I remember that time as if it was yesterday! My then husband said: “Who knows how long they will have this Begrüßungsgeld (welcome money) for!” So on the Saturday after the fall of the wall, we set off with our boys, who were three and four years old at the time. First attempt: A bank in Steglitz – closed. We ended up at a bank branch on the Kurfürstendamm, which we easily recognised since there were so many people queuing up.
I sauntered along the queue. When I came to the door, a friendly young employee saw me with the boys and said: “Families with young children first!” We got a huge surprise at the desk: What? The children also get 100 mark each? We did not expect that at all!
Not far away, we saw the KaDeWe department store. At the time, I was studying at an institute for advanced training for teachers in Potsdam, which had an East German Robotron K87 and that’s when I developed a passion for computers. So we were in the electronics department of the KaDeWe. There was a Commodore 64 computer on offer for 333.00 mark, including cartridge drive and game. That’s what we bought. The children chose funny pencil sharpeners in the shape of a helicopter and a car in the stationery department – and sweets of course.
We had to get on the train at Zoo station with our arms full of heavy bags. It was cramped and full but some men we didn’t know took our boys on their shoulders and carried them up the stairs to the train.
The C64 helped me to really understand computers. At the time, we still learned BASIC computer language and wrote our own programs. The computer knowledge I gained that way has helped me a lot, when I retrained as an assistant tax consultant.