> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.paulleonardsblog.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Travel 1969 - East Berlin
- URL: https://www.paulleonardsblog.net/travel-1969-east-berlin/
- Published: 2026-09-27T04:56:56.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-28T07:13:48.000Z
- Author: Paul Shea

We spent a sobering day in East Berlin on 18 Sept 1969 after crossing through the US Check Point Charlie. East German border guards using mirrors on wheels to make sure none of their citizens were attempting to escape their socialist Utopia convinced me the system had no future although it was another 20 years before the wall finally came down. Shooting their own citizens for trying to leave didn't seem like much of a recommendation either.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/eb/fceb7f4c-347c-42e9-9ff7-156bb2a5c713/content/images/2026/09/01-Check-Point-Charlie.JPG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/eb/fceb7f4c-347c-42e9-9ff7-156bb2a5c713/content/images/2026/09/03-Berlin-Wall.JPG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/eb/fceb7f4c-347c-42e9-9ff7-156bb2a5c713/content/images/2026/09/IMG_1578.JPG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/eb/fceb7f4c-347c-42e9-9ff7-156bb2a5c713/content/images/2026/09/02-berlin-Wall-1.JPG)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/eb/fceb7f4c-347c-42e9-9ff7-156bb2a5c713/content/images/2026/09/berliner-mauer-8a2d9ea8.jpeg)

The Berlin Wall fell on the evening of November 9, 1989.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/eb/fceb7f4c-347c-42e9-9ff7-156bb2a5c713/content/images/2026/09/Berlin-17sept-captioned.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/eb/fceb7f4c-347c-42e9-9ff7-156bb2a5c713/content/images/2026/09/Berlin-18sept-captioned.jpg)