European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 13, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday August 13, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 3 Berlin artist has Wall adjusted View of life  Stant writer West Berlin sculptor Peter Unsicker lights a cigarette and stares out of Fth window at he Graffiti plast Rcd Wall thai has blocked the View from that window for 26 years. It is not just any Wall it is he Berlin Wall that keeps Unsicker company when he looks eastward. Unsicker docs not complain. He moved there for the View a Short Jaunt from checkpoint Charlie Unsicker s Wall Street gallery faces a sidewalk thai is All to in remains of the . Almost All. Unsicker s address is Tilisi the . Num Ber 12. Naturally Ilic Ideal would be to open a hot dog stand Here. You could earn hundreds of thousands even tourists get hungry. Especially tourists. But Unsicker s product is sculpture. His raw Materi als Are Wood Metal and Clay. His food for though comes from the Wall and the thousands of people who wander past his shop. They arc trying to understand the Io-Lo-13-foot-High, largely Concrete Structure that winds 103 Miles around West Berlin. It is not surprising to hear Unsicker As a German artist say one of Liis main themes is separation. And the Wall makes for a wonderful object lesson he said. Like the tourists in Siclar has been trying to under stand the Wall Ever since he moved to Berlin 15 years Apo. He exchanged apartments with a Friend to get closer to his subject matter. Unsicker who was born in in Heidelberg in 1917, does not Date the build ing of the Wall to aug. 13, 1961. The 12-year period of National socialist Rule under Adolf Hitler was the beginning according to Unsicker. And the Wall was part of the Price the German peo ple paid for that Era he said. No nationality can simply shake something like that  the Wall like tiie monolithic structures scattered throughout Unsicker s neighbourhood that once served As the scat of nazi Power is a continuing lesson in German history he said. It was a lesson thai Unsicker did not want to digest immediately after moving to Berlin. It would have been impossible to live alone Cru to this Wall being fresh in the  when he was ready the Opportunity to Exchange apartments cropped up because of Wall syndrome As Unsicker puts it. The former occupant could t Hack it anymore. S4s Perelm by Joo map at it it Peter Unicki i lands in the doorway of his Voll Street gallery. Al right he prepares a sculpture display. Living right next to tie Wall is the most free Sec lion of Floc City hut  the  West Berlin police in not patrol the sidewalk be tween Unsicker s gallery and the Wall because u lies within the demarcation unc. Technically it is East Berlin property. For Unsicker that Means vandalism is a problem because he occasional 1 displays his work on that Side of the apartment building. The Back door to  12 has become the front door for All except Unsicker he said. When neighbors get together for cookouts it is in the Back Yard now front Yard and one thing that does not crop up in conversation is the Wall he said. The corridor for me is another Lieme than for someone who lives on the fifth floor. They Don t experience in. The tourists want in experience the Wall. They come to the Wall to reinforce what they Al ready know and that is senseless. I am often of the opinion that american tourists have absolutely no idea what happens on the Othi r  but he allows they conic from a Long Way  the sculptor holds out Little Hope for president Kea Jan s june Challenge to soviet Leader Mikhail Gorba Chev to tear Down this  a political show says Unsicker. But that is  and As the sculptor lights another cigarette and glances at the View that fills his picture window he reflects is there a common German Art today ? 1 think not. With the exception of the Wall there is no common German  e. German shoot to kill edict reported lifted at times Berlin a during the West Berlin visit of president Reagan and on other important occasions. East Ger Many has lifted its shoot to kill orders aimed at would be escapees a former communist Border guard said tuesday. However former guard Jens Bern hard added that Bec cd up patrols arc designed to compensate for the ban on firearms. The shoot Loki a orders have infuriated West Germany and the three allies France Britain and the United states that control West Berlin. Many Bonn politicians Are calling for Chancellor Helmut Kohl to confront East German Leader Erich Honecker with the Issue when the communist Chi Cuvis its West Germany next month. The August 13 working group named after the Day in 1961 when the Berlin Wall was Crew cd. Organized tues Day s press conference by Bernhardt. The group actively opposes East Germany s communist system and monitors human rights violations there. Remhardt said the shoot to kill orders were suspended for example during the May visits of Queen Lula Tetli and French president Francois Mitterrand and Reagan s june 11 visit. But he quickly added the number of Border guards was strengthened for Sev eral Days and at night  the extra guards compensated for the ban on firing guns in said. Bernhardt said the changes applied both at the Ber Lin Wall Anit the Border line Between East Germany and Wen Germany. President Reagan walks away after Vul Bernhardt said a similar situation applied when the tour de France bicycle race started in West Berlin in july during these Security periods it As forbidden to use a weapon Agai iut Hin Der violators or escapees warning shots were also forbidden said the 20-\ear old Bernhardt. A photo lie Wall during his june Elsil la Berlin. He said the Only i a a prions were for military deserters or situations where the guard fell his life threatened. The sex Soldier who tied lowest Ber Lin do july 28, is the his Finui fast Firrman bolder guard to Verity publicly thai Shojii to Kil orders Are sometimes temporarily banned by  Jarmans s communist leaders he added that during his Lour of Bor Der guard duty along the Berlin Wall from May until his escape in late july there were a total of 25 Days when communist officials lifted the Shuot to kill order. Bernhardt said that East German troops had to pull Sutra guard duty As a result of the shooting ban anti he warned that in was even More difficult for any one trying to escape. The guards Are so densely posted that one can practically be grabbed with the Bare hands said Bernhardt. Bernhardt said that the shool to kill orders were the lop theme in East Ger Man Border guards thoughts and that he knew of Many who vowed to shoot into the  the 60 rounds of bulk is nor Mally carried by the guards in two am munition Uiga nes. He could not say if the majority of East German Border guards were of tins opinion. L isl Germany maintains v Miles of Border Lort Ilii .iunn1, around West Berlin including the la Calm Wall. West Herlin is i i Nilis inside Tan German territory tic aim Kumst nation also maintains a series of fences and other barriers along the kid mile harder separating fast Ger Man from Wisl Germany. Affording Lorainc Iliad Hrandt head of the Auguh 13 working group. Ink Liast  have died Tring lol a i a Urov i  Tonsi limed Border  is shut theuerle Wall As built