cars were being searched by the officials, not just ours, and once the officals had finished their inspection we were allowed entry into East Berlin.
The wall dividing the East and the West was still in place, and what an ugly structure it was! Several enterprising East Berliners were selling souvenirs from the war, and for 25 Deutsche marks one could rent a hammer and chisel to chip souvenirs from the wall. I told our driver that I wanted to chisel some pieces before we left, my friends on Bequia would love to be given a chunk of the famous wall.
East Berlin was incredibly depressing. Everything seemed so colorless, and the buildings were heavily pockmarked with bullet holes from the war. The people wore drab beige clothing, and the little boxy cars they drove were few and far between. The contrast between the East and the West was quite stark, and I have never forgotten my impressions as we drove down the main drag in the East. Kurfuerstendamm in West Berlin glittered with fancy stores, expensively dressed people and Mercedes Benz cars. The same street on the East side was downright shabby and didn’t have any character; unlike the West, East Berlin felt dull and somewhat lifeless.
After our tour we arrived at the Grand Hotel for lunch, and where East Berlin itself was terribly drab the Grand Hotel was NOT. It was incredibly posh, and as we entered the hotel’s restaurant I could see that it was expensively furnished. A grand piano and cello were playing softly for the guests and it was all very civilized, certainly not what I had been expecting after our tour! We were approached by the Maitre D, who apologetically informed us that the restaurant was closed, we had arrived too late for lunch. My host went into gear and started berating the poor man loudly for refusing to serve black people. I wanted to melt into the plush carpet I was so embarrassed! It was obvious that the restaurant was closed, the staff were starting to set the room for the dinner hour and the few remaining guests were finishing their coffee. The dignified Maitre D then did something remarkable; he took us to a private dining room, asked that we be seated, then handed us large menus. We were treated to a five-course lunch on gold plates that rivals any food I have ever tasted, every bite of that gourmet meal was delicious. I smothered my laughter when my host’s money was regretfully refused, they no longer accepted East German Deutsche marks in East Berlin! It wasn’t because the guest paying the bill was was black, money is money and the East German mark was now worthless.
I DID rent a hammer and chisel (with my West German marks!) for 20 minutes, and left East Berlin with several chunks of the famous wall. The stone smelled very strongly of pee and was going to weigh down my luggage, but I had the perfect souvenir from Germany to share with my friends. I will never forget my afternoon in East Berlin, and consider myself fortunate that I was able to visit at such an historic time.