Native Berlin and Sansoucci Palace

Us at Petra and Bernd's Machine Shop  Coffee and Cake

Sandra getting a Demo

Today we head towards a suburb of Berlin where Petra and Bernd’s shop is located. When they visited us this spring in Canada they described his machining business, a throwback to times where custom parts were needed since repairs to a machine were worthwhile rather than purchasing something new. Also he has an interesting collection of motorcycles which I wanted to see. Their shop is rather eclectic but he has a very sharp mind and knowledge of his craft. 

However, some of the motorcycles, a one-of-a-kind NISA motorized bicycle

Nisa Proto type

which had the drive gear of the motor run directly onto a toothed inner edge of the rear wheel. Also a 1955 Metz 50 cc motorcycle that he used to ride in what was west Berlin and on an autobahn corridor passing through the GDR (German Democratic Republic) (a Soviet puppet state)to the west and actual Germany.

From Bernd, now 73 and Ingo we heard many stories about living in west Berlin during the 60’s through 1989 before the wall fell. It was a very interesting if not somewhat depressing time, however not as depressing as that of the East Germans who had nowhere to go. Bernd was working in Stuggart the night the Wall fell, and said he just sat there and cried. Petra with her first husband who lived in the US at the time immediately began making plans to come back home.

Ingo’s favorite story was when he travelled to West Berlin to visit in the GDR the sister of a friend. Out on a date they went to a local café in the GDR, where the waiter came up to him and shook his hand and said “Welcome Ingo”. Since Ingo did not know the waiter at all before that moment, he realized that the waiter was sending him a message that he was aware of his movements in the GDR. Ingo said he became aware through a recent documentary that u to 1 ½ million secret service agents worked in the GDR around Berlin establishing patterns and movements of people.

A great day in the Neighborhood

Later in the day we went for a nice lunch to a favorite biker café (Slipper Brucke) near Potsdam, then Sandra and I headed into Potsdam to see the Sansoucci Palace and area. It of course is a World Heritage Site.