A plaque has been designed by Field Station Berlin veterans who served there in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s in various roles. It is intended to commemorate Teufelsberg, its mission, and the thousands of Allied servicemen and women who served at Field Station Berlin and all its predecessor units. Their dedication and constant vigilance from 1951 to 1991 played a key role in protecting Berlin and ending the Cold War. Field Station Berlin was a four-time winner of the prestigious Travis Trophy, an unprecedented feat at the time. The plaque memorializes our specific role in the Outpost of Freedom behind the Iron Curtain.
The Field Station Berlin Commemorative Initiative hopes to place a bronze plaque—as yet to be cast—atop Teufelsberg. An aluminum replica of the bronze plaque was mounted on a wall in the old Guard Shack at the entrance to the secure area during the 2013 Field Station Berlin veterans reunion in Berlin. Another replica was presented to the Allied Museum.
The deputation of veterans who came to Teufelsberg to install the plaque.
The Jamablaya Tower is in the background. (It wasn't pink in my day.)
To see more pictures from the Stamp Launch and Commemorative Plaque Installation at the Field Station Berlin 2013 Reunion, follow me.
The image below is of the actual aluminum plaque that was installed in the old Guard Shack on Teufelsberg.
The plaque that was installed in the Guard Shack on Tberg during Reunion 2013 is not the permanent plaque. The plaque that was installed is made of aluminum of the same gauge as is used on street signs. Aluminum was considered a cost-effective intermediate step on the way to a bronze plaque, which will cost in the range of $7,000 to $9,000. The aluminum plaque cost less than 1% of that amount. The decision to install temporary aluminum plaque was dictated by:
- the desire to dedicate the plaque during Reunion 2013
- the limited funds currently available to the Field Station Berlin Commemorative Initiative
- the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the buildings on Teufelsberg. Anything we do before the fate of Tberg is decided will incur extra costs, because we will undoubtedly have to move the plaque whether the buildings are refurbished or razed.
The production and installation of the bronze plaque will proceed once the final location of the plaque becomes known. To find out how you can help when the time comes, follow me.
2013 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Field Station Berlin, which is also being commemorated by:
- The publication of T.H.E. Hill's new Field Station Berlin novel: Reunification: A Monterey Mary Returns to Berlin,
- The Field Station Berlin Commemorative Initiative described here,
- The issue of a sheet of Cinderella Stamps,
- A Field Station Berlin Veteran's Reunion in Berlin, and
- Brendan Jamison’s Teufelsberg Spy Station Project.
For other mementos of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the first permanent buildings on Teufelsberg, the operational home of Field Station Berlin, follow me.
The plaque has been replicated on Dibond especially for Brendan Jamison's Teufelsberg exhibition at Berlin's WerkStadt in September 2013.
The exhibition takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the artistic presentation of Field Station Berlin. It will feature drawing, collage, sculpture, and photography. The exhibition will also include over 30 'intelligence reports' that Jamison has created through detailed analysis of the spy station with regular field trips to the site under the alias of Norbert Hubner.
Between 12 December 2013 to 4 January 2014 Jamison's Field station Berlin exhibit will be on display at
the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art:
Opening times 12pm to 5pm Wednesday to Saturday.
104 East Fourth Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
ADMISSION FREE
A portion of the exhibition will also feature special collaborations between Jamison and artists he has invited to respond to the field station, notably Sean Miller and Ciaran Magill.
The exhibition coincides with a reunion of Field Station Berlin veterans to commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the first permanent buildings on Teufelsberg, the operational home of Field Station Berlin.
