European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Flags of various nations Are big Sellers at a souvenir stand in West Berlin s potsdamer Platz. Shoppers roam through the Plaza at Alexande Platz in East Berlin. Diepgen is a Berliner and has said he will remain a Berliner in Berlin. He has said he would like to stay in office for 16 years. If his Luck holds he will be an integral part of the City s future. The mayor is a trained lawyer who Speaks carefully in modulated tones until the subject of the 9 billion Marks in annual subsidies from West Germany to Berlin comes up. I will not accept the term subsidy. We Don t want subsidies Diepgen said. What we Are doing Here is structural change he said and the Money from West German Money allows the City to help itself. A big part of that structural change is the move to present West Berlin As a repository of technical scientific and educational expertise Diepgen said a think tank on the Crossroads Between East and West its benefits available to All. Berlin s Industrial base is entered on Light industries such As cigarette making and the sprawling Bow motorcycle Assembly Plant. The end product is put together in Berlin. The raw materials and parts come from outside the City quite often taking advantage of West German subsidies. Island life. Send us your goods and we will assemble your products. Construction of the first direct Power link Between West Germany and West Berlin is to Start this summer under terms of an agreement Between West German East German and West Berlin Power companies. It will not eliminate the need for the West Berlin plants built after the 1948 Berlin blockade Diepgen said but West Berlin will no longer be an Island in the 1990s As far As Power is  a High Speed rail link Between Hannover and West Berlin also has been agreed on and Diepgen Hopes it eventually will become part of a Paris Warsaw link running through Berlin. Diepgen said he was not dismayed that Reagan s Berlin initiative announced in a speech before the Brandenburg Gate last summer has yet to Bear fruit. Among other things Reagan called for the creation of a Central european air Hub in Berlin. I am an impatient Man but i would not draw conclusions because there is no answer from the soviet Union Doepgen said. Air routes into Berlin Are controlled by the four Allied Powers in the City. Allied airlines with the exception of the soviet airline Aeroflot Are the Only ones that land passengers at West Berlin s Tegel Airport. The soviets land at the Airport serving East Berlin. West Germany s National airline Lufthansa is not allowed to Fly to West Berlin. Diepgen said he hoped Landing rights at Tegel would be granted to non Allied carriers. The Reagan initiative would not be fully understood if one were to mean that the Allied air transport authority technically and Only technically be brought up to Date to Deal with the new jets Diepgen said. As sole defenders of Berlin the Allied role in the City is key Diepgen said. In spite of All the Progress one should not forget that the history of Berlin teaches that a willingness to defend and a capability for defense is the building Block for social development in the Western part of the City he said. Berlin is now As before a Symbol of Freedom but Berlin can and will if a change in East West relations occurs be a Symbol of where Border and Power systems reach across and work together to solve  economic and living conditions in the political Island of Berlin have improved and As far As the future goes Diepgen said the deciding Factor is that the Eastern policymakers apparently Are increasingly More prepared to ignore their old Berlin  Berlin United states sector 4 sectors 4 Powers among the Many unique features of Berlin Are the Allied Powers who arrived by right of Conquest in 1945 and whose continued presence make the City the Only one in Europe where military authority is the supreme Power of government. Originally the idea was to have representatives of the four allies of world War ii great Britain France the soviet Union and the United states govern occupied Berlin As a single body. But the soviet representative walked out of the Allied Komma Datura shortly before the Berlin blockade began in june 1948, and has t been Back. The Komma Datura located in the Schoneberg District s Kleist Park houses the Berlin air safety Center the City s Only functioning four Power body. The soviets abolished the office of sector commandant in 1962, but the three Western allies each have a commandant whose word is Law in their respective sectors of the City. Together the Western commandants exercise Komma Datura functions that. As a practical matter can Only be applied to the three Western sectors of the City. Allied Law is a Jumble of thousands of orders Laws and regulations. West German Laws do not take effect in West Berlin before they Are adopted by the City parliament. Each Law must be checked to make sure it does not conflict with Allied Law. West berliners for example Are prohibited from keeping firearms in their Homes. Unlike West Germany where mandatory military service is required there is no draft in West Berlin because of the City s demilitarized status. Although Berlin is an occupied City the Western military Powers have been referred to As the protecting Powers Ever since the 1948 blockade when the City was supplied by air for one year after the soviets Cut land routes into the City. A Large share of the Cost to maintain French British and . Forces is borne by the West German government. The German financial support is reported to be about $850 million annually. The French sector is the northernmost and its forces number 2,800. The French Force is largely comprised of raw recruits 1,800 of them Are draftees who do their Basic training and one year s service in the divided City according to Roland Angelloz of the Public information office. There Are about 5,000 British troops in West Berlin said Alan Patterson Public information officer. The total military Community is about three times that size. Three years is a Normal duty tour Patterson Suici but specialists stay longer. There Are 6,700 . Service members stationed in West Berlin. That includes three infantry battalions a tank company a howitzer Battery and a helicopter detachment As Well As an air Force present e at Tempelhof Central Airport and other Sites. The total Community numbers More than 13,000. The combined 13,000-Man Allied troop contingent can be augmented in an emergency by the Western allies taking control of the West Berlin police a fore e numbering 16,000 officers and 4,000 reservists. Besides providing Security the Western allies Are responsible for about 11,000 jobs in the civilian sector which makes the military one of Berlin s largest employers. . July 7, 1988 stripes Magazine 13