BERLIN SNAPSHOTS: BAHNHOF "FRIEDRICHSTRAßE" IN 1932
Dear Berlin Companion Readers and Friends, firstly, thank you for all the words of support and compassion after the crushing news of my Dad’s stroke and the ensuing coma - these last three weeks have been almost unbearably difficult. Yet the kindness we - and especially my Dad - have met with is priceless. We all take it day by day, uncertain of what awaits us.
In the meantime, here is a small Berlin story inspired by a photo I once found in the depths of the Wondrous Beast known as the Internet.
This 1932 snapshot was taken by Karoly Ofner on the S-Bahn train platform at Berlin’s Bahnhof „Friedrichstraße“.
The third-class carriage section for smokers indicates that cigarettes and cigars were regular travel-companions for whoever came on board (some of us still remember the the bluish-grey air filling many long-distance train compartments and being so thick that you could almost lean against it).
In fact, smoking was allowed in West-Berlin S-Bahn until 1984, on board of the U-Bahn trains until 1978, and inside the West Berlin buses till 1974 (although experts informed us that, like in London, you could enjoy your Kippe - German colloquialism for a “fag” - on the upper deck of a double-decker bus until as late as 1988).
That was West Berlin. East Berlin introduced a complete smoking ban for all public transport much earlier: on 18 July 1962.
Berliners did not give up their right to enjoying a Glimmstange (Berlinerisch for a cigarette) on board of means of public transport easily. Here is how they vented their anger in front of the local TV station camera:
Thank you for reading Berlin Companion. You are - as always - welcome to comment, follow and share.
Loved the video clip. If you watched the video without any reference to Berlin, you knew immediately it was Berlin as soon as you heard the people speak.
Best wishes to you, your father and to all your loved ones at this difficult time.
As for the subject matter, I don’t know when smoking was banned in NYC transit. Since I started using it regularly in 1973 it wasn’t allowed (though of course it may have happened from time to time 😉) but I am old enough to remember when one could smoke just about anywhere. Amazing to think of a world just filled with cigarette smoke. (I should admit I was a contributor, though I quit years ago.)