HJ in Ches
Wilhelm-Pieck-Allee: 20. Jahrestag der DDR - 20th Anniversary of the G.D.R., 1969
The banner over the shop front on the left announces the 20th Anniversary of the Foundation of the German Democratic Republic which was celebrated on 7th October 1969. A banner relating to the same celebrations can be seen outside the "New Town Hall" in my photograph www.flickr.com/photos/hjggreen/4532652889/in/set-72157623...
This photograph shows part of what was then "Wilhelm-Pieck-Allee", renamed in 1956 after the one and only President of the German Democratic Republic. (On his death in office in 196, the post was abolished and his successor, Walter Ulbricht, served as Chairman of the Council of State.)
Above the "Wedding Cake" architecture of the communist era can be seen the North-West tower of St. John's Church. In 1969 its twin, the South-West tower, had been repaired but not rebuilt after bomb damage on 16th January, 1945.
Previously, the communist government had named the street "Stalinallee".
It is now named Ernst-Reuter-Allee, in honour of the socialist (S.P.D.) Mayor of Magdeburg (1931-3).
During the First World War, however, Reuter had been wounded and captured by the Russians. In captivity, he learnt Russian and joined the Bolsheviks. Subsequently, he and Pieck had been rivals for the secretary generalship of the communist party, before Reuter was expelled and returned to the S.P.D.
With the Nazis in power, he was forced to resign his positions and spend some time in the Lichtenburg concentration camp. On his release he made his way to Turkey where he remained unitl the end of the war.
In 1947 he was elected Lord Mayor of Berlin, but, in the deepening Cold War, the Soviet Union withheld its consent. He became an effective spokesman for the Western Sectors of Berlin and their people's resistence to pressure from the Soviet Union, especially during the Berlin Blockade of 1947-8. When West Berlin's new constituion was implemented in 1951, he became the so-called "Governing Mayor", of the western part of the city. a post he retained until his death in 1953.
Wilhelm-Pieck-Allee: 20. Jahrestag der DDR - 20th Anniversary of the G.D.R., 1969
The banner over the shop front on the left announces the 20th Anniversary of the Foundation of the German Democratic Republic which was celebrated on 7th October 1969. A banner relating to the same celebrations can be seen outside the "New Town Hall" in my photograph www.flickr.com/photos/hjggreen/4532652889/in/set-72157623...
This photograph shows part of what was then "Wilhelm-Pieck-Allee", renamed in 1956 after the one and only President of the German Democratic Republic. (On his death in office in 196, the post was abolished and his successor, Walter Ulbricht, served as Chairman of the Council of State.)
Above the "Wedding Cake" architecture of the communist era can be seen the North-West tower of St. John's Church. In 1969 its twin, the South-West tower, had been repaired but not rebuilt after bomb damage on 16th January, 1945.
Previously, the communist government had named the street "Stalinallee".
It is now named Ernst-Reuter-Allee, in honour of the socialist (S.P.D.) Mayor of Magdeburg (1931-3).
During the First World War, however, Reuter had been wounded and captured by the Russians. In captivity, he learnt Russian and joined the Bolsheviks. Subsequently, he and Pieck had been rivals for the secretary generalship of the communist party, before Reuter was expelled and returned to the S.P.D.
With the Nazis in power, he was forced to resign his positions and spend some time in the Lichtenburg concentration camp. On his release he made his way to Turkey where he remained unitl the end of the war.
In 1947 he was elected Lord Mayor of Berlin, but, in the deepening Cold War, the Soviet Union withheld its consent. He became an effective spokesman for the Western Sectors of Berlin and their people's resistence to pressure from the Soviet Union, especially during the Berlin Blockade of 1947-8. When West Berlin's new constituion was implemented in 1951, he became the so-called "Governing Mayor", of the western part of the city. a post he retained until his death in 1953.