Augusta's Journal: 30 April 1929

Dorotheenstrasse

This is the view from my home at Dorotheenstrasse 11.  It's in one of the lower class parts of Berlin, and it's a neighborhood with a bit of a past.  Last year saw the infamous Mo Galewarden incident happen, right in front of my house!  I guess with Mo living in the neighborhood, it will never be boring... but to be honest, Mo Galewarden had nothing to do with the activities in Berlin on the first day of May in 1929...  

This picture on the left looks toward the other end of Dorotheenstrasse.  On the right, you can see the Wascherei at the corner.  It's right across from the Polizeiamt, which is nice because I don't have a telephone.  So in an emergency, I can just go down the street.

Danitz comes to
investigate.

 

Or I can do what I did April 30 when I heard breaking glass: I shouted out and the Wachtmeister on duty came running.  I was fortunate, as Danitz, the Berlin Oberwachtmeister himself arrived. 

 

He drove up in the Polizeiwagen, and quickly surveyed the situation, with his gun ready.  Truth be told, it was a relief to see that it was Danitz, although either Pinden or Koertig would have been just as helpful.  They are the Wachtmeister that I am most familiar with and they have always been very professional. 



... but there was nothing that could be found, which only added to the tension that was building in Berlin.

Looking around that night, it's easy to see now how nervous and tense everyone had become.  May Day is a big holiday for the socialists and communists all over the world, and the SPD and KPD in Berlin were no exception.  Only maybe the KPD was trying too hard to make their point.

Guns are aimed at

suspicious characters

roaming the streets.

The Weimar government set out a ruling that banned public gatherings on May Day.  After the Great War, uprisings had happened in Berlin that were particularly violent, and since this was the 10th anniversary of those difficult days, they didn't want to take any chances.  Unfortunately, the KPD refused to accept this and kept making preparations for their "peaceful" demonstration.  For days they had been talking openly about how the order had been reversed and that they were going to have their march no matter what.  The soldiers and police are taking care of Berlin.  Any suspicious characters are being interrogated, as I saw when I was ending my discussion with Oberwachtmeister Danitz and leaving for home.

Koertig and Sein on watch.

No one believed these radicals, and the discussions in Berlin got quite heated from both sides.  There were few people who didn't have an opinion on what was going to happen.  You didn't need to do more than look at what happened to Sein -- he was attacked the evening before!  But like the other loyal soldiers that remain in service, Sein reported for duty and joined in patrols with the Wachtmeister in Berlin.

Ernst on horseback.

There were soldiers all over Berlin that night.  They rode in police vehicles.  They walked patrols.  Ernst came by on horseback to see if all was quiet in our section of Berlin, and was even joined by the General on his horse after a while.  This all gave the citizens of Berlin some confidence that at least the situation would not get too out of hand.

Mamma would be horrified by this situation, but then again, she doesn't deal well with a real crisis.  I think Pappa would be doing what I am doing.  I'm trying to keep my opinions to myself and just observing what is going on.