Berlin 13. August [WITH] Das Rathaus Schöneberg und die Freiheitsglocke
Bonn; Berlin: Bundesministerium für Gesamtdeutsche Fragen, September 1961. First edition. Softcover. Octavo. 48pp. Original photo-illustrated two color wraps with black lettering on cover, map of Berlin on back cover, protected by modern mylar. The cover features a UPI wire with the text: " -- urgent message -- Berlin, 13. August (upi). - strong units of the Communist Peoples Police (Volkspolizei) sealed off the sector border between East and West Berlin. upi 6 0325 13.8.1961." Documentation of the tragic events in Berlin on August 13,1961 and the events leading up to it. The pamphlet is profusely illustrated with b/w photographs provided by berlin bild, Press and Information Office of the BRD, dpa, Camillo Fischer, Heinz Gräf, Joachim G. Jung, and Kindermann & Co. With an introduction by the West-German Secretary of the Interior Ernst Lemmer.
In Juli of 1961 the number of refugees coming to West Berlin from the Soviet occupied part of Germany amounted to 30,444, the highest number since the events in 1953, prompting heightened agitation by the East German press. On August 2nd 1,322 refugees were counted enduring increased harassment by East German police and military and the East German High Court sentenced five "human traffickers and spies" to up to fifteen years. During the following days increasing numbers of refugees are registered daily and by August 9th the number of refugees had reached almost 2,000 per day with East German and Soviet government decisively demanding a solution to the Berlin problem. On August 11 the East German currency plummets and Prime Minister Stoph signals that protective measures are about to be taken. The number of refugees jumps up to 2,400 on August 12 and in the early morning of August 13, 1961 the East sector is sealed off by East German police and National Guard.
The photographs vividly depict the deployment of police, army units with tanks and construction crews sealing off the East sector and erecting the Berlin Wall with onlookers watching the proceedings in disbelief, waving to friends and family members on the other side. Text in German. Very light wear along edges of wraps.
[WITH]
Presse- und Informationsamt des Landes Berlin. Sextodecimo. 16pp. Original photo-illlustrated wraps with black lettering on front, white lettering on back cover. Photo-illustrated history of City Hall and it's "Liberty Bell" in Berlin-Schöneberg. The foundation of City Hall was laid on May 26, 1911. The structure was designed by architects Peter Jürgensen and Jürgen Bachmann and completed in 1914. After the division of Berlin it became the home for the Berlin Senate and House in 1948. During the war it had been partially destroyed but it was restored by 1952. On June 26, 1963 the place in front of City Hall saw its most significant and at the same time last address given by the American President John F. Kennedy with a large crowd cheering on. It was the speech where Kennedy closed with the now famous line "Ich bin ein Berliner." After his assassination a plaque was installed in honor of the President in June 1964.
The Liberty Bell was commissioned on account of the "National Committee for a Free Europe" and designed by Walter D. Teague, New York, and cast by Gilette & Johnston in Croydon, Great Britain. The inscription is reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln's speech on the battlefield of Gettysburg in 1863: "That this world under God shall have a new birth of freedom." The photographs in this brochure are credited to AP, berlin-bild, Fritz Eschen, Otto Hagemann, Landesbildstelle Berlin, Horst Siegmann, and the Berlin State Archive. Text in German. Small crease at corner of foredge of lower back cover. Near fine condition. vg+ to near fine. Item #47802
Price: $125.00