Selected Berlin Photos: Marienfelde

After viewing the video that Manfred shared on YouTube - the one I posted yesterday - I got to thinking about the images I've found on the web of the Marienfelde facility over the last few years.  I've managed to collect an image from each decade, the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's; these would be bookended by the video yesterday and two more that I will share later today.

Here is a web link that supplements the unit history Colonel Leech provided in his speech at Marienfelde:  http://berlinerphil.tripod.com/inactmemebishop.htm - this is the program and other materials from the unit's deactivization in 1992, the link is part of the "Berlin Island Association" organization. 

I should clarify that there was also a refugee center in Marienfelde at the time - many folks settled there
Without much further detail about the images, here are some the photos I've found over years.  I've long ago lost the source data about them, if you find something here that you can identify, please leave a comment.  It's not my intention to profit from these, only to make them available for sharing historical information with my friends.


Mari in the early days, the '60's.  The installation was built on a rubble heap of war debris.

Later in the 1960's, after a "permanent" building was located there.



My notes date this as 1971.  I was always amused by the design of the apartment block in the lower right as our shift bus passed on the way into work.

Here is a mid '80's image - my era.



I have this as late '80's.  Obviously taken during some kind of celebration nearby.



Final one, an aerial taken during the winter, dated 1990.

Even during my short tenure - 1981-1986 - there were plenty of changes, not only to the facilities at Marienfelde.  This district of Berlin included a canal and significant rail lines, as well as a highway connecting the city to the rest of the country, so there was plenty of industry here.  Beginning in the early '80's, a large IBM installation had sprung up across the street from the Marienfelde facility.

As I'm thinking about how to close this post, it occurs to me that I should include a more current image.  This one is from Google Earth, current as of this writing in September 2011: nothing remains of the old site.  It's fairly typical of Berlin these days, as the scars of the Cold War heal over and are increasingly hidden from view.

The thumb tack marks the spot...the old rubble heap and one to the southeast have been turned into nature parks.