A Cold War Christmas from Berlin, 1962-63
Here are two remarkable newsreel films from the chilly heart of the Cold War in the early sixties. Both were filmed in Berlin, one in the East, one in the West.
The first shows the construction of the Berlin Wall at Christmas 1962. It had been a nasty surprise for both East and West Berliners on an August weekend, when Walter Ulbricht, the East German leader, signed a decree for the erection of a wall, and temporary barriers were rushed up overnight. By the end of the year a more permanent wall was being constructed. This film was made on the Western side, and is silent newsreel footage of East German soldiers building their wall and watching the West, combined with shots of the big shops in West Berlin preparing for Christmas.
The second film is from Christmas the following year, 1963, and was made in German and filmed in East Berlin.
This is a much snowier scene. There are vox pops with people in a street in East Berlin. The translation helpfully tells me that most of them say they would like to see the wall go and be able to move about freely. We see Christmas markets, Karl Marx Allee, and a fair in Alexander Platz. It's a strange film, full of contradictions, communism and Christmas, traditions and a modern way of life: a reminder of how constantly in turmoil we are, every year, coping with extraordinary developing situations and an ever changing world.
The first shows the construction of the Berlin Wall at Christmas 1962. It had been a nasty surprise for both East and West Berliners on an August weekend, when Walter Ulbricht, the East German leader, signed a decree for the erection of a wall, and temporary barriers were rushed up overnight. By the end of the year a more permanent wall was being constructed. This film was made on the Western side, and is silent newsreel footage of East German soldiers building their wall and watching the West, combined with shots of the big shops in West Berlin preparing for Christmas.
The second film is from Christmas the following year, 1963, and was made in German and filmed in East Berlin.
This is a much snowier scene. There are vox pops with people in a street in East Berlin. The translation helpfully tells me that most of them say they would like to see the wall go and be able to move about freely. We see Christmas markets, Karl Marx Allee, and a fair in Alexander Platz. It's a strange film, full of contradictions, communism and Christmas, traditions and a modern way of life: a reminder of how constantly in turmoil we are, every year, coping with extraordinary developing situations and an ever changing world.
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