"It became known that a church event with a musical background was to take place," said the Stasi file when the Toten Hosen came to East Berlin.

That was twice, once top secret forty years ago, not long after the band was founded, when they were still making wild faces and fell off the bus drunk and when their knees were shaking at the border crossing.

The punk party was supposed to be part of a church service, which could have ended in GDR imprisonment for everyone involved.

The second time, in 1988, they stood much more confidently in front of the Church of the Redeemer.

The Stasi knew about it.

Luckily nothing happened, at least not to the pants.

"Away game - Die Toten Hosen in Ost-Berlin" is the name of the documentary by Martin Groß, which tells of the punk culture in West and East and the two concerts.

Forty years later, the Toten Hosen traveled again to the sites of remembrance for the film and met the East German punk band Planlos.

At that time they thought, that's what Campino says today: "Let's see if we can bring punk rock there." But it was already there.

And the others, the boys from Planlos, thought then and say today: "We're the main gig, after all we're the stars here." In the end they drank eggnog together, were surprised and also a bit enchanted by each other.

"Are you saying the wrong tone"

Almost all those involved can be seen in the film, including the dazzling music manager Mark Reeder, who only made such concerts by western bands in the East possible after he had approached a GDR punk in the subway.

You can also see the concert-goers from back then and a Stasi officer who monitored the concerts.

The order was to "wipe out" the punk movement.

The shaggy kids seemed subversive and uncontrollable.

You can see a surprising number of pictures from back then, torn clothes, colorful hair, proud otherness.

You can hear punk, also from the Sex Pistols.

Bernd Michael Lade, then a drummer with Planlos and now an actor, was able to hear it thanks to a friend who was the son of a diplomat.

And this music gave Planlos ideas: "If you say a wrong note, then you-know-it-already happens".

And that is the touching thing about the story: how the Wessis became the big trousers and the Ossis nothing.

Not because they were too bad, but because they didn't stand a chance.

Michael "Pankow" Boehlke tells how they tried to force him and then his girlfriend to snitch and how his band threw him out of distrust.

Then they all had to join the army and were sedated.

And now they meet again in East Berlin.

The pants play old Planlos songs.

And look like they know what they're grateful for.

"Away game - Die Toten Hosen in Ost-Berlin"

is on Wednesday at 10:50 p.m. on ARD