The Berlin Wall
5 min read
734
comments
Construction began on The Berlin Wall early in the morning of Sunday, August 13, 1961. It was a desperate - and effective - move by the GDR (German Democratic Republic) to stop East Berliners escaping from the Soviet-controlled East German state into the West of the city, which was then occupied by the Americans, British and French.
Berlin's unique situation as a city half-controlled by Western forces, in the middle of the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany, made it a focal point for tensions between the Allies and the Soviets and a place where conflicting ideologies were enforced side-by-side. However, as more and more people in the Soviet-controlled East grew disillusioned with communism and the increasingly oppressive economic and political conditions, an increasing number began defecting to the West. By 1961 an estimated 1,500 people a day were fleeing to the West, damaging both the credibility and - more importantly - the workforce of the GDR. Soon rumours began to spread about a wall, and it wasn't long after that those rumours were made a concrete reality.
In a masterfully-planned operation, spanning just 24 hours, the streets of Berlin were torn up, barricades of paving stones were erected, tanks were gathered at crucial places and subways and local railway services were interrupted, so that within a day the West of Berlin was completely sealed off from the East. As of that same day inhabitants of East Berlin and the GDR were no longer allowed to enter the West of the city (including the 60,000 who had been commuters). In response to international criticism that such drastic measures inevitably drew, the GDR claimed that the barricade had been raised as an 'anti-fascist protection wall', and that they had moved to prevent a third world war.
The version of the 'Wall' that started life in 1961, was in fact not a wall but a 96 miles barbed wire fence. However, after this incarnation proved too easy to scale, work started in 1962 on a second fence, parallel to the first but up to 100 yards further in. The area in between the two fences was demolished to create an empty space, which became widely known as "death strip" as it was here that many would-be escapers met their doom. The strip was covered with raked gravel, making it easy to spot footprints, it offered no cover, was mined and booby-trapped with tripwires and, most importantly, it offered a clear field of fire to the armed guards - who were instructed to shoot on sight.
Later on even these measures were deemed insufficient and a concrete wall was added in 1965, which served until 1975 when the infamous 'St?tzwandelement UL 12.11' was constructed. Known also as Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall '75), it was the final and most sophisticated version of the Wall. It was made from 45,000 separate sections of reinforced concrete, each 3.6 m high and 1.5 m wide, and topped with a smooth pipe, intended to make it more difficult for escapers to scale it. The Grenzmauer was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire, over 300 watchtowers, and thirty bunkers⦠Just to be on the safe side!
Despite the various security measures enforced, escape attempts were commonplace, especially in the years immediately following the erection of the wall, when there was still a fighting chance of making it across alive. Climbing was the obvious way to go and some 5,000 were said to have reached the other side. However in its thirty year history 100 people were shot dead, most famously the eighteen year old Peter Fetcher, who, after he was hit in the hip, was left to bleed to death in no-man's land as the world's media watched on.
As security tightened, more 'creative' escape plans became the order of the day. Tunnels and jumping from bordering buildings were two more successful ways of getting to the West, although the Wetzel and Strlzyck families eloped in true style - floating to salvation in a hot air balloon which they had fashioned from hundreds of small pieces of nylon cloth (after which it became almost impossible to buy cloth in the East). Rivalling them for the coveted prize of brave escapes, is the citizen who drove up to the checkpoint barrier and, winding down the roof of his convertible at the last minute, slipped underneath! Needless to say that a lower barrier was subsequently installed.
For those unable or unwilling to abscond from the East, life was bleak; and things only continued to get worse throughout the 70s and 80s as Communism and the USSR began to collapse. Honecker and the GDR resolutely stuck to their guns, speaking out in support of their regime; but when Hungary opened its borders in the summer of 1989, a flood of East Germans made their way West. Meanwhile student protests in Leipzeig put pressure on the government to lower the borders into West Berlin.
As the Iron Curtain cracked the fall of the wall looked inevitable. In the evening of November 9th, 1989 Gunter Schabowski, Minister of Propoganda, read out a note at a press conference announcing that the border would be opened for "private trips abroad". The news spread like wildfire and the German people immediately gathered in their thousands by the checkpoints, demanding passage. There was some confusion as to what the official line was and the border guards, uncertain of what to do and ill-equipped to deal with the huge and unyielding mob, were forced to let them pass. The Wall had fallen.
The days that followed saw chaotic celebrations erupt over the country as Germany celebrated the political fall of the Wall - and in the following days and weeks hundreds of citizens began physically tearing down the concrete division. These events were the first steps to the reunification of Germany, which was formally concluded on October 3rd, 1990. Today remnants of the Berlin Wall can be found at Bernauer Strasse and in front of the Neiderkirchnerstrasse, the former Prussian Parliament and current Berlin Parliament.
Comments
On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete Antifascistischer Schutzwall, or antifascist bulwark, between East and West Berlin. The official purpose of this Berlin Wall was to keep Western fascists from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, but it primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections from East to West. The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border whenever they pleased. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War. As World War II came to an end in 1945, a pair of Allied peace conferences at Yalta and Potsdam determined the fate of Germany s territories. They split the defeated nation into four allied occupation zones : The eastern part of the country went to the Soviet Union, while the western part went to the United States, Great Britain and (eventually) France.
Replyi think its go for my schools project
ReplyWhat Happened After It Fell?
ReplyPretty Good. Could Use More Info. Though
ReplyWho wrote this?
ReplyBuen artículo !!
Replygood article
ReplyGood Article!!
Replyit was good article yes
ReplyI'm back
ReplyMEET AT THE BAR MIDNIGHT
ReplyYAH SURE
Replyok >:] MOMMY
Replyhey wanna play
ReplyCALL ME DADDY
ReplyI really needed the author, but besides that it was really helpful
Replythanks helped a lot
Replynice!
Replythis is a hunk of info! thanks!
Replythanks for help with school project
ReplyHola Gracias!
Replynot much info on the lifes of those living in east and west berlin......
Replydidn't say much about the life of a east berliner
Replyvery helpful, but it didn't really have much about the wall itself and i struggled to find out some facts. however very good
ReplyIt would be so much better if there was credibility, other than that it was very informational and informative.
ReplyThank U so much, very detailed
ReplyNot true. It talks about a lot of things having to do with the wall. Watch the hyperboles there fella!
ReplyThis article was great! A quick and easy way to learn about the Berlin Wall. Reccomended if you don't want to be stuck watching 45 minute to an hour long documentarys about the Berlin Wall on Youtube!
Replyyes I agree, I think ur very funny indeed you little sodium chloride (sp+h2o)
Replyvery very good info for my Rights and Responsibilities report by one thing I needed was the author for my bibliography thanks but FYI I got a B- because I didn't have the author!!!!
ReplyHaving been to Berlin many times both before and after the wall, let the story serve as a monument to the failure of socialism. Let it serve as a reminder when we go to the polls to vote in our various home countries.
ReplyI took a trip to Berlin last week and went to Checkpoint Charlie, and I saw part of the wall - it really was breath taking standing next to it after I had read about the history behind it.
ReplyI am studing the Collapse of USSR and the Fall of Berlin wall this chapter is very interesting
ReplyThis is a very sad and it helped me explain this to all to my AP US history. thank you very much
ReplyI remember the day the wall went up, it was two days after my 20th Birthday , i was serving with the REME British Army On The Rhine Forces at the time 1960 to 1966 I visited East Germany in 1982 and could only travel on the allocated transit road, until I reached the allocated Hotel in Rostock, it was nothing but gloom and doom!
ReplyAs one who was in Berlin on the night the original wall went this article is certainly factually correct. To thew commnt made about JFK's Berlin speech- this wasn't weird, his German was not as good as it could have been but the peopleof |Berlin knew exactly what he meant to say. A sight I will nevber forget!
ReplyThis helped my Berlin Wall notes! if i haden't found this i wouldn't have such good notes! Thx!!!
Replyi think you should put some more information about what life was like and the differences between east and west Berlin, ;)
ReplyNot a bad article- I speak from experience, being in the wrong part of the city on the night of Sat 12th Aug. I helped those wishing to escape and saw my young East German girlfriend murdered by a Stazi officer.
ReplyWhat about why the wall was up and how it fell and also you need more pics in addition to this there was little to no info about the kennedy or reagan visit to the wall reagan demanded it be destroyed and he also talked with gorbachev the wall needs its true history and what about the decline of the communist power after the wall
ReplyWas very good but i could use the info were it was like "in the middel of the town" but all though i thought it was very good and yes just a few pics would be nic
ReplyVery informational! Cleared up lots of confusion. Very great. I just wish there was a little bit more information
ReplyVery good info and i liked the style of writing, easy to read and it made sense, just missing tit-bits of info though over all very good :)
ReplyI absolutely love this! It helped a lot withy my soocial studies project on the cold war, and I'm really thankfull 'cause it's nearing dark!
ReplyI was looking for something easier to read, with like bulleted info, and smaller paragraphs :/
ReplyA good information, like someone else has said it would be good to have a militar point of the wall, but the info is awesome. Dankeschon!
ReplyHelped with my "Escape from East Berlin Project" I had to do for Global. Thanx! Could use more pix though... XD
ReplyThe Berlin Wall was a testimony of brutal experiment made real by suscipicious partners who were more interested in revenge rather than human rights
ReplyThis helped me with my project for the Berlin Wall. It is so fascinating and incredible! This is a wonderful source! I want to see more pictures though.
ReplyThanks so much for writing this article!!! It Helped so much on my research paper. :) Almost all of the other websites i looked at were un-official facts!! Thanks Again.(: Maybe some more pictures would be Okay other than that fantastic!!
ReplyI think that this is a great website place! It gave me all the info. that i needed! Thank you so much! :)
ReplyI am a american who lived in germany from 1989 to 1992 I can remember vividly when the wall came down I was in the us army for 22my years I again returned to germany from 2007 to 2010be I was there for the 20 year celebration of the fall of the wall I have german friends that I still have in schwabach germany and I continue to wish all the best for all my german friends and all germans thanks for a experience of a life
ReplyI think the Berlin wall was a bad thing. I mean, why would you want to separate a nation that is supposed to be united? But, that's just me. I think all people are created equal.
ReplyI think the Berlin wall was a bad thing. I mean, why would you want to separate a nation that is supposed to be united? But, that's just me. I think all people are created equal.
ReplyThis was a wonderful piece to read, and it helped loads with my project about the Berlin Wall! My German teacher will be very impressed with it :D
Reply