Gavin Humphries
East Berlin railway map, 1980s
A late 1980s railway map of East Berlin and Potsdam, prior to German re-unification.
I like the way that the line around the city has been rendered, giving the impression of the encirclement (and throttling) of West Berlin. When this map was produced the German Democratic Republic was very much on the way out, but the design harks back to the period when many communist maps were used as weapons of political proaganda.
The map clearly shows how the lines of the East German railway (Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR) came to abrupt halts at the edges of West Berlin. Until 1984 the DR also operated suburban trains through West Berlin, although after the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 many West Berliners boycotted them. As a consequence the service lost money, but the East German government considered the presence it offered in West Berlin to be important enough to continue its funding. However, the financial situation deteriorated further in 1980 because of a strike by DR's West Berlin employees and most of the suburban services in West Berlin were suspended. In 1984 an agreement was reached for West Berlin's public transport authority (BVG) to operate these lines instead.
East Berlin railway map, 1980s
A late 1980s railway map of East Berlin and Potsdam, prior to German re-unification.
I like the way that the line around the city has been rendered, giving the impression of the encirclement (and throttling) of West Berlin. When this map was produced the German Democratic Republic was very much on the way out, but the design harks back to the period when many communist maps were used as weapons of political proaganda.
The map clearly shows how the lines of the East German railway (Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR) came to abrupt halts at the edges of West Berlin. Until 1984 the DR also operated suburban trains through West Berlin, although after the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 many West Berliners boycotted them. As a consequence the service lost money, but the East German government considered the presence it offered in West Berlin to be important enough to continue its funding. However, the financial situation deteriorated further in 1980 because of a strike by DR's West Berlin employees and most of the suburban services in West Berlin were suspended. In 1984 an agreement was reached for West Berlin's public transport authority (BVG) to operate these lines instead.