daktx2 wrote:i just realized that it was made in east germany, so its at least 10 years old.
More like almost 15 years old...
East and West Germany have been unified since 1990.
For years there was a nearly 900 mile long guarded border that divided East and West Germany and the East German government restricted travel between East and West Germany.
In August of 1961 (just FYI) the Communists closed off the "escape route" from East Germany (through Berlin) with the Berlin Wall, constructed between East and West Berlin. Most East Germans were not allowed to even visit there.
In 1989 many Germans fled to West Germany from East Germany via bordering countries. In response to this, the East German government lifted travel restrictions and the East Germans were allowed to travel to West Germany. The West Germans were also allowed to go to East Germany without restrictions.
On October 3, 1990, East and West Germany were reunited.
VMI (B&S) would have been in East Germany at the time.
There is way more to the whole East/West Germany thing than that, but perhaps that puts the dates in perspective.
For those interested, the border between East and West Germany remains very obvious to this day. If you ever have the opportunity to see it, it's really pretty interesting (at least I think so). In many areas, watchtowers and tank trails remain along with miles of fence line. In addition, roads are often built right over the top of former road blocks. Some of the more high traffic East/West German crossings have little displays to check out too.