Transit traffic through the GDR

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Transit routes through the GDR and to Berlin (West)

The transit traffic is generally the traffic by larger regions, countries or states. With transit through the GDR traffic between is essentially the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin over the territory of the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ) and the German Democratic Republic referred. What was special about this traffic was that the partners involved each had different views on the legal status of the affected areas, which led to a variety of conflicts, of which the Berlin blockade in 1948/49 was the most serious. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the GDR built large border crossings on the transit routes of the motorways to and from Berlin, the largest of which in Drewitz and Marienborn , each with around 1000 border soldiers , members of the passport control units (PKE) of the Ministry for State Security (MfS) and the customs administration of the GDR were occupied.

"Counting card for visa-free transit trips between the FRG and Berlin (West)"

Transit GDR

GDR transit slip

In the case of the GDR , there were special regulations for transit traffic between the Federal Republic and West Berlin across the inner-German border , which was only allowed to take place over a few, fixed transit routes. Similar regulations also applied to transit traffic through the GDR to Scandinavia , Poland and the ČSSR , and prescribed routes also had to be adhered to. However, here the travelers had to pay the visa fee of 5 DM directly to customs . Air traffic used defined air corridors .

basis

The legal basis was a resolution recorded by the victorious powers at the Potsdam Conference in 1945:

"14. During the occupation, Germany is to be regarded as an economic unit. With this aim, common guidelines are to be drawn up with regard to:
[…]
g) transport and traffic.
When implementing these guidelines, the various local conditions may need to be taken into account. "

GDR border, transit control ( ADN report no.240 on October 2, 1958: tear gas bombs discovered for the West Berlin elections )

The Allied Control Council in Germany was commissioned to issue regulations for traffic between the occupation zones. A later result was the definition of the transit routes between the western sectors of Berlin through the SBZ to the western occupation zones. With the order of the Soviet Control Commission (SKK) of May 5, 1952, the security and control measures were clearly defined. The freedom of movement that had been practiced until then was drastically curtailed.

After the Moscow Treaty was signed (1970), the Federal Government emphasized that ratification would only take place in Berlin if the results were positive. The negotiations began to move, and on September 3, 1971, the ambassadors signed the four-power agreement on Berlin. For the first time since 1945, the Soviet Union guaranteed unhindered transit traffic by road, rail and water between the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. The agreement stipulated that the details would be negotiated by the governments of the Federal Republic and the GDR themselves. Discussions on questions of transit traffic, which had already started in 1970, began to move.

The transit agreement was intended to regulate travel and goods traffic between the Federal Republic and West Berlin. The agreement stipulated that transit traffic between West Germany and West Berlin should in future be handled without hindrance and in the “simplest, fastest and cheapest way”. Common guidelines for the handling of traffic, the border controls of the GDR and the usage fees on the transit routes were agreed. On December 17, 1971, State Secretaries Egon Bahr (Federal Republic) and Michael Kohl (GDR) signed the agreement in Bonn (Journal of the GDR 1972 II p. 349). It was the first German-German agreement at government level.

On the transit routes, the GDR largely renounced its sovereign rights, such as arrests, etc. (Art. 9). Exceptions were only possible in the case of abuse within the meaning of Article 16 of the agreement, i.e. in the case of traffic accidents and the like. The arrest of people wanted by the police was not permitted, but took place in isolated cases, as in the case of Günter Jablonski or the case of the mayor of Arolsen , who was arrested on the transit route in 1984 for arranging help to escape in the 1970s .

During the entire period between 1945 and 1990 there were special regulations for the (Western) Allied forces. As a matter of principle, they were not checked by GDR employees, but - if at all - by Soviet military personnel.

Traffic routes

Road traffic

Transit stamp of the authorities of the GDR in a passport

When using it, leaving the transit roads, for example for excursions, was strictly prohibited. Passengers in transit had to cover the route without interruptions as far as possible, only short stays at the motorway rest areas , in the rest stops or petrol stations were allowed. Meetings with GDR citizens were prohibited.

Civilian vehicles with employees of the MfS were constantly on the move on all transit highways for monitoring and photo documentation. "Western vehicles" with German vehicle registration numbers were used here and there. These could possibly be recognized by missing / expired HU / ASU badges . The route was also monitored by numerous unofficial employees of the MfS (e.g. petrol station employees) and by the GDR customs and the People's Police and their volunteers . Vehicles have been x- rayed with gamma rays since 1979 in order to track down GDR refugees.

Upon entry, the transit travelers had to bring their personal documents (German citizens and foreigners only the passport, West Berliners only the makeshift identity card , foreigners with permanent residence in Berlin (West) a photo certificate from the Senate of Berlin (West)) and the vehicle registration for registration at the control house submit. The vehicle only had to be left if there were sufficient grounds for suspicion. At the border crossing point (GÜSt) - since the introduction of the visa requirement on June 11, 1968 - a transit visa for one-time transit was issued. The visa contained the personal data and a stamp with the date and time - the respective hour of the day, no minutes - of entry was given.

This document was withdrawn upon departure. On the basis of the stamped entry time, it was possible to determine whether the trip had been carried out immediately as prescribed. Longer stays in the transit rest stops may have to be documented with receipts from the Mitropa restaurants.

Road transit traffic through the GDR between Berlin (West) and the Federal Republic of Germany was essentially - in the end completely - carried out on motorway routes. Only on the north-west route to Hamburg could only the trunk road 5 Berlin-Staaken - Nauen  - Kyritz  - Perleberg  - Ludwigslust  - Boizenburg  - Lauenburg / Elbe be used until November 21, 1982 . Although the F 5 was a trunk road , it could also be used without a motor vehicle . This fact was regularly used by trained cyclists until October 1982 , whereby the 220 kilometer route between Berlin-Staaken and Lauenburg was usually covered in nine to twelve hours. The GDR authorities tolerated this in the summer months ; however, they demanded that the transit should take place between sunrise and sunset. In 1981 individual bypasses were put into operation as motorways, in 1982 the later A 24 Berlin-Heiligensee - Stolpe  - Zarrentin am Schaalsee  - Gudow motorway was in operation. Thereafter, bicycle transit was no longer permitted.

Crossing points and traffic routes in road traffic

Road transit traffic through the GDR ( Helmstedt / Marienborn border crossing )
Place name sign Berlin on the transit route, here near Drewitz
Signs for the transit route from Berlin (West) to what was then the Federal Republic of Germany through the GDR at the Drewitz border crossing point
Road traffic counting card when leaving the GDR

Rail transport

Transit train ready to leave in West Berlin Zoo station in 1976
Transit train in Halle on the way to Berlin-Wannsee in 1984

In the transit of travel took place after the conclusion transit agreement to issue the East German transit visa in a moving train, what the waiting times shortened up at the border stations of an hour to five (in case of a change of engines up to twenty) minutes. On the West Berlin side there was no border station and no control. Railway operations in the western part of Berlin and through the GDR were handled by the Deutsche Reichsbahn . He was therefore not subject to the rules of privileged rail transit traffic . In GDR territory, the trains were accompanied by members of a passport control unit of the Ministry for State Security and the transport police.

When dealing with the Berlin drove Transit trains without scheduled traffic stop by the GDR. The transport police secured necessary operational stops by surrounding the train so that no GDR citizen could enter the train and escape from the GDR . Since the mid-1980s there have been regular stops of this kind for transit trains between Bebra and Berlin in Neudietendorf and Dessau , since electric travel between these stations was used, as well as in Reichenbach on the way to and from Hof . In GDR territory, the trains were not allowed to stop unplanned and had to adhere to specified minimum speeds; violations were rigorously punished by the GDR Ministry of Transport. On the other hand, due to the inadequate state of maintenance of the tracks and the resulting speed limits, it was hardly possible to adhere to the specified travel times. The transit trains therefore had nicknames such as “Zitteraal” or “Angst” among the railway workers , since ensuring free travel was always a shaky game.

The utilization of the transit trains increased significantly after the transit agreement, although many transit travelers also traveled by car on the transit highways to and from West Berlin. In the end, the trains ran with up to 15 cars, the highest permitted train length on European railways in passenger traffic, so that the first or last cars at Zoo station came to a stop outside the length of the platform.

As it became known after 1990, the trains were often used by GDR spies as rolling dead mailboxes for their news material. An escort from the transport police drove with them until the special status of the transit trains was lifted.

Crossing points and traffic routes in rail traffic

  • GDR or East Berlin / West Berlin border

Accidents

Since the transit trains were extraterritorial areas from the GDR's point of view, every unscheduled stop constituted a border violation. Accidents were investigated as attempted attacks or acts of sabotage by the Ministry for State Security, even if the cause mostly turned out to be technical defects or negligence. When transit trains were involved in accidents, a disaster management team headed by the Stasi took over; injured transit travelers received a personal advisor.

On June 23, 1976 at 5:25 p.m., the transit train D  354 crashed at the western end of Eisenach station on its way from Berlin to Paris. The 118 series locomotive and two following passenger cars remained in the tracks when crossing a defective switch, the following cars derailed and collided with a mail car and a shunting locomotive that were running on an adjacent track. The mail car and the shunter crashed onto a street on the side of the embankment. There were a total of 26 injuries among staff and passengers.

On February 29, 1984 at around 3:00 p.m., the transit train D  354 and the P  7523 collided in Hohenthurm after the locomotive driver of the transit train had run over three stop signals. 11 people died in the passenger train and at least 46 were injured. The train driver of the transit train was subsequently sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Waterways

The numerous border crossings on the waterways (for example Spree , Havel , Teltow Canal ) were only permitted for commercial goods traffic. Pleasure craft had to be loaded onto inland waterway vessels or towed along the route.

Crossing points and traffic routes in inland waterway traffic

Air traffic

Only aircraft from the USA, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and France were allowed to fly in Berlin airspace. This also applied to military aircraft. The Berlin airspace was under the control of the Berlin air security center operated jointly by all four victorious powers . East Berlin did not have an airport. West Berlin had direct air traffic only with airports in the Federal Republic as well as with London and Paris. There were three agreed air corridors to be used. In addition to the fast connection, it was the only way to travel to and from West Berlin without being checked by the GDR organs. In the scheduled air traffic were Pan Am and the charter carrier Modern Air (which temporarily flew to Saarbrücken-Ensheim and Sylt ) from the USA as well as British European Airways (later British Airways ) and Air France - in regional air traffic, the French TAT joined in the 1980s , later also the joint subsidiary of Air France (51 percent share) and Lufthansa with Euroberlin, which is approved in France . There were also a number of charter airlines that handled holiday and special air traffic. These included Air Berlin , which was active until 2017 . Important western personalities and those carrying functions or secrets were only allowed to use the air route in transit.

Travelers from West Berlin who wanted to reach destinations abroad other than London and Paris first had to cross one of the air corridors in order to transfer there or at West German airports. From 1963, the GDR offered them the option of avoiding these detours by taking a short transit by bus via the border crossing at Waltersdorfer Chaussee / Rudower Chaussee to their international central airport Berlin-Schönefeld .

Financial performance

At the beginning of the obligation to pay fees for the use of the transit routes, the travelers had to pay road usage fees and later also fees for the transit visa for each transit. The visa fees were reimbursed to the individual traveler by the federal government through the post offices. This procedure ended in 1972 after the transit agreement , which instead introduced a transit flat rate to be paid by the Federal Republic .

The Federal Republic of Germany made considerable financial contributions to the GDR for the expansion of the transit routes.

activities Million DM
Complete renovation of the autobahn between the Berliner Ring , Leipzig branch (now A 10 / A 9, Potsdam triangle) to Marienborn, complete renovation and six-lane expansion from the Drewitz branch (now Nuthetal triangle) of the Berliner Ring to Leipzig branch (Potsdam triangle). 259.5
Expansion of the motorway section between GÜSt Marienborn and the border (Helmstedt) 0.002.7
Renewal of the motorway bridge near Helmstedt 0.000.3
New construction of the motorway (today A 24) between Berlin and the Federal Republic including construction of the two GDR border crossing points in Zarrentin and Stolpe-Süd 1,200.0
Construction of a section of the motorway between the Eisenach / West junction and the border with the Federal Republic of Germany, including the new construction of the Hörschel bridge over the Werra Valley and the GDR border crossing point 0.268
Opening of the Staaken crossing for passenger trains 0.051
Improvement of rail transit traffic, double-track operation between Griebnitzsee and West Berlin, reconstruction of the Rummelsburg depot, double-track expansion of the section between the Potsdam / Stadt and Werder stations 0.080
Two-track expansion of the railway line between the Berlin-Wannsee station and the border with the GDR 0.009
Elimination of major damage to waterways used by transit traffic 0.120
Opening of the Teltow Canal for civil inland waterway traffic from the west 0.070
Expansion of the Mittelland Canal, which is also used by transit traffic 0.150
Sum of federal government payments to the GDR in million DM 2,210.50

In addition, there were considerable financial expenditures by the Federal Republic of Germany for the infrastructure to be adapted and accompanying construction measures on the western side (e.g. connecting lines, control points). Payments by the federal government for the transit flat rate (visa fees), flat rate for road tolls are not included. For the GDR, the foreign exchange income from travel was an enormous item in the state budget.

Services for other purposes, such as water and environmental protection, post and telecommunications, ransom for resettlers and political prisoners, etc. are not taken into account. In some cases, goods and capital goods were delivered to the GDR for the equivalent value.

Transport services transit

As an example, the transport services of the last two years of the GDR, which were only handled via the transit routes between West Berlin and West Germany or back. There is also transit to third countries and exchange traffic .

year Car truck buses Ships people
1988 6 762 522 1,236,583 96 314 13 103 23 978 322
1989 7 282 071 1 312 808 105 387 12 896 25 865 216

literature

  • Jürgen Ritter, Peter J. Lapp: The limit. A German building. 9th edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-86153-560-7 .
  • Friedrich Christian Delius , Peter Joachim Lapp : Transit West Berlin . Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 1999 (2nd edition 2000), ISBN 3-86153-198-4 .
  • Hans-Dieter Behrendt: Hello, GDR passport control . GNN-Verlag, Schkeuditz, ISBN 978-3-89819-243-9 .
  • Peter Joachim Lapp: Runways of the class enemy. The GDR surveillance of the Berlin transit 1949–1990 . Helios, Aachen 2015, ISBN 978-3-86933-136-2 .
  • Markus Schubert: A new hinterland for Berlin (West)? : The regions around d. Transit crossings as a new catchment area of ​​Berlin (West), research project (= Berlin research , volume 18: subject area urban and regional planning ). Berlin-Verlag Spitz, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-87061-918-X .

Web links

Wiktionary: transit route  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.hna.de/lokales/fritzlar-homberg/homberg-efze-ort305309/wollten-ddr-ernst-hubert-michaelis-sprach-ueber-seine-erlebnisse-gefaengnis-4984862.html
  2. ↑ Hans Halter : "Radiation exposure - there is no escape", Der Spiegel 51/1994, p. 176, [1] (PDF)
  3. ^ Friedrich Christian Delius, Peter Joachim Lapp: Transit Westberlin. Experiences in between . Ch.links, Berlin 1999, p. 116
  4. ↑ Kick all German
  5. ↑ a b c Train accident in Hohenthurm near Halle. (No longer available online.) In: mdr.de. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk , February 18, 2014, archived from the original on February 23, 2015 ; accessed on February 23, 2015 .
  6. ^ A b c Norman Meissner: The Eisenach railway disaster of June 23, 1976: Two contemporary witnesses report. In: Thüringische Landeszeitung . June 28, 2014, accessed September 9, 2015 .
  7. ^ Martin Weltner: Railway disasters. Serious train accidents and their causes. Munich 2008. ISBN 978-3-7654-7096-7 , p. 16.
  8. ^ Robert Gruner: The GDR airline "Interflug" and its role in German-German relations and the importance for the foreign policy of the GDR . Diplom.de, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-8366-3106-8 , p. 30.