Day 150: Where Dad Crossed in 1989
At the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße, Mario (A), who grew up in East Berlin, shows his daughter Liv (B) where he used to live, while she records him for her history podcast.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a German word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native German, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Da hinten endete früher die Oderberger Straße, direkt an der Mauer. Ich erinnere mich genau daran, dass wir gleich davor Fußball gespielt haben.
Over there is where Oderberger Straße used to end, right at the Wall. I remember clearly that we used to play football just in front of it.
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B
Warte, ich nehme das auf. Also: Wie alt warst du am 9. November 1989, und wo hat dich die Nachricht erreicht?
Hang on, I'm recording this. So: how old were you on 9 November 1989, and where were you when you heard the news?
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A
Sechzehn, mit Hausarrest wegen einer Fünf in Russisch. Was Schabowski im Fernsehen verkündet hatte, hat bei uns zu Hause keiner kapiert.
Sixteen, and grounded for getting the worst possible mark in Russian. Nobody at home understood what Schabowski had announced on TV.
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B
Und wie bist du dann an die Grenze gekommen? Oma erzählt bis heute, du hättest die ganze Nacht friedlich geschlafen.
So how did you get to the border? To this day, Grandma says you slept peacefully all night.
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A
Das ist mein Stichwort. Den nächsten Teil sendest du nicht, es sei denn, du willst, dass ich mit dreiundfünfzig noch Hausarrest bekomme.
That's my cue. You're not broadcasting the next bit, unless you want me grounded at fifty-three.
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B
Versprochen, ich schneide es raus. Aber jetzt sag schon: Bist du etwa aus dem Fenster geklettert?
I promise I'll cut it. But come on, tell me: did you climb out of the window?
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A
Nein, ich bin auf Socken durchs Treppenhaus geschlichen, die Schuhe in der Hand. An der Bornholmer Straße hing dann alles davon ab, ob die Grenzer nachgeben würden.
No, I crept down the stairs in my socks, with my shoes in my hand. Then at Bornholmer Straße everything depended on whether the border guards would give in.
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B
Und als um halb zwölf der Schlagbaum hochging, bist du einfach rübermarschiert? Mit sechzehn, ganz allein?
And when the barrier went up at half past eleven, you just marched across? At sixteen, all on your own?
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A
Allein war da keiner, wildfremde Menschen haben sich umarmt. Um sechs lag ich wieder im Bett, und Oma hat bis heute nichts gemerkt.
Nobody was on their own there: complete strangers were hugging each other. By six I was back in bed, and Grandma still hasn't noticed.
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