Affectionately nicknamed "racing pasteboard" or "asphalt bubble", the East German Trabant is celebrated in Prague
Record ID:
1434104
Affectionately nicknamed "racing pasteboard" or "asphalt bubble", the East German Trabant is celebrated in Prague
- Title: Affectionately nicknamed "racing pasteboard" or "asphalt bubble", the East German Trabant is celebrated in Prague
- Date: 28th September 2019
- Summary: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (SEPTEMBER 28, 2019) (REUTERS) FLEET OF EAST GERMAN CARS TRABANTS DRIVING THROUGH STREET VARIOUS OF TRABANTS ARRIVING AT GERMAN EMBASSY PEOPLE LOOKING AT TRABBIS AND OTHER EAST GERMAN CARS PARKED MAN SHOWING THE OLD PICNIC BASKET IN BACK OF HIS TRABBI (SOUNDBITE) (German) TRABANT FAN MATTHIAS REGINA (44) FROM COTTBUS, SAYING: "When I was 18, that was … let me think…, well when I got my driver’s license, my first car was a Trabbi. Not this one (POINTS) but very much like this one. And I've been driving Trabant ever since." PEOPLE INCLUDING GERMAN AMBASSADOR TO PRAGUE LOOKING AT TRABANT (SOUNDBITE) (German) TRABANT FAN MATTHIAS REGINA (44) FROM COTTBUS, SAYING: "Well, in the first years I had to drive only Trabant. But now it is more like a hobby. I also have a Wartburg, well, two Trabbis and a Wartburg, but only for meetings, or for an outing on Sunday afternoon with the family. But in general I drive a Volkswagen." VARIOUS OF OLD WARTBURGS (ANOTHER EAST GERMAN CAR) (SOUNDBITE) (German) WOLFGANG SCHULZ (67) FROM SALZWEDEL SAYING: "Well, we have to keep the traditions alive, don't we? And keep old things alive. That is very important in live. So you know where you came from. LAUGHS OLD WARTBURGS VARIOUS OF "DDR" SIGN WITH "D" AND "R" CROSSED OUT TO MAKE IT "D" FOR GERMANY (SOUNDBITE) (German) EYE-WITNESS OF EVENT AT GERMAN EMBASSY IN 1989, ROLF MAHLKE FROM WITTINGEN SAYING: "We were the so-called second wave. When we left we heard on the car radio that there were 500 people in the embassy. In Dresden (we heard) they were already 3.000. And when we arrived at the embassy, there were already 4.5 thousand people. So everything was full. And we came when it was announced that women and children could go into the embassy because it was becoming quit cold. But I had to stay outside and I waited there for three days in front of the embassy gate." VARIOUS OF EAST GERMAN PASSPORT BEHIND THE FRONT GLASS (SOUNDBITE) (German) EYE-WITNESS OF EVENT AT GERMAN EMBASSY IN 1989, ROLF MAHLKE FROM WITTINGEN SAYING: "It was very difficult for us. There was no location for the German embassy (in Prague) in (east German) maps or atlases. Those area have been crisscrossed with white lines, and we didn't know where to go. So we drove into to downtown Prague, got out and asked our way here." VARIOUS OF TRABANT TRABANT DRIVING TRABANT EXHAUST PIPE
- Embargoed: 12th October 2019 13:11
- Keywords: Prague celebrations marking 30 years since East German refugees in Prague were allowed to cross into West Germany embassy Trabant
- Location: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
- City: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYKM2WP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The unique toc-toc-toc of a Trabant-engine could be heard again in Prague on Saturday, as a fleet of the East German cars drove up the cobbled streets to the German embassy as part of the celebrations marking 30 years since East German refugees in Prague were allowed to cross into West Germany.
Once a staple in the GDR and affectionately nicknamed "racing pasteboard" or "asphalt bubble", the Trabants still have their appeal to aficionados. Or rather again. The cars on show in Prague gleamed and shined and many a visitor wistfully recalled fond memories. "When I was 18, that was … let me think…, well when I got my driver’s license, my first car was a Trabbi. Not this one but very much like this one. And I've been driving Trabant ever since," said Trabbi fan Matthias Regina from Cottbus. Today, he still has Trabants and a Wartburg, another East German car, but uses them mostly for meetings like this or outings. He said that his everyday car now is a Volkswagen.
For most of the visitors, the location of the meeting was very significant, as some spent days here as well in '89. Rolf Malke, an eye-witness of the events at the German embassy in 1989, remembers that the number of people in the embassy rose steadily. "When we left we heard on the car radio that there were 500 people in the embassy. I Dresden (we heard) they were already 3.000. And when we arrived at the embassy, there were already 4.5 thousand people." Women and children were allowed into the embassy as it was becoming very cold. But Malke himself waited outside the gates for three days before he heard the magic words from the then Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher that he and his family could leave for West Germany. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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