Berlin

In the mid-1970s, Berlin occupied an anomalous position at the heart of divided Germany. Although deep inside East German territory, the city remained subject to the rights and responsibilities of the four victorious wartime powers: Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union. West Berlin was a Western enclave, closely tied to West Germany economically and politically but formally outside the Federal Republic, with British, French and American troops still stationed there. East Berlin served as the capital of the German Democratic Republic, a status contested by the Western powers. Since 1961, the Wall had severed streets, neighbourhoods and families, turning movement across the city into a matter of checkpoints, permits and armed surveillance. The Four Power Agreement of 1971 had eased access and visiting arrangements, but Berlin remained a place where everyday life was shaped by the unresolved settlement of the Second World War.

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