Divided country,
divided heart

Client:
Stern & MYP Magazine

Research & text:
Jonas Meyer & Katharina Weiß

Photography:
Steven Lüdtke

For Stern and MYP Magazine, journalist Katharina Weiß and I wrote down the moving story of Martina Geng.

In the summer of 1971, the then 19-year-old GDR citizen fell in love with a West German — and subsequently repeatedly felt the harshness of the SED regime. In 1992, three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Martina Geng experienced her own personal reunification: She met the West German again, for whom she still harbored deep feelings.

Divided country, divided heart

Client:
Stern & MYP Magazine

Research & text:
Jonas Meyer & Katharina Weiß

Photography:
Steven Lüdtke

For Stern and MYP Magazine, journalist Katharina Weiß and I wrote down the moving story of Martina Geng.

In the summer of 1971, the then 19-year-old GDR citizen fell in love with a West German — and subsequently repeatedly felt the harshness of the SED regime. In 1992, three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Martina Geng experienced her own personal reunification: She met the West German again, for whom she still harbored deep feelings.

The chronology of this German-German love story was published on stern.de on November 9, 2019 — on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The chronology of this German-German love story was published on stern.de on November 9, 2019 — on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.