London Banter - View Single Post - Complete (almost) Shutdown of Berlin Train System

Lüko Willms[_2_]

Am 07.01.2012 22:39, schrieb :
So, there was literally no border control on the West Berlin side when
crossing from East Berlin? Nobody even checking passports?

Well, for people crossing to the West at Bahnhof Friedrichstraße,
they would have to police all exits from S-Bahn stations, or have their
controls directly inside the Bahnhof Friedrichstraße. See e.g. the Swiss
border post at the exit from the platform at Basel Badischer Bahnhof.

I don't know if Westberlin had ever been offered to set up such a
control post, but accepting it would have meant to openly discard their
legal fictions, which Herr Schwanke is always confusing with reality.

I am not sure about the street crossings. I can't remember any
systematic controls when coming back from Berlin Hauptstadt into
Westberlin, but there might have been a police post, checking everybody
looking suspicious (dark complexion being a typical incentive...). At
the well know crossing Friedrichstraße (reserved for non-German
foreigners, maybe even for the occupation personnel) there was a
US-american military post. But I was, of course, not allowed to cross
there...

Cheers,
L.W.