I remember I collected the money at Wittenbergplatz. The sun was shining and it must have been some time in December. I took the opportunity to go to KaDeWe. I remember exactly how shocked I felt when I saw the enormous assortment of things. Heaps of Christmas sweets – it was a demonstration of abundance that nobody needs. That put me off.
The Begrüßungsgeld (welcome money) was not a big deal for me. I always had some money from the West. I had inherited money from my grandfather and every year, I got a couple of hundred DM in interest. So I didn’t feel the need to spend it right away on a pair of jeans. I didn’t go running into shops thinking I now had to start dressing like those in the West. I thought we were way better dressed.
A bit weird maybe, with our jeans and black clothes, but better than the brightly coloured anoraks they wore in the West.
But then came the announcement of the Rolling Stones concert in the Olympic Stadium in the summer of 1990. My husband at the time absolutely wanted to go. I was not a big Stones fan, but we bought two tickets anyway. Each cost 65 DM. During the concert, my husband suddenly felt sick, his arm hurt – he had recently had travel vaccinations. So we left in the middle of it all – to “Sympathy For The Devil.” I didn’t think it was so bad. I had now seen and heard the Stones and confirmed again that rock music is just not for me.