CURRENT SUPPORT BRIEF INLAND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN EAST GERMANY AND GREATER BERLIN BEFORE AND AFTER 13 AUGUST 1961

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01003A001100340001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 4, 1962
• Content Type: BRIEF

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CIA/RR CB-62-1
S-E-C-R-E-T
NOFORN Copy No.-_ 28
4 January 1962
CURRENT SUPPORT BRIEF
INLAND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN EAST GERMANY AND
GREATER BERLIN BEFORE AND AFTER 13 AUGUST 1961
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND REPORTS
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This report represents the immediate views of the
originating intelligence components of the Office
of Research and Reports. Comments are solicited.
This document contains information affecting the national defense of
the United States, within the meaning of the espionage laws, Title 18
USC, Sections 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which
in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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INLAND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION IN EAST GERMANY
AND GREATER BERLIN BEFORE AND AFTER 13 AUGUST 1961
On 13 August 1961 the East German Government initiated a series
of measures designed to isolate West Berlin from East Germany and
East Berlin. The construction of a concrete wall through Berlin and
the establishment of a limited number of controlled access points
around West Berlin have created the semblance of an international
frontier.
The principal effects on transportation of the 13. August action
have been ? ;.:e imposition of additional hardships upon the East
Germans, particularly upon those residing in East Berlin, and a
general disruption of traffic and transportation in East Germany a-
round the Berlin area. The closure of the electrified S-Bahn routes
leading into and through West Berlin has forced the railroads to
divert traffic to the steam operated Outer Ring of the East German
railroua't system. This has resulted in a critical shortage of steam
locomotives, an extremely congested traffic situation on the Outer
Ring, abnormal delays to freight and passenger traffic and a.general
complication of the entire railroad transport situation in the Berlin
area. These factors are contributing to a disruption in transportation
throughout all of East Germany, threatening the efficient distribution
of fuels and food. Passenger transport within both East and West
Berlin has been seriously disrupted and the time required for workers
to travel from and to their place of employment has in many cases
more than tripled. Both East and West Berlin have been compelled to
acquire additional motor buses to compensate for the disruption in
the electrified city rail transport facilities. The railroad con-
struction projects which followed the 13 August action have not
only wasted man hours and material but have shifted priorities away
from projects which probably have far more economic justification.
The attempts toisolate West Berlin have resulted in a costly diversion
and re-routing of freight and passenger traffic in the Berlin area
which will continue unless the East Germans lift the restrictions
which they have imposed.
Greater Berlin is the hub of the railroad, highway and inland
waterway routes radiating to all points in East Germany and to the
borders of neighboring countries. (See map figure 1) A system of
canals connects greater Berlin with the Oder and the Elbe Rivers and
with the Mittelland Canal which in turn connects with the Rhine River.
East German railroad system trains in long distance and international
traffic originate and terminate in East Berlin with few exceptions.
The exceptions are trains carrying official passenger and freight
traffic of the Occupying Powers between West Berlin and the German
Federal Republic, and German Federal Republic commercial freight
traffic from and to West Berlin, all of which originate and terminate
in West Berlin. Many international passenger trains transit West
Berlin, some of which make a stop at the Zoological Garden railroad
station in West Berlin where international travellers with proper
documents may board or leave the trains.
A circular or belt railroad known as the Berlin Outer Ring
completely encircles greater Berlin, affording a by-pass of the
center of the city. The Outer:Ring was completed during the blockade
of 1948-49 and some sections were double tracked at that time.
There are seven railroad crossing points on the German Federal
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Republic-East German border all of which are open to international
and interzonal traffic. Five of these crossing points are used for
interzonal freight traffic between the German Federal Republic and
East Germany while the other two are used for international traffic
and for transit traffic through East Germany'.to,a third country.
All Allied freight and passenger traffic and all freight traffic
between the German Federal Republic and West Berlin is restricted
to the railroad crossing point at Helmstedt-Marienborn which enters
West Berlin at Griebnitzsee near Potsdam. Passenger traffic between
the German Federal Republic and East Germany, including greater Berlin,
is normally routed over four of the crossing points.
Highway freight and passenger traffic between greater Berlin and
the German Federal Republic travels through five interzonal crossing
points and via five highway routes. These five routes converge near
the outskirts of West Berlin and enter West Berlin through two con-
trol points. All highway freight and passenger traffic of the
Occupying Powers is restricted to the autobahn route which enters
East Germany at Helmstedt-Marienborn and enters West Berlin at
Babelsburg-Dreilinden.
Within greater Berlin, two railroad systems provide routes for
passenger transportation throughout both the East and West sectors.
These two systems are the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn. The S-Bahn, an
electrified elevated railroad owned and operated by the East German,
Railroad (Reichsbahn), extends throughout the entire city and into
the Soviet zone of East Germany where travellers can make connections
with long distance trains of the East German railroad system. S-Bahn
traffic using steam locomotives also runs over some portions of the
Berlin Outer Ring. The U-Bahn, an electrified subway system,'operates
in both the East and West sectors of the city and crosses the inter-
sector border at several points. Each sector owns and controls the
operations within its sector. None of the U-Bahn routes extend beyond
the city limits of greater Berlin..
City street car and bus line routes are operated independently
in each sector and do not cross the sector border. Prior to 13
August 1961, fourteen intersector crossing points were authorized
for pedestrians or travellers using the S-Bahn, U-Bahn or motor
vehicles. (See map figure 2)
Since 13 August 1961
he measures taken on 13 August 1961 have had no effect on
international railroad and highway traffic routes between greater
Berlin and the German Federal Republic. Neither have they affected
Allied or German Federal Republic traffic from or to West Berlin-.
international trains continue to run on schedule and some of them
transit West Berlin stopping at the Zoological Garden railroad
station in West Berlin where passengers may board or leave the trains.
Presumably, East German police aboard the passenger trains enforce
control measures to prevent the defection of East German residents
in the West Berlin railroad station. The only change worthy of note
in this connection is that trains originate and terminate in East
Berlin at the Fr.iedr.ichstrasse, railroad station instead of the
Berlin East railroad station, formerly the main terminal according ID
all international timetables.; It has been reported that the
Friedri'chstica'ssee railroad station has been altered to provide
immigration and customs control of passengers and merchandise as a
full-fledged international port of entry and exit.
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The most notable result of the 13 August measures in long distance
railroad traffic is the drastic reduction of the number of East Germans
crossing the German Federal Republic borders. During the first seven
months of 1961, a total of 537,175 East German travellers entered the
Federal Republic from East Germany and 566,151 entered East Germany
from the Federal Republic. In September, the first full month after
the 13 August measures, only 70 East German travellers entered the
Federal. Republic and only 7,989 entered East Germany.
2nland waterway traffic on vessels registered in the German Federal
Republic has not been affected except that vessels may enter East
Berlin only during specific periods during the day and only under East
German police escort. On the other hand, vessels of East German
registry have been prohibited from using the inland waterways which
transit West Berlin. Prior to the 13 August restrictions, transit
traffic on the inland waterway through West Berlin on East German
vessels amounted to 300 to 400 thousand tons per month (376,247 tons
on 1,313 vessels in July 1961). This traffic dropped to only 1:58,000
tons on 528 vessels during August 1961. This restriction means that
East German barge 'traffic from the Elbe River or the Mittelland
Canal destined to East Berlin must be routed via the Havel Canal
and the Oder-Havel Canal to the Oder River, thence up the Oder to
the Oder Spree waterway and thence by the Oder Spree to East Berlin.
This circuituous route is over 300 kilometers longer than the route
via the Havel River and the Teltow Canal through West Berlin. The
added distance and the additional time required will probably make
the cost of inland water transport prohibitive, resulting in a
diversion of the traffic to the railroads which are already being
intensively used in the Berlin area.
The measures taken by the East German regime on 13 August IL961
have drastically hampered transportation within greater Berlin as
well as the East German suburbs adjacent to the West Berlin borders.
(See map figure 3)
LA11 S-Bahn lines running between West Berlin and the Soviet
zone ceased operations on 13 August and have since been made inoperative
by the removal of rails and the blocking of tracks. East German
commuters who formerly used these lines going to and from work in
East Berlin are now routed over the Outer Ring completely by-passing
West Berlin. This has more than doubled the travel distance and
has tripled or even quadrupled the travel time of workers.]
[-Of the S-Bahn lines formerly connecting East and West Berlin,
only two continue to operate across the sector border. The line
connecting the northern West Berlin suburbs of Tegel and Frohnau in
the French sector with the southern West Berlin suburb of Wansee
and Lichterfelde in the American sector continues to run through a
part of East Berlin crossing the sector border at two points. All
stops in East Berlin have been eliminated except at the Friedrich
strasse station and anyone wishing to board or leave the trains at
that point is subject to East German police control and, if of
German nationality, a special permit. The central west-to-east
line also enters East Berlin and stops at the Friedrichstrasse
station from which point it returns to West Berlin. If a traveller
wishes to continue his trip into East Berlin, he must transfer to
another S-Bahn train departing from a different platform. Travellers
are subject to the same East German police controls as mentioned
above. One new S-Bahn route, between Berlin Pankow and Schoenhauser
Allee has been constructed in East Berlin to facilitate passenger
traffic between the central part of the East Berlin and Oranienburg,j'
a suburb north of Berlin in the Soviet zone.
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1Of the four U-Bahn lines which formerly operated in East and West
Berlin, only two continue to pass through East Berlin. The line
between Tegel in the French sector and Tempelhof in the American,
sector continues to pass through East Berlin stopping at Friedrich-
strasse. Travellers who board or leave the trains at Friedrichstra sse
are subject to the same controls by East German police as are the S-
Bahn passengers mentioned above. Another line between Gesundbrunnen
and Leine Strasse transits a part of East Berlin without stopping;at
all. All other lines in both East and West Berlin terminate at the
last station before crossing the sector borders.
LRail freight traffic from those areas of East Germany which are
East of Berlin and which formerly entered West Berlin through East
Berlin is no longer permitted to do so. Instead, such traffic must
now circle East Berlin and enter West Berlin directly from the "Soviet
zone of East Germany at either Drewitz or Griebnitzsee, where rail
traffic from the German Federal Republic has entered since 1949.
East German pleasure and sight seeing boats have been prohibited
from entering West Berlin since 13 August 1961. Also, all East
German barges bringing freight into West Berlin must enter West Berlin
only at Henningsdorf, north of Berlin on the Havel River. All transit
traffic through West Berlin on East German barges has been prohibited.
The expense to which the East German regime has subjected itself
as a direct result of the 13 August measures cannot be assessed com-
pletely in monetary terms. Nevertheless it is apparent that some of
the construction projects made necessary by the closure of trans-
portation routes and the diversion of traffic have been costly.
The Outer Ring from Hohen Neuendorf north of Berlin and circling
West Berlin to Saarmund has been double tracked. This involved the
preparation of the road bed, the building of embankments and the
placement of 64 kilometers of track requiring about 6,400 tons of
rail. Between 2,500 and 3,000 workers were employed'on this project
which was completed in 60 days. Rail for the project was obtained
by diverting supplies previously earmarked for the reconstruction
of the militarily important Frankfurt-Am-Oder -- Berlin route, which
had earlier been given top priority in the railroad reconstruction
program. Traffic over the newly constructed second track is re-
stricted to very slow speeds because insufficient time was permitted
to compact the road bed. A number of bridges for the second track
have not yet been completed, causing traffic bottlenecks:.,, The
rerouting of Berlin S-Bahn traffic over this route has added to the
congestion and has caused delays and confusion in handling;'commercial
freight traffic. Moreover, S-Bahn traffic which formerly operated
with electric locomotives must now rely upon steam locomotives re-
sulting in a critical shortage of steam locomotives in the Berlin area.
In a recent speech in Berlin, Walter Ulbricht cryptically describedc:c
the railroad freight traffic situation in Berlin as being "extra-
ordinarily complicated." and many reports indicate that rail freight
traffic in the Berlin area is jammed.
In order to improve the situation of the Outer Ring the East
German railroad plans to spend L06.9 million DM in 1962 on con-
struction and repair. Construction work will include the repair or
replacement of existing trackage, construction of new bridges and
the repair of old ones, and the electrification of some sections
which are used by the S-Bahn_oj Another project involves the con-
struction of a new S-Bahn line in East Berlin. This new line, running
from Berlin Pankow to Schoenhauser Strasse, was completed in 40 days
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and provides a route from the center of the city to the Outer Ring
and thence to Oranienburg north of Berlin. The expenditures in terms
of material and labor on this project have not been made public. It
is probable, however, that they were high because the new route runs
through a densely populated area which would require the destruction
of buildings and structures in the way.
As a direct result of the 13 August measures, West Berlin trade
unions proclaimed a boycott of the S-Bahn. Before the end of August
the most conservative estimates indicated that traffic had dropped
to less than 100,000 passengers daily from a normal average of
400,000 to 500,000. S-Bahn fares in West Berlin are purchased
with DM(West) and are a good source of foreign exchange for the
East German regime. S-Bahn earnings of DM(West) in 1960 amounted
to an estimated 90 million. The boycott, if it continues, will re-
sult in a loss of 75 to 80 percent of that revenue.
25X1A
Analyst
3GHb, x G"?6
Sourco? material for this Brief is available in ORR/S/TR on request.
25X1A
25X1A
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EAST GERMANY
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BORNHOLM
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(Karl-Marx-Stadt)
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does not enter West Berlin. rp"
I SURFACE ACCESS ROUTES FROM THE
rtu. HL'. 1N I U E. GERIMANY
Canal
Road
Autobahn
Railroad
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0 10 20 30 40 50 Miles
0 10 20 30 40 50 Kilometers
Stettin
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Figure I
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