The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Categories: Europe | History |

In 1981, German photographer Harf Zimmermann moved into a five-story building without an elevator in East Berlin on the Hufelandstrasse. The area was a kind of anomaly in the city: beautiful facades and balconies of buildings, green lime trees along wide sidewalks and a huge number of private shops.

However, by 1985, the collapsing balconies were removed, and in 1987 the last lime trees growing on the ground poisoned by gas leaks were cut down. Harf Zimmermann, feeling that he was involuntarily becoming the last witness of what would soon disappear forever, went outside with a camera and began to shoot.

"It seemed that everyone felt a special connection with this place and a certain responsibility for it, acting by tacit consent and working to preserve their colorful island in a sea of dullness and monotony," Zimmermann recalls.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era
The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Rock band Phonolog.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

At the corner of Hufelandstrasse and Betzstrasse.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

The state butcher shop Wild Geflügel.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Mr. and Mrs. Fleischer with the dog Putzi.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Electricians.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Bull Terrier Rocky in front of a 1936 Mercedes.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Zimmerman's neighbor Frau Tepfer with her grandson Rene.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Frau Behr (center) with her daughter, granddaughter and her friend on the 38th anniversary of the founding of the GDR.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

The bride and groom Dressler celebrate the wedding on the day of the 750th anniversary of Berlin.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Students.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

A student nicknamed Student.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Workers of the cooperative "Berlin flowers".

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

From left to right: Beata with her daughter Henrietta, friend Mathias with her son Gregor and their daughter Lilly together.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Ingeborg with her son, grandson and grandmother.

The Last Witness of East Berlin: Faces of the passing era

Margot Schultz, a retired disabled person, with three of her 14 children.

Keywords: Berlin | Germany | Neighbors | USSR | Photographer

     

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