This was one of the standard East/West Berlin crossings: the S-Bahn Friedrichstrasse station. The station was in East Berlin and was itself divided in half – one part being the end station of an eastern line, the other part being the end station of a line going to West Berlin. To walk from the “eastern” to the “western” part of the station you had to go through the passport and customs controls, obviously. On the “western” part of the station one could purchase things like cigarettes and alcohol duty-free (for western marks) so it was not uncommon to see drunks from West Berlin popping in at the Friedrichstrasse station buying some liquor and going back West (no control). That sort of folklore went way beyond James Bond, IMHO 
This clip begins at Friedrichstrasse as we’ve just hopped on a westbound S-Bahn. Soon after the train takes off, we are inside the wall, you can see the no man’s land as the tracks run parallel to it for a while. The actual border is seen just before pulling into the first station in the West (Lehrter Stadtbahnhof) – it’s the boundary between the water and the land in the canal we cross over. Another train is leaving back to Friedrichstrasse (carrying those drunks and cigarette smugglers perhaps?) and we walk closer to the Reichstag from where one can see the train tracks we’ve just ridden along. Another S-Bahns go both ways plus a random long distance train leaving East Berlin.
NOTE: I added a reverse angle view in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwzFBATwXuY
Duration : 0:4:51
[youtube ciXarXYjP-g]
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
nett. Heute sind …
nett. Heute sind die Wände da aber bunter
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Hat jemand Bilder …
Hat jemand Bilder vom Ankunftshalle in der Friedrichstrasse? Ich war da in 1988.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Yes it was very …
Yes it was very easy BUT only for foreigners and WEST Germans. Nobody living in West Berlin could go and nobody living in east Berlin or east Germany (DDR) . West Germans had to exchange 20 DM for the day visa and they could go only to east Berlin not further
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
I’m no expert, but …
I’m no expert, but as far a I know, people used the houses close to the wall to escape to the west from the basements through tunnels. The houses were eventually ordered to be evacuated left abandoned by the government. So it’s not so much lack of investment but just evacuation of the no man’s land.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
It’s in the video …
It’s in the video description. Briefly, the station we take off from (Friedrichstrasse) was itself divided in half: one half was the terminus for all East-bound trains, the other half was the terminus for all West-bound trains. The whole station was in East Berlin but to access the “western” half you had to go through the passport and customs controls, like at an international airport.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
But it was so easy …
But it was so easy to go trought east to west?
If so, why the wall and everything else??
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Did i just see …
Did i just see scares from soviet bullts from ww2 on that one house the u-bahn just passed ????
Fucking communists did not invest much.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Thanks JanPB. …
Thanks JanPB. During 80’s there were a lot’s of east german movies can be seen in eastern block countries and they were really good. Has anybody has that memory?! ;D
I still remember The Death Archive.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
@videouzleg You …
@videouzleg You could travel between West Berlin and West Germany by train (no stops between Berlin Wannsee and West Germany!) or by car (certain East German Autobahns were designated for that and marked by big yellow “Transit” signs). Leaving (exiting) a transit freeways was illegal without a permit (something like tourist visa).
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
One thing I do not …
One thing I do not understand if whole Berlin city was deep in then east germany how West Berliners travel to other rest of west germany only by airplane or by “teleportation”?!
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Freiheit! Grüss aus …
Freiheit! Grüss aus Ungarn!
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
BTW, I live in …
BTW, I live in Lisbon, and somehow we feel the history speaking, more related with navigation and sea discoverings over the XV century. Living in Berlin must be living and remembering recent dramatic, sad and happy moments of mankind. I really want to go to Berlin some day.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Hello. I am 23 so …
Hello. I am 23 so we’re nearly at the same age. As an European (I live in Lisbon), I feel truly in love with all the common history that we, european people, share, and although we’re united, we all have our singularities, and that’s something I respect deeply. Although I’ve already been in some parts of the world, my dream trip would definitely be to Berlin, due to all the XX century history. And, of course, to get drunk and party all the german chicks
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
gruselig…wenn man …
gruselig…wenn man diese grenze sieht…diese zeit des kalten krieges der zeit in der es angst gab dass die Rote Armee einmarschiert…unglaubliche zeit..
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
keine einzige Art …
keine einzige Art von Sozialismus darf es wiedergeben.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Jupp, that’s the …
Jupp, that’s the ludmilla. Still in service 30 years later. Saw one three days ago in Frankfurt/Main.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
muss gegen 1960 …
muss gegen 1960 gewesen sein
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Echt? Wann das?
Echt? Wann das?
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Stimmt nicht. West …
Stimmt nicht. West Berlin Kaufte mal die Strecken in West-Berlin
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Es gab nie eine …
Es gab nie eine West-S-Bahn. Die Ostberlin bediente die gesamte S-Bahn in Berlin, das Westberlin die U-Bahn (die paar alten Stationen im Osten waren zugemauert).
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
you silly jews …
you silly jews you
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
you silly nazis
you silly nazis
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Hoffentlich …
Hoffentlich vergessen wir nie. Diese Art von Sozialismus darf es nie wieder geben.
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Thank you so much …
Thank you so much for this video. My earliest memories are of going to berlin at about this time. I was 4 and my father took me, my sister (who was two and had her dirty nappy’s checked through the border control) and my mother and I remember walking past the wall. We have a marke post from the wall i our back garden from that same trip!
January 30th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Is that what it is? …
Is that what it is? I remember that sound at 3:20 from taking a train from Vienna to Berlin in 1979. The entire portion after Prague was punctuated by this turbo-like wheeze – very memorable.