# Can you still see the divide between East/West Germany? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671 "2016-08-22T20:37:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/41 "2016-12-21T22:11:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Like this?: [https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/217/503779173\_997a187859\_b.jpg](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/217/503779173_997a187859_b.jpg) Has this occasionally been snickered at when misinterpreted? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/42 "2016-12-21T23:22:34Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > What were they worried about you bringing from East Germany to England? Weapons. East Germany was a huge supplier of weapons to the rest of Europe. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/43 "2016-12-22T01:09:56Z")
Technically, West Berlin was a separate sovereign country from West Germany. West Berlin had its own legislative assembly, which basically rubber-stamped carbon copies of West German law, but those would not become law in West Berlin until that formality had been accomplished. West Berlin could have enacted laws different from those of West Germany, if it had wanted to. West Berlin also issued its own postage stamps, but there was a postal union between the two, and stamps from either side were recognized as valid for postage on either side. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/44 "2016-12-22T01:31:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > West Berlin served as the capital of West Germany too, though in a purely symbolic sense; Bonn was the seat of the West German government. Nitpick: _Berlin_ served as the _je jure_ capital of the Federal Republic while it was under four-power occupation. > [@jtur88](#): > > Technically, West Berlin was a separate sovereign country from West Germany . . . It was separate from West Germany, but it wasn’t a “sovereign country”. It was under four-power occupation. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/45 "2016-12-22T01:31:28Z")
One interesting curiosity was the public rail system, which ran on tracks that predated the division. So the train from one point in West Berlin to another might pass through East Germany. At the border, all West German conductors and motormen would get off the U-bahn, and be replaces by East Germans (who had a dour disposition) for the section of S-bahn. Then when recrossing the border, the conductors would switch again. West Berliners riding the train might be sitting in a seat next to an East Berliner, who was traveling the S-bahn from one point to another, but the Easterner would have to get off before the train recrossed into West Berlin. But West Berliners didn’t particularly like that route, so would try to avoid an itinerary passing through the East. I met a West Berlin girl when traveling, and stayed in West Berlin in her company for a few days, and remained in touch with her for years. West Berlin was a very vibrant city in the 1960s. A few years later, I was driving across on the corridor to Poland and illegally stopped for a couple of hours in Potsdam, which happened to be on May Day, and anyone who could have arrested me was in parade dress for the festivities and shows of patriotic force. It was hard to mix in, westerners were conspicuous by their clothing, especially shoes. I couldn’t do anything but walk around, as I had no legal money. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/46 "2016-12-22T06:27:57Z")
Glad to hear the walking man is still on duty? I thought they tried to update him at some point and people were upset. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/47 "2016-12-22T14:57:26Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Weapons. East Germany was a huge supplier of weapons to the rest of Europe. For that, the customs officers looked “through [their] paperback books page by page and closely examined the seams of every piece of clothing”? ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/48 "2016-12-22T17:03:48Z")
Slight tangent: This is an interesting and funny movie set at the time of reunification: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good\_Bye,\_Lenin!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Bye,_Lenin!) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671/49 "2016-12-22T17:19:45Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > For that, the customs officers looked “through [their] paperback books page by page and closely examined the seams of every piece of clothing”? Looking for signs of _plastique_ that might be passed on to the IRA, perhaps? During the Warsaw Pact era, Czechoslovakia was a major source for Semtex for terrorist orgs and non-western countries like Vietnam and Libya. The wiki article indicates that both the Provisional IRA and Irish National Liberation Army were heavy users. Czechoslovakia was right beside East Germany and had a similar foreign policy during the Warsaw Pact era. > **[Semtex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semtex)** > > Semtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications. > Semtex was developed and manufactured in Czechoslovakia, originally under the name B 1 and then under the "Semtex" designation since 1964,\[note 1\] labeled as SEMTEX 1A, since 1967 as SEMTEX H, and since 1987 as SEMTEX 10. > Originally developed for Czechoslovak military use and export, Semtex eventually became popular with paramilitary groups ... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-still-see-the-divide-between-east-west-germany/763671.md?page=2)