European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday March 19, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 3election observers report everything was a very corrects an East Berliner accompanied by his dog casts his vote sunday at a polling station. By de Reavis staff writer Berlin a Sigrid Wirzberg or voted sunday in the cafe idyll then ordered some Coffee and started blowing through nine East German newspapers stacked on her table. She thought the cozy cafe was the perfect place for a polling station. A if the line is too Long you can have a Coffee or Beer a Wirzberger said. A after the vote you can sit Down cat or drink and discuss things with a  cafe manager Ruth Bartsch a redheaded bundle of Energy said sundays vote was going smoothly. It was an opinion shared by the official election observers from the european parliament. The team was made up of Christian Huber and Heinz Kohler both West germans and Kirsten Jensen a Dane. The cafe was the fourth polling place that the group visited. A we Hope to visit 20 in Berlin and in the Rural areas a Kohler said. All three agreed that the vote was extremely Well prepared in the relatively Short time that the East germans had. Quot everything is very Correct. Only the voting officials sometimes wonder what we Are actually doing by barging into their polling  Huber said Erica Schiager who accompanied a . Congressional group that is part of the commission on Security and cooperation in Europe said the delegation members were afraid they would be considered interlopers. Quot but the people out in the villages we visited were very warm and Friendly a Schiager said. She said they encountered a minority of older people who were sceptical about the country s change to democracy. Quot those were people who saw a lot. And its understandable that they would be More pessimistic Quot Schiager said. A but everyone else was very excited and full of optimism about the future. In fact their optimism was so infectious that the five Man delegation got caught up in the euphoria themselves and spent so much time talking to people that their program had to be  germans quietly usher in historic Day by Joseph Owen staff writer Wittenberg East Germany a Klaus Muller stepped into the polling station of District 17 about 1 45 . Sunday and voted in a free election for the first time in his life. Then he went Home to feed his two dozen fish. A a in a having just a Normal Day. Earlier i was out in the Garden a said Muller who said he had planned nothing special to celebrate East Germany a historic transition to democracy. A few Hundred Yards Down the Street tourists wandered in and out of the Schloss Kirche the towering Church where Martin Luther sparked the German protestant revolt by nailing his 95 theses to the Church door in 1517. Muller a financial administrator for a meat cooperative said the similarity Between the past and present has not escaped the notice of Wittenberg residents. A since we Are in Luther a City our thoughts have gone in that direction a he said. The Church also played a role in the current social upheaval. Wittenberg citizens have praised the Rev. Friedrich Schorlemmer As one of those who helped Spur democratic reforms by offering Refuge to dissidents and by campaigning for social change. C in nearby Bitterfeld insomniac Retiree Helmut Richter started his Day at 4 ., As usual by listening to the radio. He voted after breakfast then Rode North out of town on his shiny Green bicycle stopping to pick up a piece of discarded Metal that he thought might be useful. Richter 65, whacked his Cane against each of his artificial shins and described How a mine blew off the lower part of his legs when he was on the russian front in world War ii. The former r q a cd paper factory supervisor is proud to be Active 47 years later despite his disability. His plans for the Day included beef or schnitzel for lunch and a full night of television to get the election results. A with this whole turnabout with everything that a happened tears have almost come to my eyes a he said. Tears Are nothing unusual in Bitterfeld however because of the towns acrid smog. The communist government has built chemical factories that have made Bitterfeld one of Europe a most polluted towns. A from the East local Coal strip mining has displaced entire villages and turned the Countryside into a moonscape. In a Bitterfeld Park called the Green lung a retired couple who identified themselves As Gunter and Gisela sat across from the local polling station waiting for the morning line to dwindle. They said they had spent the Early morning cleaning up after renovations in their apartment. The two planned to watch election results on television and a Hope things go better for us a she said. In Wittenberg Kurt Kohl 43, got Home from the night shift at a fertilizer factory at 5 45  And went to bed. He awoke to have lunch with his wife. Helga 47, and their two daughters. The couple went to vote about 2 30 . At the District 17 station which was set up in a Library. Then the Pohls planned a sunday stroll that would Lead them past a soviet tank that stands As a War memorial near Luther a Church. Pohl said City officials have voted to get rid of the tank this month Heinz Cretz who works at the same factory had the Day off. He and his wife voted Early then went for a walk after lunch. Last year police tried to arrest them because they refused to vote. He noticed that a police officer was looking at him As he spoke sunday but he shrugged it off. A we can do what we want a he said. A we have no  quiet a probably because of the elections a by Vince Crawley and Effie Bathen staff writers Hof West Germany a Dieter wings who fled East Germany two Days a of Leforc the Berlin Wall opened last november travelled to the West German Border to Greet friends from the East on election sunday. But wings had no regrets about missing the historic vote saying he  Nave taken part in the election even if he still lived there. A too Many Young people still support Ine communists. And the Stasi secret police could still falsify the election. No one knows a said the 31-year-old welder. He now lives in Friedrichs Hafen on Lake Lon stance and said he wont Ever set foot again in East Germany. The autobahn rest Stop near Hof about a mile inside the West Jerman Border is As close As he wants to come to East German territory. Along the Border officials spent a a rela Wio iuir1 sunday a said Karlheinz crud Dan i i a bavarian Border police at Pstein Hirschberg where autobahn 9 crosses the East West Border. A not too Many East germans came Over this weekend a Krudwig said. A most stayed Home probably because of the  about 75,000 East germans passed through his Border station during the week before the election. But of those Only 75 declared that they were moving permanently to the West he said. Those 75 joined the other 140,000 East germans who moved West during the first two months of the year. By Early sunday afternoon East germans were lining up at phone Booths on the West Side of the crossing where they wanted to Tell friends and relatives in the West that they had voted. Some said they were out just to enjoy the Beautiful weather which reached a cloudless 70 degrees at the autobahn rest Stop where a wire Fence still divides the Hills. The guard towers visible from the Roadside Are empty. Most of those stopping said that they had already voted and that All their friends had too. Gunter Tischendorf and his wife Rosemarie who live 10 Miles on the other Side of the Border went out for a sunday drive after voting. They said they had voted in previous East German elections. But this was the first time they had More than one party to choose from and the first time they could cast their ballot inside a private Booth they said. Like most of the people at the rest Stop they said they had voted for the Christian democratic Union which favors unification with West Germany. But Tischendorf said he wanted unification to come a quietly and without too much  even More harm could be done to his already beleaguered country if it were suddenly absorbed by West Germany he said. A a it a like shaving. If you shave too fast you la Cut  Rolf sparing who a owned an Auto repair shop in Schweiz for 20 years said he also voted for the cd because it has Money for economic stability. However he predicted that workers in the Industrial areas would vote for the social democrats the party that offers More cautious answers to unification questions. Quot Many Are afraid. They re earning Good Money but not working so hard. They Are worried they May lose their jobs Quot sparing said. Herbert and edit Konig Aren t worried. They did no to even Stop to vote. The couple from Frankfurt an Der Oder got their Brand new trabant automobile nine Days ago after waiting 15 a years for delivery. This was their first Chance to take a vacation in it. They had ordered one in papyrus White but it arrived instead with a two toned paint Job that was mostly Glacier Blue. The car a trabant 601 a arrived at the rest Stop near Hof with just 779.3 Kilometres on its odometer but it looked like All the Travis that came before. Son Mario who drove the car planned the reason for the trip. There Are a so Many parties that hard to figure out who a voting what a he said. So instead they went on a sunday drive. Contributing to this report translator Tom Nicholson at the Rudolph Stom Hirschburg Border crossing exit a for