I had been in Berlin in 1987 and 1988.  Of course, the city was then divided by the infamous wall.  


During my 87' visit, with a fellow law student, we had crossed the wall immediately before Christmas.  For entry into East Berlin, we were required to exchange approximately $30 into East German Marks.  We then had six hours to attempt to spend the cash, as it had little value on the Western side of the wall.

After a large, but medicocre lunch, we still had $20 left.  The East German department store looked like a throwback to the 1950's.  The electronic goods and clothing available for purchase were of poor quality. 

Luckily, we found an East Berlin Christmas festival late in the afternoon.  After gourging ourselves on East German Beer (pretty good) and schnitzel (even better), we still had $10 left.  And it was time to leave the Russian sector.

So, as we were exiting the festival, we spotted a deserving looking youngster and in our broken German gave him the combined $20 of German tender.  He looked very confused, but we just kept walking.

As we exited the grounds, my friend and I joked that by putting an unexpected $20 into the populace, we might be able to upend the fragile communist economy. 

And, less than two years later, in 1989, the wall came down. 


I can't reasonably take all the credit for the collapse of the Berlin Wall.  After all, 1/2 the money came from my fellow traveler.............