Dear God,
please spare me from living in uninteresting times.
ANGELS OF IRON
LEADERS COME AND GO, THE GERMAN PEOPLE REMAINS
The Soviet Occupying Forces
have interrupted communications between West Germany
and Berlin's Western Sectors
as a reprisal for the introduction of an illegal currency.
The Western Occupying Powers are attempting
to maintain communications using an air bridge.
Please stay calm.
There is no danger of war.
I told you to come up with something!
Who wanted to come to this damn city? Not me!
At least the electricity is back on.
My beer!
What are you crying about now?
I can't take it anymore.
I can't even stand the sight of myself.
We'll leave.
I promise you, Gerti.
We'll leave.
They can do it to us German arseholes.
They draw a line through the city, and we can live with it.
All official regulations abandoned! How could order thrive?
Half the troops on the border, the other half checking ration cards.
Didn't you hear? Half of HQ has gone over.
Half of all files are in the West, half are here.
All the fingerprint cards divided half-and-half.
It'll pass.
We've seen so much pass, right, Commissioner Schäfer?
I won't have any part of it.
I won't, I tell you.
You're to see Commissioner Schäfer about the raid.
Why? Isn't Körner in? -You know they're all out on duty.
Isn't he the guy who... -Yes indeed.
Now he's found refuge at HQ. They're taking everyone now.
Descend.
This way.
Line up.
Schäfer, come along, would you? Come along.
Listen, we have to interrupt this. You hear?
... Send them home.
Screw the air bridge! -Send them home I say.
No!
WERNER GLADOW, SCHOOLBOY GERMAN, BORN FEB 19, '31...
You'll do as I tell you!
You can go home.
Let's drink to that! -Do we have any booze?
There must be a bottle somewhere.
My watches? -Agnes.
Won't you come in?
Nah.
What's up?
Agnes, cigarettes! -Where are they?
You know where.
You're spoiling my laundry.
So it's aeroplanes. Day and night.
The whole economy transferred to the skies.
There's one German mark, another German mark.
Both in the same city.
I have a guy who pays 20 West marks per watch.
Then give them to him. -Are you coming or not?
He's given them to us. -To what do we owe the honour?
Wondering how to turn a cemetery into a dancehall again?
Maybe you should read fewer books.
Come on! -You're bugging me.
What's up?
Go and have a drink. You've all got shit in your ears.
Can't you hear?
There's a buzzing.
We've brought him in before.
He's from Lichtenberg.
But we had to let him go again.
Gladow...
Gladow?
They're this gang. The usual.
The black market. -Then he shouldn't have been let go.
Three years of work, then the dream is gone.
Just as you thought you'd systematised things...
then...
it all goes up in smoke.
Hey, Werner.
Hey, Mrs Kassner.
Out and about in this heat?
It's like the desert.
Have you ever been?
No. But I imagine it like this.
Can you hear me?
Talk to me, Richard Schütze.
Your wife is waiting for news.
She hasn't been with another man once.
Not even as the war was over.
Richard Schütze, can you hear me?
Richard Schütze...
This is Luzie Gladow.
Your wife is beside me.
We're waiting for a sign.
If you are here,
give us a sign.
Maybe he no longer wants to talk to me.
Richard Schütze, I'm calling to you on the other side.
We're eager for news.
Calm yourselves, ladies.
This is Werner, my son.
Had a hard day at the hospital?
I need something to eat.
He wants to be a doctor.
Werner, this is Mrs Schütze and her daughter from Friedrichshagen.
Hello, Mr Gladow. -Hello, Mr Gladow.
He'll soon be eighteen.
You'll excuse me.
Did you bring it for me?
It was worth bringing my child through those hard times.
Worth it! Can't even get any peace in the kitchen.
Wolf it down. Your father's wealthy.
Excuse my husband.
He's been bed-bound since he was in captivity.
Let's get back to it, ladies.
Step this way.
Round the clock, American planes are providing for Berlin's Western Sectors
deep in the Soviet Occupation Zone.
The biggest air supply mission in history
is in full swing.
Around 1000 planes a day
are supplying the population with necessities:
Coal, food and clothing.
Even a complete power station was flown in, piece by piece,
to supply the zones that the Russian Occupying Forces have cut off
from all normal provision.
West Berliners are obeying the measures
ordered by their City Commander.
Electricity and public transport are limited
to between six a.m. and six p.m.
Such is the order of the day.
The opportunity of shopping in the East Zone
is not open to the population,
as the Russian Occupying Forces have introduced ration cards
and obligatory passport checks for every purchase.
An example to the population
is the valiant behaviour of American pilots,
four of whom lost their lives in the last six weeks.
This is the plane of Lieutenant Charles H. King...
and Robert W. Stuber,
which crashed on Handjery Street in Friedenau.
Planes are lovely.
No, really. They're lovely.
The way they land.
Ask a steward. Maybe they'll take you away.
Aren't you a singer...
who...
does Italian tearjerkers?
Where do you think you saw me, then?
Er, in...
Kassel? -Kassel!
Who sings in Kassel?
But it was Italian tearjerkers, right?
And now...
you make dollars...
Your friends probably can't afford to offer you a better life.
Will they always be so small-time?
You're very well-informed.
Well...
A cops' bar.
Is that his car? -Yes, I think so.
I'll check. Might be something in it.
I'll wait for you here.
Go on and stare.
Know how he paid for it?
Car.
Yes.
The braggart, the miserable arsehole!
Völpel.
He was an executioner...
until a year ago.
One beheading after the next.
And now...
he's been brought down to this.
He said he's an executioner. -Who?
The guy who just went in.
I can't imagine it.
What exactly did he tell you at the airport?
He said it really fast.
"Go and ask your Gladow...
if he'd like to make the big time...
now all hell has broken loose in the skies.
If he wants to know more, I'll be at the Quelle Bar after six."
CURRENCY EXCHANGE
What do you want from me, you miserable executioner?
Think twice before you say a single word!
One false step and I'll slit your throat.
Come upstairs first.
Out.
Like I told you.
It's no big deal.
Some die on their feet, others like this.
It is a job like any other.
When the arseholes didn't need me here anymore, they made me push pens.
But I came here for the longest time.
Wherever the sun shines.
For 60,000 you can get a four-master.
Though of course a windjammer would be even better.
It starts in Hamburg. No more than three days...
at any port.
Were you ever by the sea?
I'm telling you, we can have it all.
It's a once-in-a-century opportunity.
Once one war is over, they tremble about the next.
Come on. Strap me down.
What are you waiting for?
Völpel!
Some die on their feet, others like this.
Regardless of the costs,
the world will spare no effort
to show the behemoth who would crush us...
that this time
he has encountered an indestructible adversary.
Ever in the human consciousness
is the desire for justice,
and ever in the human heart
lives the desire for freedom.
Woe betide him
who ignores this human instinct.
We have done our duty,
and will continue to do our duty.
Peoples of the world, do your duty, too...
and help us...
in the days ahead of us.
Not only with the buzz of your aeroplanes,
not only with the transport possibilities you can bring here...
but also with your stalwart
and unvanquishable support
for our common ideals.
For only they can guarantee
a future for us all, for all of you.
Peoples of the world,
you peoples of America,
of England, of France, of Italy,
look to this city.
Get out of here.
Remember, we were visiting someone. -You should have got her rings.
We can't shift them. -Chicken!
All because her face was peeping out.
I tried. Completely impossible.
All under lock and key. The fingerprints, too.
Getting files is a big deal?
They lost half of them to the West. Now they're cautious with them.
You could at least get my one.
It reads the same as your friends' ones:
"Black market, tough childhood, etc."
Thickies.
I'll run them out of ink yet.
Ladybird, ladybird fly away home
Your house is on fire Your children are gone
Ladybird...
-Well?
Hey...
Al Capone.
Chinese silk. One each.
Here's yours.
What is this?
Stripes for Easterners, spots for Westerners.
And anyone with a file in the East
who does a job in the East is off the crew.
Yes, I know. Organisation is everything.
I think little Gladow likes playing at being boss.
What do you care?
As long as you can buy a new suit every two months.
Boy!
What is it?
BEWAG.
The Berlin Electric Works, PLC.
They must have something inside. -Yes.
Electricity. -And what else?
The strongbox with the deposits.
Once a month. From every apartment.
We could get that from any bank.
But I want it from here.
Well...
I sometimes think
that if I were you...
What?
I don't know.
I'm not you.
Werner?
You forgot your coffee.
It's nice and cool here.
It's the hottest summer in 30 years.
Aunt Elsie wants to move in with us.
She says she can't stand it in Kreuzberg.
There's only dried soup.
Only dried food.
Dried food and rolls.
Electricity between midnight and 03:00.
And the din, she says.
Elsie says...
it will end in war.
This can't carry on forever.
Everything coming in by air.
They might as well just...
bring in dried water, too...
says Elsie.
I'd be glad if she came.
So as not to be so alone with the old man.
He just counts his leaves of tobacco.
But maybe it's better she stays where she is.
Did she take us in when we were bombed out?
And anyway, now things are getting tough,
to have her move in with the old man and his sister
whilst I have to keep them fed?
No, Werner.
You're right. She can stay where she is...
and deal with it like the rest of us.
Ten from here.
Ten from there.
The coshes are there.
There's woods all around.
The suburban rail is loud.
Gabler knows the plan.
She approaches the barrier, distracts the cops.
There are four at most.
And this?
A desert. Wüste.
Wuste. -Wüste!
Look here!
We'll go there, too.
But only once they've built us a stage.
Black on white:
"Berlin Dances On."
And the first sidestep has been done.
Rugasch the dummy brought twelve new girls from Neukölln.
And get this:
One of them has an uncle,
and he has a dancehall in Weissensee.
That's where it starts. Saturday week.
And then throughout Berlin.
We'll be sleeping on red velvet.
Already? It's kind of early.
Anyway, people are starving and won't pay a penny to shake a leg.
Stop with that. That attitude put an end to your singing career.
The Weissensee thing is worth a mint.
Don't make me laugh!
You're all mouth. -Pay no attention.
They thought they could buy us up with their nice new money.
Joker! We'll still be here when you're digging up Siberia.
Excuse me, I didn't mean to bother you gentlemen.
If you're having a discussion
of a political nature, maybe I...
can cross without a check, huh?
That's fine with us, young lady.
You come here and open your bag.
Why should I come over to you?
You come over to me.
You won't find much in it.
Except French letters and Vaseline.
Maybe I have eggs in my blouse.
Well?
Hands up. Drop your guns.
Over here, nice and slow.
Off with the uniforms.
Get a load of that there!
Just look at that!
Has she gone crazy?
Get her down from there. -Leave her be.
It was agreed. -No it wasn't.
Not like that.
What if she's having fun?
You're staying here.
If you've got no balls, then a gun is good.
Now line up.
Get on with it, arseholes.
Hop-hop!
Move it!
Turn around.
And march!
"... In their underwear
all the way down Brunnen Street."
They didn't even dare turn around.
That's the arm of the law!
Cheers.
Playing at soldiers?
Children's crap!
You and your idiots are ruining everything.
Think I want to carry files about for another year?
You can't even drive.
I wouldn't go along in the war and won't go along with you now.
I got five years in prison for that.
They can do anything they want to you.
First you're the arm of the law, then you're its arse.
Get screwed, do your shit on your own.
Hands up!
Shit!
So tell me, what good are car engines to me?
How am I going to sell them?
Some villa with jewellery!
Three crones and a cretin!
How much longer, Ridzinski?
What?
I asked you how much longer is this going to take.
Top-notch material.
In two months or less, the Mercedes garages will be drooling.
It's every mechanic's dream.
Mechanic!
More, Völpel. And you, let the beer flow.
Wash away my shame, Völpel.
There once was...
a Commissioner...
The best you ever had...
Völpel, more.
Ever see a three-legged dog?
The way he walks?
You're from a village.
You must have seen one.
But you were a knave so you won't have.
But I saw one. He was faster than the others.
Tap-tap-tap. Like that.
Across the whole farmyard.
Higher.
Higher still.
Okay? -Yes. -Watch out now.
I've got it. -Okay.
Now push it over, go on.
Push it. And down it goes.
So, there we are.
Slowly...
Out! All of you.
He's kidding.
Gabler, the size 18 spanner.
Out. Didn't you hear?
Go on. Bolt!
You're a madman.
Or are you above a proper day's work?
A madman is what he is.
Listen, you rat,
go ahead and rob corpses when planes crash,
let your dad teach you how to shake your arse,
but stay out of things here.
50,000 marks!
Why does no one do for him...
so he's on his knees in the shit?
The milksop!
Sissies.
Wet blankets the lot of them!
Are you ready at last?
I'll show you your engines.
Fish food.
Come on.
Grab your jacket!
You could have said something.
Ridzinski was always actually a good man.
I'm saying nothing anymore. You're coming with me.
You and your shit.
Just sitting around...
and cashing in.
How about the Berlin Electric Works?
What's that?
What about them? -How about them?
Listen:
Take your briefcase and go.
On your return
you will present me here
with the floor plan, guard schedule,
escape routes
deposit dates...
strongbox location.
Come on, move it. You know everyone.
I'll wait here for your return.
Even if it's in two days.
Come on, move it.
I can offer... -Shut it!
Lie down.
Go back to sleep.
May I get dressed?
Come in here.
How long did he actually do it?
What? -What? This.
I don't know exactly.
The two years after the war.
And who were his clients?
War criminals. Generals and so on.
In the East and in the West?
There was no division back then.
In the American Sector it was the guillotine,
in the Russian Sector
it was the axe.
The chopper?
Yes. He had to bring it in his case. -In his case?
Where is it now?
On the suspended ceiling.
It's here?
Show me.
Now?
Me? -Too right.
Too right.
I'll be a moment.
What did he get... for each one?
1000 marks.
It was reichsmarks then.
He wasn't to be recognisable afterwards.
What else could he do on his release?
The war was over, there was unemployment,
he wasn't recognised as a conscientious objector...
We couldn't go home, it was Polish...
All right, all right.
Try it on.
Not that, Mr Gladow. Please.
It's only card. Just show me.
But...
You can take it off again afterwards.
And who made it for him?
Who? Me.
A glass, Gerti. Make it a big one.
One glass, I said. He doesn't drink.
He's a spiritual fellow.
You can open the case.
Deposit dates...
floor plan of the technical wing,
escape routes, cash office keys.
What do you say to that?
I'll buy you a home by Müggel Lake one day.
The big one with the nice barred windows.
I want the money.
I take it all back.
Berlin Electric Works is a great idea.
On the 17th there'll be at least...
420,000 marks there.
But that isn't crucial. Do you know what is crucial?
I gave it thought on my way over.
Why don't you sit down, Gerti?
Well, what is crucial?
Who are we taking it from?
Berlin Electric Works.
Wrong.
We are taking it
from the working man.
So what? -What do you mean, so what?
He's the main enemy.
When I was in hiding
and didn't want to go to the front,
who denounced me?
The working man.
Right, Gerti? -Keep it down!
Won't you have a drink, Mr Gladow? -He's a self-oiling mechanism.
Werner, I understand why you dumped the engines in the water.
It was a masterpiece.
Eight hours of work.
With a screwdriver.
Criminal.
You and I aren't the criminals, I'm not because of the executions.
The working man...
is a criminal.
The little working men.
If it were sanctioned by the state,
each would have a guillotine in his kitchen.
For his wife, if she cheated.
For the landlord.
For the relevant superior.
We're not the criminals.
Nor is the government.
It's their fault they have the say now. The criminal is...
Well, who? -Lie down.
Mr Gladow isn't interested. -Everyone is interested.
Everyone is interested in why I did this!
Why else did he go all round the city looking for me?
I have to go now.
Criminals...
First they wanted to force a gun into my hands,
then they just lay there...
like this
snivelling.
And who stood there
with an axe in his hand, yes?
Was it perhaps the working man?
This is too much.
Let him sleep. Tell him I'll bring his case back tomorrow.
Hands up!
125...
130.
135.
140.
145.
150.
155.
160.
165.
170.
Well, satisfied?
With what? -How your big plan all worked out.
Know how much it was? -Makes no odds.
Next time we cut the power. And really go to work.
We'll rob them all. -You should have seen me, Agnes.
I only stumbled once.
And they...
all...
really clapped. Pity you missed it.
But now you're coming along.
460,000 marks.
Forget Weissensee. We'll rent the Friedrichstadt Palace.
I just need to come up with a new name.
Lisa Gabler won't do.
I need something American.
Be quiet, be quiet.
What's up? -Up there, can't you hear?
What's that? -The planes, they've all fallen silent.
... Removed by both sides:
We repeat,
the four Occupying Powers,
the United States of America,
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain
have decided to end the blockade as of today.
All traffic and trade restrictions in Germany
are now lifted.
We will now return to our opera concert.
How will they know where you were?
How would you know what happened today?
So we meet again.
There are those who wait and those who celebrate.
Why don't you go and get Gladow?
Gladow!
How come he's here?
And knows you're here?
And that we're celebrating?
Don't start meddling again. -What does he want from you?
They'll be exchanging files again any day.
East with West, West with East.
So the airport then, now it's not watched.
It must be loaded.
The guards will be gone.
It has to be possible. -Yes, sure.
Or the HQ. So much for an exchange of files.
Not going to happen.
Say, do you have the money on you?
What? -My 50 percent of Berlin Electric Works.
Gabler has it. He'll change them for dollars. You'll get it in two days.
But I need it now, you hear?
My plane leaves at 16:45.
Are you crazy?
What plane?
I'm not staying here.
I've already sold my car.
You've done what?
Sold your car? -Order has broken out.
Our rulers are in accord and we're on our own.
Tomorrow you'll be able to hear a fly cough here.
Come on. I need the money. Right now.
At once. Come on.
Well, Völpel, I'll obtain a new car for us.
Get out.
I'm waiting for my boss.
What?
He just sits there.
He won't get out, the local brainiac.
Völpel... come along.
The chauffeur on Charlotten Street...
I mean, the murder on Charlotten Street.
If you want to know who did it...
Go tell them. They'll be glad of the lead.
Or save your breath. -Your colleague,
that nice Mr Völpel, he shot him this morning.
He wanted the car.
I saw it myself.
Who?
Völpel?
She's nuts.
How come you know him?
I just do.
So you'll believe me, I can tell you he was an executioner.
He shot the chauffeur this morning in front of the transformer factory.
Call it in quick. He wants to run away.
Give me department three.
Schäfer here.
Yes, regardless.
Or better still... -And don't believe a word he says.
His car's number is IB...
26 35.
Stay where you are. Stay there.
We're taking a trip today.
To the West.
Where the money's at.
Where are the needle and thread?
Why do you have the dress on today?
I told you a hundred times... it's torn.
We had a needle and thread somewhere.
Stop right there.
The slit really isn't so bad.
We'll keep it.
What an idiot I am!
I really should have figured it out sooner.
A cop.
You know who we've been running round for all this time?
Who had us on the line from the very beginning?
Are you still drunk?
On what line?
He sang like a bird, more than we needed. You can read it all.
We'll see if an identity parade can be arranged.
Here or over our side.
You can't use the confession officially, but you can have a copy.
After all, you gave us the lead.
I've heard a great deal about you. Even back at police school.
Can I speak to him alone? It's not that I don't trust you,
but he was my colleague for three years.
Don't beat him to death, I'll need him still.
My secretary won't bother you.
She's typing up the interview.
I really didn't do it, Schäfer.
It was Gladow.
That's not what I heard. -What did you hear?
From whom?
This little blonde with hair like this.
Oh, right.
Her.
Yes, yes...
I should have known.
But it still wasn't me.
Stay down. Don't fidget. The money!
I just want to see him again. -The officers will get you.
It's all the same now.
What's with you?
You'll be sweeping the yard again on Saturday.
The building is surrounded.
Reach!
Berlin is not Chicago... Berlin is not Chicago...
Listen. I'll get you out of here, okay...
I need you as a witness.
They won't transfer you voluntarily.
In a second. Out the window.
I have a car in front of it.
It'll be the greatest trial of the last 20 years.
You'll be my witness and I'll say you were obeying orders throughout.
Then we'll bring you back into service.
Service?
Service!
Commissioner! We're done! Take me away!
Ever seen a three-legged dog, Schäfer?
You idiot!
Just as things are looking up again.
The 19-year-old schoolboy Werner Gladow
was executed on December 10, 1950, by guillotine.
Former executioner Gustav Völpel
died after seven years of imprisonment on February 8, 1959.