The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Ovenpaa wrote:I worked with a chap from the other side of the wall many years ago. He always maintained it was actually OK on the Eastern side and he and his family struggled with many things including the disparity in wages when the wall came down.

I was told same thing by a bunch of my friends from there in West Germany.
People going from 3rd world to 1st world overnight, one hard transition.
From tightly controlled to anything goes in the west.
We left around 1986 not been back since.
When we travel now, must admit, I like warm and dry, central Europe is neither of those things.
We have a trip planned in April, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, maybe Lebanon, depending on how bad they are shooting at one another.
I worked all down through there, military, but mama has never seen it.
If I can work it, would love to stop off on way home, and see the Imperial War Museums for a few days.
Also Biggin Hill.
My dad made a hard landing there once, said everyone was real nice, except for the RSM who only wanted to know who was supposed to clean up the mess he'd just made.

Ovenpaa wrote:I worked with a chap from the other side of the wall many years ago. He always maintained it was actually OK on the Eastern side and he and his family struggled with many things including the disparity in wages when the wall came down.

I suppose if you were happy with your lot in life, if you toed the party line, and if nobody shopped you to the Stasi, then it could be OK. On the other hand it could also be pretty brutal.

A few years back a group holiday was spent in the former DDR around the Baltic coast. We visited a Transport Museum that was near Prora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prora. It was built as Hitler's Butlins but never finished and I asked a local why the DDR didn't completed it as a holiday resort for the Party faithful. Too close to the border was the reply, people has escaped to the West by canoe and in fact access to that section of the Baltic coast was heavily restricted.

The complex has been brought back to life now and flats are available.

I still have a small piece of the Berlin Wall from when it came down. I also still have a Zeiss 8x21 monocular, marked up Jena and DDR as well as a small medallion made from a scrapped SS21 Scarab, kept as souvenirs...

At least during the Cold War we knew who the enemy was!

Sim G wrote:I still have a small piece of the Berlin Wall from when it came down. I also still have a Zeiss 8x21 monocular, marked up Jena and DDR as well as a small medallion made from a scrapped SS21 Scarab, kept as souvenirs...

At least during the Cold War we knew who the enemy was!

The current Russian government is as much our enemy as the Soviets were, and for many of the same nationalistic reasons. This lot hide it better, but are conducting their own version of the Cold War in cyberspace.