A: Do you remember the Berlin Blockade in 1948? It was a major crisis of the beginning Cold War! And we were in the thick of it! As armchairs of Ernst Reuter, the city's governing mayor, we were pretty close to events. B: Yes, I remember Reuter smoked a lot of cigars. Because when the Soviets closed the borders, it looked bad for West Berlin. The supply chain collapsed, no trains were getting through. People were starving and the city became a pawn in a power struggle. But Ernst Reuter fought for the Berliners. A: Oh yes! I will never forget his appeal to the world:"[....] Look upon this city! You cannot, you must not, forsake us!” B: It was truly moving! Partly thanks to his efforts the Berlin Airlift was established: Allied airplanes saved the city from starvation. And Ernst Reuter won a special place in the heart of many Berliners.