About the Author
I was born in (West) Berlin in 1977 and until today I am still a Berlin resident.I grew up in the Berlin of the 1980's when allied maneuvers in the Grunewald, military vehicles in the streets and choppers constantly flying above the city were a common sight.
Wandering about the Grunewald as a kid I would get in touch with american GI's who won the hearts of most Berliners during the cold war.
What is now unthinkable to happen in a major capital used to be routine in Berlin. It was a unique situation and very imprinting to my youth.
About this Project
After the western allies left Berlin in 1994 they left a gaping hole in the western part of the city and the lifes of many Berliners, too.In the years following reunification of the 'two Germanies' and the 'two Berlins' the city underwent many changes. The face of the city changed tremendously.
In the late 1990's I realized that most signs of the allied presence in Berlin had vanished. Something that wouldn't have been possible a few years earlier.
That was when the idea was born to put up a website dedicated the western allies. At this time I didn't have the resources nor the knowledge to realize this project. Last year (2004) I got the idea to start this project from scratch in order to collect feedback and get in touch with people on the net who shared the same interest.
This project is still online at berlinbrigade.net but it's content will be moved to this website step by step. This year I both collected enough resources and technical know how to start with this website as the next step of development. Although this site will undergo constant development it depends on the visitors how much it will be improved in the future.
Technical Aspects of this Website
When I implemented this website I followed two major goals. One was having a layout that looked both somewhat professional and timeless in order to be in most visitor's taste and not distract from the actual content.The other major goal was to use only basic techniques that would guarantee accessibility for as much visitors as possible. However I had to choose between creating a website that was based on today's standards or to support even the oldest webbrowser installed. I chose to use current standards as I'm convinced the web is currently undergoing a constant improvement in quality of code. If you have issues browsing this website you can always use the email form to contact me but if you're using an outdated browser there's no solution but to update it. It's both a security and quality issue. As this website is undergoing constant development there's always a chance to produce errors or to overlook mistakes. Feel free to always send feedback or error reports through the email form. All major announcements will be posted on the index page until there is a different solution.
Webmasters Notice
The general weblinks section is currently under development. Until it is released you will only find links related to the page content. The weblinks section will contain categories for all related websites. You are welcome to deeplink into this website as it serves the users for who this website is made for.If you want to suggest a website or have a link removed you can use the email form as well.