GDR tourists are rolling on

This is an English summary. The full article is only available in German.

More and more GDR tourists visit the West. Banana prices rose by 10% in Hamburg and Frankfurt due to high demand.

Although it was a working day, an estimated 100,000 GDR citizens made a trip to the West. Many had taken a day off to collect their welcome money and go shopping.

Hans Modrow, the designated GDR president, said that the border my be opened even at the Brandenburg gate, but he dismissed the idea of tearing the Wall down completely.

The GDR authorities have lifted a 37-year-old ban on access to some areas along the border so that all villages and facilities in those formerly prohibited areas are fully accessible to all GDR citizens.

The border patrol's order to shoot any trespassers was lifted the day before. The order had stood since May 1982 and claimed an estimated 191 lives. Now, the border patrol has to secure orderly traffic across the border - "and all that without the use of firearms."

The Western and Easter railway operators are looking into ways of improving cross-border rail traffic. A new train border crossing at Mellrichstadt is to be opened this week.

Berlin now has 16 border crossings. Citizens of Berlin (West) are allowed to cross the border with bicycles and motorbikes.

Western politicians demanded that the GDR should supply their citizens with Deutschmarks to pay for their travel expenses. Rita Süssmuth, chairwoman of the (west) German parliament, asked all parties to stop arguing and start helping with the task at hand.