Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a long wall isolating West Berlin from East Berlin and the surrounding territory of East Germany. It existed from 1961 until 1989.
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2 Construction of the Wall 3 The years of the Wall 4 The fall of the Wall 5 Celebrations 6 Aftermath 7 See also 8 External links |
After World War II, Berlin (as well as the rest of Germany) was divided into four sectors. The Soviet Union, the USA, the United Kingdom and France each had a portion of the city under their control. The Soviet sector was by far the largest and covered most of eastern Berlin - Friedrichshain, Köpenick, Lichtenberg, Mitte, Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg, Treptow, and Weißensee.
In 1948, the Berlin Blockade by the Soviet Union led to the Berlin Airlift by the Western Allies.
After 1949, the three sectors controlled by the United States, Britain and France (West Berlin), although nominally independent, were in effect a part of West Germany that was completely surrounded by East Germany.
Initially the citizens of Berlin were allowed to freely move between all the sectors, but as the Cold War developed movement became restricted; the border between East and West Germany was closed in 1952. Around 2.5 million East Germans crossed into the West between 1949 and 1961.
Construction of a wall around the three western sectors began on August 13, 1961, East Berlin. It first consisted of barbed wire, which was later replaced by the actual wall. The wall physically divided the city; as it completely surrounded West Berlin, it effectively turned the western sectors into an island in the eastern territories.
East Germany claimed that it was an "antifascist wall of protection" intended to avoid aggression from the West. The West claimed that it was created to prevent the citizens of East Germany, especially the professionally skilled workers who were the majority of whom were leaving, from entering West Berlin and thereby West Germany (East Germany did not completely control traffic between West Berlin and the rest of West Germany).
During the construction of the wall, NVA and KdA soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect.
Also the whole length of the border between East and West Germany was closed with chain-fences and walls (DDR border system).
The Wall was over 155 km (96 miles) long. After the initial construction, it was regularly improved. In June 1962 work started on a second parallel fence, creating what became widely known as the death strip between the two barriers. The "fourth generation wall", begun in 1975, was reinforced concrete, 3.6m high and constructed out of 45,000 separate 1.5m sections at a cost of 16,155,000 East German Marks. The border was also guarded by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire, over 300 watch towers, and thirty bunkers.
At first, there was only one crossing point for Westerners, at Friedrichstraße; the Western powers had two further checkpoints, at Helmstedt on the border between East-Germany and the main part of West-Germany and Dreilinden on the south border of West Berlin. The checkpoints were named phonetically Alpha (Helmstedt), Bravo (Dreilinden), and Charlie (Friedrichstraße) (see map of Berlin with crossings).
During the Wall's existence there were around 5,000 successful escapes into West Berlin; 192 people were killed trying to cross and around 200 were seriously injured. Successful escape attempts included 57 people who escaped through a 145 metre long (475 feet) tunnel dug by West Berliners, on October 3, 4 and 5, 1964; and two escapes made by sliding along aerial runways (one by two men, one by a family). The most notorious failed attempt was by Peter Fechter who was shot and left to bleed to death in full view of the western media, on August 17 1962.
On August 23, 1989, Hungary removed its border restrictions with Austria, and in September more than 13,000 East Germans escaped through Hungary. Mass demonstrations against the government in East Germany began in the fall of 1989. Leader of the German Democratic Republic, Erich Honecker, resigned on October 18, 1989. He was replaced by a short-lived successor, Egon Krenz, a few days later.
The travel restrictions for East Germans were somewhat lifted by the new government on November 9, 1989. After a misunderstanding, Günter Schabowski announced in a press conference that all restrictions had been abandoned, and tens of thousands of people immediately went to the Wall where the border guards opened access points and allowed them through. November 9 is thus considered the date when the Wall fell.
On Christmas Day, December 25, 1989 Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin celebrating the end of the Wall, including Beethoven's 9th symphony with the chorus' word "Joy" changed to "Freedom". Roger Waters performed the Pink Floyd concert The Wall in Potsdamer Platz on 21 July 1990, with guest including The Scorpions, Bryan Adams, and Van Morrison.
The fall of the wall was the first step to the reunification of Germany, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.
Some believe November 9 would have made a good German National Holiday, since November 9 is also the date of the declaration of the Weimar Republic in 1918. However, because it is also the anniversary of Kristallnacht, October 3 was chosen instead.
The fall of the wall considerably changed traffic patterns in the city, and the M-Bahn, a maglev system connecting 3 metro stations over 1.6 km, was deconstructed just months after its official opening in July 1991.
Not much is left of the Wall in Berlin today. The Wall was physically destroyed almost everywhere, except for three locations: one section of 80m near Potsdamer Platz (see picture), a second longer one along the Spree River near the Oberbaumbrücke, and a third one in the north at Bernauer Straße, which was turned into a memorial in 1999. Even the parts that are left no longer entirely represent the Wall's original appearance: they are badly damaged (since so many people attempted to pick up "original Berlin Wall" pieces), and today's graffiti are mostly visible on the eastern side of the Wall, which obviously was not achieveable while the Wall was actually guarded by heavily armed soldiers of East Germany. Previously, graffiti was exclusively on the western side.
Background
Construction of the Wall
The years of the Wall
The fall of the Wall
Celebrations
Aftermath
See also
External links