Berlin 1969 updates

The story "23rd Hour, 23rd Psalm" continues. At this writing, it is up to Page 25 and it is approaching 0300 hours.

You may well ask "will this story be an overnight sensation?" No, but for people who are truly interested in what a mid-summer night felt like in Berlin 1969-71, this writing is for you.

I've switched to reinstating the Documents section, rather than continuing in the Stories section for the time being. There's a special reason for this:

{{Am 31.05.2011 17:19, schrieb Neil Howard:

Gentlemen,

BRITISH MILITARY TRAIN 1945 - 1990

I am writing to introduce a special train running from Berlin next year which I hope will be of interest to you.

22 years ago the curtain came down on one of the most difficult and yet smoothly and consistently delivered trains in the history of European railways. The British Military Train was born in the wreckage of defeated and broken Germany, and spent its life on the front line of the Cold War. It was operated in a unique and highly politicised partnership between British Army railway operators and the two state railways of the divided Germany. There had been nothing like it before, and it is unthinkable that we will ever see the like of it again. It ran without fuss, with a very British understatement of the political minefield surrounding it.

On 12 May 2012 we acknowledge and celebrate the calm professionalism of railway people, civilian and military, British and German, who did the job, day in day out, without triggering a Third World War. Steam loco 03 1010 will head a train of 1960s carriages, including a dining car, from Berlin to Hannover and back. Proceeds from the train will go to the Royal British Legion in Berlin, and the military guest of honour will be Major General David Burden CBE, retired Colonel Commandant of the RLC and a former OC Train of the Berliner. The dining car will serve a typical Royal Corps of Transport menu and wine list. Fares are expected to be in the region of €90 per person. The 2012 Berliner is being organised by Train of Events, the team that ran the "Train For Life" to Kosovo in 1999. To register for further details, to reserve a place or just to discuss what we are doing, please email militarytrain2012@gmail.com. or call 07982 786529.

Many thanks,

Neil Howard CMILT}}

The Documents section of the Berlin 1969 website will again include material describing the British Military Train in honor (or perhaps, in honour) of this event.

I'm almost finished updating the links. Also, I've tossed in over 60 photos into a gallery, with more to come. These are not labeled, but should be fairly self-explanatory.

One of the links takes you directly to my YouTube "Zehlendorf" clip from 1971. About 12,000 downloads have been made, with viewers of all age ranges finding it interesting. It is not great art, but documents some scenes of every day life in our corner of Berlin, far from the landmarks that were typically filmed.

Easter 2011 is coming. It hardly seems possible that three years have passed since my memorable weeks in Berlin at Eastertide. I will not forget the experience of attending the little "village" church in Berlin's far corner, Alt-Schmoeckwitz, nor will I forget the concert music in "Pastor Martin Niemoeller's church" the Church of Jesus Christ in Zehlendorf. Berlin is worth a trip at any season.

Je suis le premier billet. Modifiez moi.

Okay.  So, I'll modify you.  Some readers will remember my Berlin 1969 website, which appeared through AT&T Worldnet from 1999 into March 2010.  Worldnet is gone now, and along with it, the Personal Web Pages which made my site practical.  I have saved the material, and hope to get back into operation a little bit at a time, via

http://www.berlin1969.com

Thank you for your interest and assistance.

-- rwr --

Robert W. Rynerson

Роберт Райнерсон