Main content

Neil MacGregor examines the story of the two Germanys, East and West, created in 1949, through objects including a wetsuit used in an escape attempt from the East in 1987.

Neil MacGregor examines the story of the two Germanys, East and West, created in 1949, through objects including a wet suit used in an escape attempt from the East in 1987, which was later used as a training device by the Stasi, the East German secret police.

Neil also focuses on another Stasi training device, a model of Friedrichstrasse Station, a border crossing point in the divided Berlin, and reflects on the life and work of the East German writer Christa Wolf.

Her novel Der Geteilte Himmel - The Divided Heaven, or The Divided Sky - was published in 1963, two years after the Berlin Wall went up. It made Christa Wolf's reputation, and has been seen as the definitive account of the divergence of the two Germanys, as seen from the East. Yet Wolf's own position within the East German state was not simple, and she later questioned whether her own memories were reliable.

Producer Paul Kobrak.

Available now

15 minutes

Last on

Wed 1 Oct 2014 00:30
大象传媒 Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

The View from the Gate

Next

Kafka, Kant and Lost Capitals

See all episodes from Germany: Memories of a Nation

  • See this model of Friedrichstra脽e Station and other fascinating objects from Germany.

  • Tunnelling Under the Berlin Wall

    How a group of West German students helped more than 50 people escape from East Berlin.

Clip

Model of Friedrichstra脽e Station

Model of Friedrichstra脽e Station
Berlin's underground and overground rail systems intersected above all at the Friedrichstra脽e Station. It was here that most German people travelling in a divided Berlin had to cross from one side to the other.

The process was meticulously controlled and governed, above all on the Eastern side, by a determination to prevent escape and to keep a very close eye on those who were allowed to come in.

This intriguing object, a cross between a model railway and a doll鈥檚 house, is doubly disturbing because it looks at first sight like a plaything. Only later do you realize it has a very grown up purpose: to train border guards in their duties.

Photograph聽漏 Deutsches Historisches Museum.

Broadcasts

  • Tue 30 Sep 2014 09:45
    大象传媒 Radio 4 FM
  • Tue 30 Sep 2014 19:45
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Wed 1 Oct 2014 00:30
    大象传媒 Radio 4

Made in Germany: the stories of 10 fascinating objects

See photos and videos of this diverse collection of products and sculptures.

10 reasons we know Germans love beer and sausages

Beer riots and sausage snacks demonstrate a devotion to the national diet.

10 things you may not know about Germany

Degenerate art and other facts from this fascinating nation.

Podcast