At the time of the Wende I was working as a so-called Bausoldat (conscript doing non-military work) in a military training area at the Polish border. It was our job to maintain the firing range, nothing more than occupational therapy. We were listening to RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) on medium wave and that’s how we heard about the fall of the wall. I then became a conscientious objector. I did not agree with the system as such, with the confinement and being told what to think, do and say.
In December, my wife and I drove to Heidelberg in our Trabi to visit a friend we had met on a campsite in Hungary. I bought two records from my Begrüßungsgeld(welcome money) – one by Frank Zappa and one by Patti Smith. During the East German period, I listened to a lot of Western radio stations and went to rock and blues concerts. My friend from Heidelberg wanted to send me a BAP record once, but it never arrived. BAP had written a critical song the East German leadership didn’t like and as a result they had been banned.
I loved the restaurants in Heidelberg. The menus at home were very clear – we only had schnitzel and white or red cabbage as vegetables. The Greek restaurant in Heidelberg gave you a whole book. I did get carried away with the initial euphoria and I was definitely also a little bit blinded. Later on, all the old cars from the West came to our side and the insurance agents. Let’s put it this way, everything that was no longer worth anything or had flopped in the West was then brought to the East.