Germany: Checkpoint Charlie soldier photos to go under the hammer

M/S Checkpoint Charlie American and Soviet soldiers' pictures exhibited ahead of auction, Berlin
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SOT, Dr. Stefan Koerner, Grisebach Specialist (German): "Frank Thiel, a photo artist from the former GDR, set out, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, to photograph the Allies, Germany's protective powers after World War II. Namely the soldiers. Not the Big Four but the soldiers of the Big Four, the many small ones. And to depict those, in an almost systematic order, encyclopaedic almost, and to display them here."
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SOT, Dr. Stefan Koerner, Grisebach Specialist (German): "For Grisebach, an auction house founded in the split city, it is a big pleasure to be able to show these Frank Thiel pictures 30 years after the fall of the wall and, above all, to be able to show that these protective powers that accompanied Berlin after the end of WWII are not needed any more today but are friends."
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SOT, Dr. Stefan Koerner, Grisebach Specialist (German): "It is a series made of 12 giant, as you can see, pictures and the starting price in the auction, on 28 November, is 90,000 euro. We will see how lovers of museums, collections of the world react to that. And perhaps carry this sign from Berlin, with the soldiers, into the world."
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SCRIPT
A collection of iconic photos of young Allied and Russian soldiers previously installed at Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie were on display at a gallery in Berlin on Friday ahead of their auction next week.
The photographs were taken by German photographer Frank Thiel in 1994, five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and have since become a major tourist attraction for the city.
"Frank Thiel, a photo artist from the former GDR set out, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, to photograph the Allies, Germany's protective powers after World War II. Namely the soldiers. Not the Big Four but the soldiers of the Big Four, the many small ones. And to depict those, in a nearly systematic order, encyclopaedic almost," said Grisebach auction house specialist Dr. Stefan Koerner.
Checkpoint Charlie was one of the crossings from East to West Berlin during the Cold War.
As well as the two photos that adorned the tourist hot-spot, the auction features other photographs of British, French, US and Soviet-uniformed Russian soldiers.
The auction's starting price for the 12 pieces is €90,000 ($99,000).