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Amnesiopolis: From Mietskaserne to Wohnungsbauserie 70 in East Berlin's Northeast
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 July 2014
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On April 11, 1977, near a small village northeast of Berlin called Marzahn, construction teams from the Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB) Tiefbau Berlin began digging the first foundation for what became the largest construction site and the largest prefabricated housing settlement (Plattenbausiedlung) not just in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), but in all of Europe (see Figure 1). An army of more than 6,000 workers arrived, and over the course of the next decade, built more than 200,000 apartments in Marzahn and the surrounding areas of the northeast edge of Berlin. These came to house more than 400,000 residents, who moved there from the older neighborhoods of East Berlin and from all over the GDR.
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References
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53 BA-L DH 2 23501 Dipl. Ing. Grotewohl, Dr.-Ing. S. Kress and Dr.-Ing. W. Rietdorf, “Grundlagen für die Entwicklung neuer Wohnformen,” DBA-ISA, Abt. Wohngebiete, Zwischenarbeit zu Thema 6, Arbeitsschnitt 2, August 31, 1970, 4.
54 Ibid., 19, “Verkehr im Wohngebieten.”
55 BA-L DH 2 21686 G. Wessel, “Räumliche Ordnung und Bewegungssystem,” DBA-ISA, Abt. Theorie und Geschichte der Architektur, December 1969.
56 Hannemann describes the Central Committee's Department of Construction under Mittag as one of the key loci of decision making, along with the DBA-ISA, in the area of city planning and architecture in the GDR. Hannemann, Die Platte, 94.
57 Ibid., 100.
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60 Buck, Mit hohem Anspruch, 181.
61 Palutzki, Architektur in der DDR, 194.
62 Buck, Mit hohem Anspruch, 180.
63 Palutzki, Architektur in der DDR, 194.
64 Fulbrook, Mary, The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005)Google Scholar, 51 and 278. Fulbrook also notes that in the 1980s, when housing became less of an issue (though it still remained one until the end of the GDR), it was rivaled by complaints about being denied travel visas to the west.
65 Bundesarchiv (hereafter “BA”) DL102 (Institut für Marktforschung) 800: “Stellungnahme zur Entwicklung des Bedarfs an Konsumgutern im Neubaugebiet Berlin-Biesdorf-Marzahn 1974” (February 13, 1972), 27.
66 Peters, Oleg and Seifert, Waldemar, Von der Platte bis zum Schloss. Die Spur der Steine des Günter Peters (Berlin: Forschungsstelle Baugeschichte Berlin, 2003)Google Scholar, 17.
67 Hinze, Jürgen, “Das grüne Ungeheuer,” in Marzahn erzählt. (Keine) Plattengeschichten, ed. Rohnstock, Katrin (Berlin: Rohnstock Biografen, 2004), 52–57Google Scholar; 52. Several of the sources used in this article are taken from collections of memoirs written by Marzahners a decade or more after the fall of the GDR, including the volume Marzahn erzählt. (Keine) Plattengeschichten. This poses certain methodological issues, including the possibility that the subjects here are looking back at their lives through the rose-colored lenses of Ostalgie. On the other hand, it is difficult to find observations from the 1970s and 1980s from Marzahners that are trustworthy, as most sources quoted in publications were subject to, at the very least, internal censorship. There are some more reliable sources on what Marzahners actually thought about where they lived, including a longitudinal sociological study through the Institute of Marxism-Leninism on Marzahn, which is discussed below. It is also important here, however, to pay attention to how Marzahners narrate their lives as following an arc that tracks very closely with their move out of crumbling apartments and into Marzahn for understanding the larger narrative the regime was hoping to construct broadly among most of its citizens. Finally, the use of oral history and published memoirs is part of a long-standing trend of Alltagsgeschichte that has been used fruitfully, especially to understand life in dictatorships in German history that did not always allow for free expression of opinion at the time.
68 Hemprich, Manfred, “Zu Hause im Hochhaus. Über Marzahner Kinder und ihre Eltern,” Neue Berliner Illustrierte, no. 14, 1980, 12–17;Google Scholar 16.
69 Bartsch, Jutta and Bartsch, Rudi, “Die Häuser sind eben so konstruiert und dann sollen sie auch so bleiben,” in Allee der Kosmonauten. Einblicke und Ausblicke aus der Platte, ed. Quiesser, Ylva and Tirri, Lidia (Berlin: Verlag Kulturring in Berlin, e.V., 2004)Google Scholar, 57.
70 Hepner, Lothar and Hepner, Helena, “Im Altbau wurde gar nicht saniert,” in Allee der Kosmonauten, ed. Quiesser and Tirri, 87Google Scholar.
71 Hemprich, “ Zu Hause im Hochhaus,” 16.
72 Interview with Gerlinde Paulus, Berlin, July 22, 2008.
73 Buck, In hohem Anspruch, 254.
74 Bergmann, Uschi, “Berliner Fenster,” Neue Berliner Illustrierte 35, no. 21, 1979, 16–19Google Scholar; 16.
75 Ibid.
76 Hannemann, Die Platte, 96.
77 For more on the Housing Program, see Rowell, Jay, Le totalitarisme au concret: le politiques du logement en RDA (Paris: Economica, 2006).Google Scholar
78 Hübner, Christa, Nicolaus, Herbert, and Teresiak, Manfred, 20 Jahre Marzahn—Chronik eines Berliner Bezirkes (Berlin: Heimatsmuseum Marzahn, 1998)Google Scholar, 10.
79 G. Peters, Hütten, Platten, Wohnquartiere, 89.
80 See, for example, Bundesarchiv-Stiftung Archiv Parteien und Massenorganisationen (BA-SAPMO) DY 30 2838 “Wohnungsbau in Berlin, Bd. 4: 1972–73”—Material zu Problemen der Erweiterung des Housing Program im Zeitraume 1972 bis 1975 from March 29, 1972, 64.
81 Ibid.
82 Taken here from LA Berlin C Rep 100, Nr. 1527, Berlin Magistrat, “Vorschlag zur Bildung eines Stadtbezirks auf Grundlage der territorial-ökonomischen Entwicklung im Raum Berlin-Lichtenberg,” July 18, 1973.
83 Urban, Florian, Neohistorical East Berlin: Architecture and Urban Design in the German Democratic Republic, 1970–1990 (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2009), 49–50Google Scholar. Also see Krause, Dorothea and Zache, Manfred, “Modernisierungsgebiet Arnimplatz im Stadtbezirk Berlin-Prenzlauerberg,” Architektur der DDR 25 (July 1976): 395–400.Google Scholar
84 Urban, Neohistorical East Berlin. See also O. Peters and Seifert, Von der Platte, 17–18; as well as Günter Peters, “Die Arbeiterklasse zieht sich nicht ins Dorf!,” in Marzahn erzählt, ed. Rohnstock, 45–51, 45. In this last source Peters claims the yield was 6,500, whereas in an interview with the author on February 20, 2008, and in the Von der Platte bis zum Schloss essay, he claimed only 6,000.
85 Quoted in Hannemann, Die Platte, 95. Author's emphasis.
86 G. Peters, “Arbeiterklasse,” 47.
87 BA-L DH 2 21389, “Grundlagenmaterial für die Bebauungskonzeption des Stadtteils Biesdorf/Marzahn,” Magistrat Berlin, Abt. Generalplanungen, October 15, 1973, 31.
88 LA Berlin C Rep 902, File 3255, SED Bezirksleitung Berlin, “Vorlage für die Politbüro des ZK der SED. Betreff: Vorschlag für die Bebauungskonzeption des Stadtbezirks Biesdorf/Marzahn der Hauptstadt der DDR, Berlin,” 1974, 3.
89 BA-L DH 2 21389, “Grundlagenmaterial für die Bebauungskonzeption des Stadtteils Biesdorf/Marzahn,” Magistrat Berlin, Abt. Generalplanungen, October 15, 1973, 29.
90 Ibid., 30.
91 Großheim, Renate, “15 Tiefbauer immer höher hinaus,” Der Neunte 1, no. 12, July 7, 1977Google Scholar, 2.
92 “Vorflutkanal wächst im Biesdorfer Grenzgraben,” Der Neunte 2, no. 5, March 2, 1978, 2–3Google Scholar; as well as BA-L DH 2 21389 “Grundlagenmaterial für die Bebauungskonzeption des Stadtteils Biesdorf/Marzahn,” Magistrat Berlin, Abt. Generalplanungen, October 15, 1973, 32; Hübner, Nicolaus, and Teresiak, 20 Jahre Marzahn, 14.
93 BA-L DH 2 21389 “Grundlagenmaterial für die Bebauungskonzeption des Stadtteils Biesdorf/Marzahn,” Magistrat Berlin, Abt. Generalplanungen, October 15, 1973, 32.
94 G. Peters, Hütten, Platten, Wohnquartiere, 102.
95 BA-L DH2 21389, “Planung des neuen Stadtteiles Biesdorf/Marzahn,” 3. See also Zech, Hermann, Marzahner Straßennamen—Ortsteil Marzahn (Berlin: Heimatsmuseum Marzahn, 1994).Google Scholar
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97 BA-L DH 2 21389, “Grundlagenmaterial für die Bebauungskonzeption des Stadtteils Biesdorf/Marzahn” Magistrat Berlin, Abt. Generalplanunge, October 15, 1973, 31. Again, it is important to note the date here; much of the Marzahn plan was already dictated by the Bezirksbaukommission, which in turn had been given very strict instructions from the Politbüro, and so Korn's plan was a realization with detailed specs of these instructions.
98 The “P” in P1 and P2 stood for Platte (“panel”), and the “QP” in QP 71 stood for Querwandplatte (“intersectional panel”). See G. Peters, Hütten, Platten, Wohnquartiere, 136. See also Felz, Achim and Stallknecht, Wilfried, “Die Wohnungsbauserie 70,” Deutsche Architektur 23 (January 1974): 4–10.Google Scholar
99 Korn, Roland, “Der elfgeschossige Wohnblok der WBS 70,” Der Neunte 2, no. 5, March 1978Google Scholar, 4.
100 Ibid., 4.
101 G. Peters, Hütten, Platten, Wohnquartiere, 94.
102 “Was ist die Slobin-Methode?,” Der Neunte 1, no. 9, May 26, 1977Google Scholar, 3.
103 G. Peters, Hütten, Platten, Wohnquartiere, 106.
104 Verein KIDS & Co., ed., Marzahn-Südspitze. Leben im ersten Wohngebiet der Berliner Großsiedlung (Berlin: Bezirksamt Marzahn-Hellersdorf von Berlin, Abt. Ökologische Stadtentwicklung, 2002), 18–19Google Scholar. See also Corbusier, Le, The Modulor: A Harmonious Measure to the Human Scale, Universally Applicable to Architecture and Mechanics (Basel and Boston: Birkhäuser, 2000).Google Scholar
105 Graffunder, Heinz, “Zur Planung und Projektierung des 9. Stadtbezirkes,” Der Neunte 1, no. 8, May 17, 1977, 4–5.Google Scholar
106 Interview with Evelyn Marquardt, one of the first residents of the initial towers built on the Südspitze, Berlin, May 28, 2008. Among several other sources, Bundesbeauftragte der Stasiunterlagen (hereafter BstU) MfS ZAIG 3294, “Information über ein Vorkommnis mit Bauarbeitern auf der Baustelle in Berlin-Marzahn, Karl-Holtz-Strasse, am 17. Juni 1983.” Also see Hinze, “Das grüne Ungeheuer.” Legends told of workers lowering Trabants into the concrete panel utility canals to race them, related to me by Günter Peters in an interview in Berlin, March 11, 2008.
107 Hübner, Nicolaus, and Teresiak, 20 Jahre Marzahn, 15.
108 This information is from a display at the Bezirksmuseum Marzahn-Hellersdorf. Hübner, Nicolaus, and Teresiak, 20 Jahre Marzahn, 15. See also Seyer, Heinz, “In Ur- und Frühgeschichtlicher Zeit,” in 1979–1999. 20 Jahre Bezirk Marzahn von Berlin, ed. von Berlin, Bezirksamt Marzahn (Berlin: MAZZ Verlag, 1999), 17–19.Google Scholar
109 LA Berlin C Rep 110–05, Nr. 20, “Dorfkern Marzahn,” 4.
110 In fact, the finds from Marzahn have contributed significantly to an archeological understanding of the ur-Germans and Slavs who first settled Marzahn, and subsequently toward a fuller picture of prehistoric Berlin. See Demps, Laurenz et al. , Geschichte Berlins. Von den Anfängen bis 1945 (Berlin: Dietz Verlag, 1987), 32–45.Google Scholar
111 Bezirksamt Marzahn von Berlin, Abt. Jugend, Bildung und Kultur, ed., 20 Jahre Marzahn. Geschichte—Bauen—Leben, 82.
112 Elsewhere in Berlin, the amount of live ordinance buried in the soft and sandy soil became and remains a major problem for excavation and any kind of utility work that requires building into the ground. On numerous occasions construction workers or highway teams have been injured and killed by accidentally striking unexploded ordinance, the most recent incident occurring in 2010 that caused the death of three specialists who were trying to defuse a bomb dug up in Göttingen. It is estimated that one in eight bombs dropped on Berlin did not explode—and that almost 8,000 bombs have been defused since the 1980s in Berlin alone. See Eric Westervelt, “World War II Bombs Still Menace Germany,” National Public Radio, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127476757 (accessed November 8, 2011).
113 Ibid., 10.
114 See Kolenc, Jonas and Blotevogel, Monica, Fremdenführer Marzahn (Berlin: Kinderring Berlin and “Aktion Mensch”/Bezirksmuseum Marzahn-Hellersdorf and Marzahner Tor GWG, 2004)Google Scholar, 27.
115 Müller, Peter, “Die Wuhle erhält ein neues Bett,” Der Neunte 1, no. 4, March 17, 1977Google Scholar, 3. Verein für Technologie, Produktivität und Umweltschutz e.V., Zwischen Spree und Barnim. Das südliche Wuhletal (Berlin: Bezirksamt Marzahn-Hellersdorf von Berlin, Abt. Ökologische Stadtentwicklung Natur- und Umweltamt, 2001)Google Scholar, 6. Pachmann, “So klärt sich das Wasser,” 4.
116 Pachmann, “So klärt sich das Wasser,” 12.
117 “Linden und Eschen für unsere Neunte,” Der Neunte 1, no. 4, March 17, 1977, 4Google Scholar.
118 Ibid.
119 Albrecht, Elisabeth, “Balkonblick nach zwanzig Jahren,” in Marzahn erzählt, ed. Rohnstock, 33–40, 37Google Scholar; and , Ursula, “Zuzug und Bleibe,” in 1979–1999. 20 Jahre Bezirk Marzahn von Berlin, ed. Marzahn, Bezirksamt, 41Google Scholar.
120 Wessel, Gerd and Zeuchner, Gerd, eds., “Zur städtebaulich-räumlichen Gestaltung von Wohngebieten,” Deutsche Architektur 23 (April 1974): 199–253Google Scholar, 208.
121 Krause, H., “Grüß den Kosmonauten,” Marzahn Aktuell 2, no. 10, September 22, 1978Google Scholar, 1.
122 “Kosmoswimpel Ansporn im Wettbewerb,” Marzahn Aktuell 2, no. 11, September 28, 1978)Google Scholar, 1.
123 Hübner, Nicolaus, and Teresiak, 20 Jahre Marzahn, 15 and passim.
124 Interview with Johann and Sofia Schöring, Berlin, May 23, 2008.
125 Bautz, Renate, “Wir taten es für uns,” in Allee der Kosmonauten, ed. Quiesser and Tirri, 67Google Scholar.
126 L. Hepner and H. Hepner, “Im Altbau,” 87.
127 Ladwig, Renate and Ladwig, Reinhard, “Wir haben beschlossen, dass wir hier alt werden,” in Allee der Kosmonauten, ed. Quiesser and Tirri, 77Google Scholar.
128 Domnitz, Christian, “Jetzt packen wir hier alles zusammen,” in Marzahn erzählt, ed. Rohnstock, 43Google Scholar.
129 Ibid.
130 Ibid.
131 Franik, Gabriele, “Was heißt hier Gemini?,” in Marzahn erzählt, ed. Rohnstock, 77–82, 80Google Scholar.
132 Ibid., 81.
133 Bezirksamt Marzahn von Berlin, Abt. Jugend, Bildung und Kultur, ed., 20 Jahre Marzahn. Geschichte—Bauen—Leben, 119.
134 See Palmowski, Jan, Inventing Socialist Nation: Heimat and the Politics of Everyday Life in the GDR, 1945–1990 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009)Google Scholar; Paul Betts also described Mach Mit! in Betts, Paul, Within Walls: Private Life in the German Democratic Republic (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010)Google Scholar, 145.
135 Bluhme, Manfred, “Erinnerungen,” in 1979–1999. 20 Jahre Bezirk Marzahn von Berlin, ed. von Berlin, Bezirksamt Marzahn, 54Google Scholar.
136 Preußing, Torsten, “Fluchtversuch nach Brandenburg,” in Marzahn erzählt, ed. Rohnstock, 17–24, 17–18Google Scholar.
137 Albrecht, “Balkonblick,” 33.
138 Ibid.
139 Domnitz, “Jetzt packen wir hier alles zusammen,” 41.
140 Loni Niederländer, “Forschungsbericht zum 1. Intervall der Untersuchung ‘Wohnen 80—Marzahn.’ Zur Entwicklung eines Neubaugebietes der Hauptstadt der DDR, Berlin” (Berlin: Humboldt University, 1981), Pt. II, 2.
141 Bezirksamt Marzahn von Berlin, Abt. Jugend, Bildung und Kultur, ed., 20 Jahre Marzahn. Geschichte—Bauen—Leben, 31.
142 Verein KIDS & Co., ed., Marzahn-Südspitze, 41.
143 Bautz, “Wir taten es für uns,” 67.
144 Franik, “Was heißt hier Gemini?,” 80. In fact, having twins or triplets increased applicants' chances of getting an apartment in Marzahn. See below.
145 Ibid.
146 Erbstößer, Lilo, “1 Jahre Danach . . .,” Marzahn Aktuell 2, no. 17, December 21, 1978Google Scholar, 4.
147 Cyske, Gerd, “Mit der Bummi-Bahn in den Kindergarten,” in Marzahn erzählt, ed. Rohnstock, 25–30, here 28Google Scholar.
148 Ibid.
149 Kühl, Volkhard, “Gutes Gedeihen,” Der Neunte 3, no. 5, March 8, 1979Google Scholar, 4.
150 Niederländer, “ Forschungsbericht,” 38, 35, and 54.
151 BStU MfS HA XX 10008, 14.
152 BStU MfS HA VIII 5192; Jugendkollektiv des Referates 4 der Abteilung 3, “Dokumentation über den Stadtbezirk Berlin-Marzahn,” 18.
153 BStU MfS HA II 31363, “Information zur Gemeinschaftsantennenanlagen.” Domnitz recalls this in “Jetzt packen wir hier alles zusammen,” 41.
154 BStU MfS HA XX 10008, 67.
155 Hübner, Nicolaus, and Teresiak, 20 Jahre Marzahn, 69.
156 See Dörfle, Thomas, Gentrification in Prenzlauer Berg? Milieuwandel eines Berliner Sozialraums seit 1989 (Bielefeld: Transcript, 2010)Google Scholar. See also Grosinski, Klaus, Prenzlauer Berg. Eine Chronik (Berlin: Kulturamt Prenzlauer Berg, Prenzlauer Berg Museum für Heimatgeschichte und Stadtkultur, 2008).Google Scholar