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Punk Teens In East Germany Rebelled — Sparking The Fall Of The Berlin Wall

Published: Wednesday, October 3, 2018 - 12:56pm
Updated: Friday, October 5, 2018 - 7:09am
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Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall by Tim Mohr.

In the 1980s, the concrete wall that divided the German city of Berlin still stood. On the east side, the German Democratic Republic carried forth the Soviet Union’s agenda until it was topped in 1990 as the Cold War came to a close.

In his new book, "Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall," music journalist Tim Mohr uncovers the little-known story of a group of punk rockers in East Berlin whose teenage rebellion became the spark that proved the power of resistance.

The Show spoke with Mohr more about this. He said at the time in East Germany, there was an officially sanctioned music scene that was mostly dominated by bands that tried to sound like Deep Purple. But his story begins with a small group of teenagers there who heard the Sex Pistols on Western radio.

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