Construction of a wall between West and East Berlin. The Berlin Wall: history of construction and fall
(Berliner Mauer) - a complex of engineering and technical structures that existed from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989 on the border of the eastern part of the territory of Berlin - the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the western part of the city - West Berlin, which had, as a political unit, special international status.
The Berlin Wall is one of the most famous symbols of the Cold War.
After World War II, Berlin was divided between the victorious powers (USSR, USA, France and Great Britain) into four occupation zones. The eastern zone, the largest, almost half the territory of the city, went to the USSR - as the country whose troops occupied Berlin.
Construction and renovation of the wall continued from 1962 to 1975. On June 19, 1962, construction of the parallel wall began. Another one was added to the existing wall, 90 meters behind the first, all buildings between the walls were demolished, and the gap was turned into a control strip.
The world-famous concept of the “Berlin Wall” meant the front barrier wall closest to West Berlin.
In 1965, the construction of the wall from concrete slabs began, and in 1975 the last reconstruction of the wall began. The wall was built from 45 thousand concrete blocks measuring 3.6 by 1.5 meters, rounded at the top to make it difficult to escape.
By 1989, the Berlin Wall was a complex complex of engineering and technical structures. The total length of the wall was 155 km, the intra-city border between East and West Berlin was 43 km, the border between West Berlin and the GDR (outer ring) was 112 km. Closer to West Berlin, the front barrier wall reached a height of 3.60 meters. It encircled the entire western sector of Berlin. In the city itself, the Wall divided 97 streets, six metro lines and ten districts of the city.
The complex included 302 observation posts, 20 bunkers, 259 devices for guard dogs and other border structures.
The wall was constantly patrolled by special units subordinate to the GDR police. The border guards were armed with small arms and had at their disposal trained service dogs, modern tracking equipment, and alarm systems. In addition, the guards had the right to shoot to kill if the border violators did not stop after warning shots.
The heavily guarded "no man's land" between the wall and West Berlin came to be called the "death strip".
There were eight border crossings, or checkpoints, between East and West Berlin where West Germans and tourists could visit East Germany.
Older people who remember well the events of the so-called “perestroika”, the collapse of the Soviet Union and rapprochement with the West, probably know the famous Berlin Wall. Its destruction became a real symbol of those events, their visible embodiment. The Berlin Wall and the history of its creation and destruction can tell a lot about the turbulent European changes of the mid- and late 20th century.
Historical context
It is impossible to understand the history of the Berlin Wall without updating the memory of the historical background that led to its emergence. As you know, World War II in Europe ended with the Act of Surrender of Nazi Germany. The consequences of the war for this country were disastrous: Germany was divided into zones of influence. The eastern part was controlled by the Soviet military-civil administration, the western part came under the control of the administration of the allies: the USA, Great Britain and France.
After some time, two independent states arose on the basis of these zones of influence: the Federal Republic of Germany - in the west, with its capital in Bonn, and the GDR - in the east, with its capital in Berlin. West Germany entered the US “camp”, eastern Germany found itself part of the socialist camp controlled by the Soviet Union. And since the cold war was already flaring up between yesterday's allies, the two Germanys found themselves, in essence, in hostile organizations, separated by ideological contradictions.
But even earlier, in the first post-war months, an agreement was signed between the USSR and the Western allies, according to which Berlin, the pre-war capital of Germany, was also divided into zones of influence: western and eastern. Accordingly, the western part of the city should actually belong to the Federal Republic of Germany, and the eastern part to the GDR. And everything would have been fine if not for one important feature: the city of Berlin was located deep inside the territory of the GDR!
That is, it turned out that West Berlin turned out to be an enclave, a piece of the Federal Republic of Germany, surrounded on all sides by the territory of “pro-Soviet” East Germany. While relations between the USSR and the West were relatively good, the city continued to live an ordinary life. People moved freely from one part to another, worked, and visited. Everything changed when the Cold War gained momentum.
Construction of the Berlin Wall
By the beginning of the 60s of the 20th century, it became obvious: the relations between the two Germanys were hopelessly damaged. The world was facing the threat of a new global war, tension between the West and the USSR was growing. In addition, the huge difference in the pace of economic development of the two blocs became obvious. Simply put, it was clear to the average person: living in West Berlin is much more comfortable and convenient than in East Berlin. People flocked to West Berlin, and additional NATO troops were deployed there. The city could become a “hot spot” in Europe.
To stop such developments, the GDR authorities decided to block off the city with a wall, which would make all contacts between residents of the once united settlement impossible. After careful preparation, consultation with allies and mandatory approval from the USSR, on the last night of August 1961, the entire city was divided in two!
In literature you can often find words that the wall was built in one night. Actually this is not true. Of course, such a grandiose structure cannot be erected in such a short time. On that memorable night for Berliners, only the main transport arteries connecting East and West Berlin were blocked. Somewhere across the street they raised high concrete slabs, somewhere they simply erected barbed wire barriers, and in some places they installed barriers with border guards.
The metro, whose trains used to travel between the two parts of the city, was stopped. Amazed Berliners discovered in the morning that they would no longer be able to go to work, study or simply visit friends as they had done before. Any attempts to penetrate West Berlin were considered a violation of the state border and were severely punished. That night, indeed, the city was divided into two parts.
And the wall itself, as an engineering structure, was built over many years in several stages. Here we need to remember that the authorities had to not only separate West Berlin from East Berlin, but also fence it off on all sides, because it turned out to be a “foreign body” inside the territory of the GDR. As a result, the wall acquired the following parameters:
- 106 km of concrete fencing, 3.5 meters high;
- almost 70 km of metal mesh with barbed wire;
- 105.5 km of deep earthen ditches;
- 128 km of signal fence, under electric voltage.
And also - many watchtowers, anti-tank pillboxes, firing points. Let us not forget that the wall was considered not only as an obstacle to ordinary citizens, but also as a military fortification structure in case of an attack by a NATO military group.
When was the Berlin Wall destroyed?
As long as it existed, the wall remained a symbol of the separation of two world systems. Attempts to overcome it did not stop. Historians have proven at least 125 cases of people dying while trying to cross the wall. About 5 thousand more attempts were crowned with success, and among the lucky ones, the GDR soldiers prevailed, called upon to protect the wall from crossing by their own fellow citizens.
By the end of the 1980s, so many enormous changes had already taken place in Eastern Europe that the Berlin Wall looked like a complete anachronism. Moreover, by that time Hungary had already opened its borders with the Western world, and tens of thousands of Germans were freely leaving through it for the Federal Republic of Germany. Western leaders pointed out to Gorbachev the need to dismantle the wall. The whole course of events clearly showed that the days of the ugly structure were numbered.
And this happened on the night of October 9-10, 1989! Another mass demonstration of residents of two parts of Berlin ended with the soldiers opening the barriers at the checkpoints and crowds of people rushing towards each other, although the official opening of the checkpoints was supposed to take place the next morning. People did not want to wait, and besides, everything that happened was filled with special symbolism. Many television companies broadcast live this unique event.
That same night, enthusiasts began to destroy the wall. At first, the process was spontaneous and looked like an amateur activity. Parts of the Berlin Wall stood for some time, completely covered in graffiti. People were taking pictures near them and TV crews were filming their stories. Subsequently, the wall was dismantled using technology, but in some places its fragments remained as a memorial. The days when the Berlin Wall was destroyed are considered by many historians to be the end of the Cold War in Europe.
One of the journalists in the 80s described his impressions of the Berlin Wall as follows: “I walked and walked along the street and just ran into a blank wall. There was nothing nearby, nothing. Just a long, gray wall.”
Long and gray wall. And really, nothing special. However, this is the most famous monument of recent world and German history, or rather, what is left of the wall and turned into a memorial.
History of construction
It is impossible to talk about the emergence of the Berlin Wall without knowing how Europe changed after World War II.
Then Germany split into two parts: East and West, the GDR (Eastern) followed the path of building socialism and was completely controlled by the USSR, joined the military bloc of the Warsaw Pact, Germany (the Allied occupation zone) continued capitalist development.
Berlin was divided in the same unnatural way. The area of responsibility of the three allies: France, England, and the USA became West Berlin, ¼ of which went to the GDR.
By 1961, it became clear that more and more people did not want to build a socialist bright future, and border crossings became more frequent. The young people, the future of the country, were leaving. In July alone, about 200 thousand people left the GDR across the border with West Berlin.
The leadership of the GDR, supported by the Warsaw Pact countries, decided to strengthen the country's state border with West Berlin.
On the night of August 13, GDR military units began covering the entire perimeter of the West Berlin border with barbed wire; they were finished by the 15th; then the construction of the fence continued for a year.
Another problem remained for the GDR authorities: Berlin had one transport system of metro and electric trains. It was solved simply: they closed all the stations on the line, above which the territory of an unfriendly state was located, where they could not close, they set up a checkpoint, like at the Friedrichstrasse station. They did the same with the railroad.
The border was fortified.
What did the Berlin Wall look like?
The word “wall” does not fully reflect the complex border fortification that, in fact, was the Berlin Wall. It was a whole border complex, consisting of several parts and well fortified.
It stretched for a distance of 106 kilometers, its height was 3.6 meters and was designed so that it could not be overcome without special devices. The construction material – gray reinforced concrete – gave the impression of inaccessibility and steadfastness.
Barbed wire was strung along the top of the wall and a high voltage current was passed through it to prevent any attempts to illegally cross the border. In addition, a metal mesh was installed in front of the wall, and metal strips with spikes were placed in some places. Observation towers and checkpoints were erected along the perimeter of the structure (there were 302 such structures). To make the Berlin Wall completely impregnable, anti-tank structures were built.
The complex of border structures was completed by a control strip with sand, which was leveled daily.
The Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of Berlin and Germany, was in the way of the barrage. The problem was solved simply: they were surrounded by a wall on all sides. No one, neither East Germans nor West Berliners, could approach the gates from 1961 until 1990. The absurdity of the “Iron Curtain” has reached its apogee.
Part of the once united people, it would seem, forever cut itself off from the other part, bristling with electrified barbed wire.
Living surrounded by a wall
Of course, it was West Berlin that was surrounded by a wall, but it seemed that the GDR had fenced itself off from the whole world, safely hidden behind the most primitive security structure.
But no walls can stop people who want freedom.
Only citizens of retirement age enjoyed the right of free transition. The rest invented many ways to overcome the wall. It is interesting that the more the border became stronger, the more sophisticated the means of crossing it became.
They flew over her on a hang glider, a homemade hot air balloon, climbed on a rope stretched between border windows, and rammed the walls of houses with bulldozers. To get to the other side, they dug tunnels, one of them was 145 m long, and many people moved through it to West Berlin.
During the years of the wall's existence (from 1961 to 1989), more than 5,000 people left the GDR, including members of the People's Army.
Lawyer Wolfgang Vogel, a public figure from the GDR who was involved in mediating exchanges of people (among his most famous cases were the exchange of Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel for Gary Powers, the exchange of Anatoly Sharansky), arranged border crossings for money. The leadership of the GDR had a stable income from this. So more than 200 thousand people and about 40 thousand political prisoners left the country. Very cynical, because we were talking about people’s lives.
People died trying to cross the wall. The first to die was 24-year-old Peter Fechter in August 1962, the last victim of the wall was Chris Gueffroy in 1989. Peter Fechter bled to death after lying wounded against a wall for 1.5 hours before border guards picked him up. Now at the site of his death there is a monument: a simple column of red granite with a modest inscription: “He just wanted freedom.”
Fall of the Berlin Wall
In 1989, the leadership of the GDR could no longer restrain its citizens from their desire to leave the country. Perestroika began in the USSR, and “big brother” could no longer help. In the fall, the entire leadership of East Germany resigned, and on November 9, free passage across the former, once so fortified border was allowed.
Thousands of Germans on both sides rushed to each other, rejoiced and celebrated. These were unforgettable moments. The event instantly acquired a sacred meaning: no to the unnatural division of a single people, yes to a united Germany. No to all kinds of borders, yes to freedom and the right to human life for all people in the world.
Just as the wall used to be a symbol of separation, these days it has begun to unite people. They drew graffiti on it, wrote messages, and cut off pieces as souvenirs. People understood that history was being made before their eyes, and they were its creators.
The wall was finally demolished a year later, leaving a 1,300-meter-long fragment as a reminder of the most expressive symbol of the Cold War.
Epilogue
This building has become a symbol of the absurd desire to slow down the natural course of history. But the Berlin Wall and, to a greater extent, its fall took on enormous meaning: no barriers could divide a united people, no walls could protect from the wind of change that blew through the bricked-up windows of border houses.
This is what the Scorpions song “Wind of Change” is about, dedicated to the fall of the wall and becoming the anthem of German unification.
But in the end, it somehow turned out that the whole story was basically just about one very touching phenomenon that impressed me personally to the depths of my soul. This is the famous Berlin Wall. I write “famous,” but I’m ashamed, because, imagine, before coming to Berlin, I simply knew from history lessons that it was erected after the Second World War and divided Berlin into two parts, but why, when, by whom and for what ... never really been interested. But I'll start from the beginning.
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Berlin Wall
Once in Berlin, we, to our shame, realized that we didn’t really know what to look at, except for the Reichstag and the monument to the Russian soldier, which, by the way, we never got to. Somehow they didn’t even think about the Berlin Wall. But, circling around the city with a map, suddenly at some point we discovered that we were not far from Checkpoint Charlie, we stopped, read the description in our mini-guide and, to put it mildly, we were hooked.
Later, when we tried to explain to ourselves why this touched us so much, we found a simple explanation for this - it’s not just theirs, it’s our common history! The Berlin Wall is, in fact, a symbol of the then political regime, it is a living personification of the “Iron Curtain”. In official documents, however, they often talk about the “Cold War.”
Being seriously interested in this topic, I found a lot of stories and photos on this topic, I dare to briefly state here what shocked me the most, and post some photos of that time, the authors of which I apologize in advance.
But first, I’ll explain a little: in 1948, Berlin was divided into two parts, one of which, the eastern one, was the capital of the GDR, and the second, the western one, was the American, French and British sectors of the occupation. At first, it was possible to cross the border freely, which East Berliners happily did every day, going to West Berlin to work, to the store, to visit friends and relatives. But this did not have a very positive effect on the economy of the GDR. There were other equally significant, in the opinion of the GDR government, political and economic reasons why it was decided to surround West Berlin with an impenetrable wall. As a result, during the night of August 13, 1961, the entire border with West Berlin was blocked, and by August 15 it was completely surrounded by barbed wire, in the place of which the construction of the Berlin Wall began quite quickly. At first it was stone, and later it turned into a whole complex complex of reinforced concrete walls, ditches, metal mesh, watchtowers, etc.
Since the border was closed overnight, you can imagine how many people instantly lost their jobs, friends, relatives, apartments... And all at once - freedom. Many could not put up with this and almost immediately escapes from East Berlin to West Berlin began. At first, this was not so difficult, but as the Berlin Wall complex grew and became stronger, the methods of escape became more and more inventive and cunning.
You can read a lot about escape attempts on the Internet, I won’t tell you about everything. I will only briefly describe those that were the most successful, original and memorable. Forgive me, I will write without names and dates. Several times, immediately after the construction of the Berlin Wall, they broke through it, ramming it with trucks. At checkpoints, they drove under the barriers at high speed in sports cars that were too low to hit the barrier, swam across rivers and lakes, because... this was the most exposed section of the fence.
The border between West and East Berlin often ran right through the houses, and it turned out that the entrance was on the eastern territory, and the windows faced the West. When they first began to build the Berlin Wall, many residents of the building boldly jumped out of the windows onto the street, where they were often caught by Western firefighters or simply caring city residents. But all these windows were bricked up very soon. I wonder if the residents were relocated, or if they continued to live without daylight?
The first escapes of East Berliners
Tunnels were very popular; dozens of them were dug, and this was the most crowded method of escape (20-50 people escaped at a time). Later, particularly enterprising Western businessmen even began to make money from this by placing advertisements in newspapers “We will help with family problems.”
A tunnel through which dozens of people were running
There were also very original escapes: for example, two families made a homemade hot air balloon and flew over the Berlin Wall on it; the brothers crossed to West Berlin by stretching a cable between houses and going down it on a roulette wheel.
When, a few years later, Westerners were allowed to enter East Berlin with special passes to see relatives, sophisticated methods were invented to smuggle people out in cars. Sometimes they used very small cars, specially modified so that people could hide under the hood or in the trunk. The border guards didn’t even realize that there could be a person instead of a motor. Many people hid in suitcases, sometimes they were stacked two at a time, with slits made between them, so the person fit completely without having to fold.
Almost immediately, an order was issued to shoot at all people trying to escape. One of the most famous victims of this inhumane decree was a young man, Peter Fechter, who, while attempting to escape, was shot in the stomach and left to bleed against a wall until he died. The unofficial numbers of arrests for escaping (3,221 people), deaths (from 160 to 938 people) and injuries (from 120 to 260 people) while trying to overcome the Berlin Wall are simply terrifying!
When I read all these stories about escapes from East Berlin, I had a question that I could not find the answer to anywhere, where did all the escapees live in West Berlin? After all, it was not made of rubber either, and according to unconfirmed data, 5,043 people managed to escape successfully in one way or another.
Near Checkpoint Charlie there is a museum dedicated to the history of the Berlin Wall. In it, Rainer Hildebrandt, the museum's founder, collected many of the devices that East Berliners used to escape to West Berlin. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the museum itself, but even the postcards with images of the Berlin Wall and photo sketches from everyday life of that time, sold in a nearby souvenir shop, aroused unusually strong emotions in us. And I was very touched by the request and appeal left at Checkpoint Charlie to our president.
Meanwhile, life went on as usual, the people of West Berlin had free access to the wall, could walk along it and use it for their needs. Many artists painted graffiti on the western side of the Berlin Wall, some of these images became famous throughout the world, such as the “Kiss of Honecker and Brezhnev.”
People often came to the wall to look at their loved ones at least from afar, wave a handkerchief at them, show them their children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters. This is terrible, families, loved ones, relatives, loved ones, separated by concrete and someone’s complete indifference. After all, even if this was so necessary for the economy and/or politics, then it was possible to provide for people not to suffer so much, to give at least the opportunity to reunite relatives...
The fall of the Berlin Wall occurred on November 9, 1989. The reason for this significant event was that one of the countries of the socialist camp, Hungary, opened its borders with Austria, and approximately 15 thousand GDR citizens left the country to get to West Germany. The remaining East German residents took to the streets with demonstrations and demands for their civil rights. And on November 9, the head of the GDR announced that it would be possible to leave the country with a special visa. However, the people did not wait for this; millions of citizens simply poured out into the streets and headed towards the Berlin Wall. The border guards were unable to contain such a crowd, and the borders were open. On the other side of the wall, West Heman residents met their compatriots. There was an atmosphere of joy and happiness from the reunion.
There is an opinion that when the general rejoicing passed, residents of different Germanys began to feel a huge ideological gap between themselves. They say that this is still felt today, and East Berliners are still different from West Berliners. But we haven't had a chance to check this yet. Nowadays, sometimes, no, no, but a rumor slips through that some Germans are convinced that life under the Berlin Wall was better than it is now. Although, perhaps, this is what those who generally believe that before the sun was brighter, the grass was greener, and life was better say.
In any case, such a terrible phenomenon occurred in history, and its remnants are still preserved in Berlin. And when you walk down the street and under your feet you see marks where the Berlin Wall used to be, when you can touch its fragments, and you understand how much pain, unrest and fear this building brought, you begin to feel your involvement in this history.
More than a quarter of a century has passed since the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall. Willy Brand, one of the Chancellors of Germany, called this structure the “wall of shame.” The concrete fence became a symbol of the split of Germany into separate states and the Cold War - a time of confrontation between two superpowers: the USSR and the USA.
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The unconditional surrender of the Third Reich after World War II entailed the redivision of the world into new spheres of influence. The strengthening of the USSR's position in Eastern Europe aroused the fears of the countries of the Western camp, to which the idea of dividing the defeated power belonged. In February 1945, the participants of the Yalta Conference (America, England, France and the USSR) determined the post-war status of Germany: the allies agreed on the dismemberment of the country. The issue of delimiting the four occupation zones was finally resolved during negotiations in Potsdam on July 17-08, 1945.
Four years later, in May 1949, a new state appeared on the world map - the Federal Republic of Germany, and six months later - the GDR. The nearly 1,400 km long border ran from Bavaria in the south to the Baltic Sea in the north. It cut through the landscapes, settlements and lives of millions of people. Berlin also turned out to be bipolar, while remaining a free zone. Residents moved without problems between the two parts of the divided city.
Walter Ulbricht, the first person of the GDR, was interested in stopping the increasing outflow of citizens (especially valuable specialists) to the west. He repeatedly wrote to Khrushchev about the need to strengthen control on the border with Germany. The impetus for the construction of the fence was the political conflict of 1961. Its participants - the USSR and the USA - claimed undivided ownership of the city. The Vienna negotiations, the topic of which was the status of Berlin, were unsuccessful, and the Soviet leadership approved the GDR proposal to strengthen border control.
History of construction
On the night of August 13, 1961, barbed wire appeared in the eastern part of the city. Next, armed troops blocked transport arteries and installed barriers. By August 15, the entire border line was cordoned off. The first blocks appeared. Creating a reinforced concrete structure, builders blocked streets, bricked up the windows of nearby houses, cut wires and welded pipes. The wall knew no barriers - it passed through metro stations, tram lines, railway crossings and the Spree River.
The Brandenburg Gate, located along the way, was fenced on all sides, making the main symbol of Berlin inaccessible to both Western and Eastern residents of the city. From 1962 to 1978, the building was completed and re-equipped. Each time the wall acquired more and more sinister outlines.
What was
The Berlin Wall is a 3.60 m high engineering structure consisting of reinforced concrete segments. The top of the fence was covered with iron pipes installed in 1975, which prevented anyone from clinging to the edge of the fortification with their hands. At the same time, to enhance protection, anti-tank hedgehogs and barrier tapes with spikes, popularly nicknamed “Stalin’s lawn,” were installed at the foot of the structure. Several areas were supplemented with live barbed wire.
By the end of the 70s, in some areas on the eastern side, a metal mesh with signal flares was strengthened. It was separated from the wall by an earthen ditch, called the “death strip.” This area was guarded by dogs and illuminated by powerful floodlights. An illegal attempt to move to the western part of the city was punishable by imprisonment or death.
The total length of the structure was 155 km, of which Berlin accounted for 44.75 km. The “Shameful Wall” crossed 192 streets, 3 highways and 44 railway lines. Along the entire length there were 20 bunkers, 302 towers and 259 posts guarded by guard dogs. The defense fortification was patrolled by 10 thousand armed soldiers, who were ordered to shoot to kill if necessary.
Border crossing
The odious construction divided the city and cut off relatives and friends from each other. Only pensioners had the right to cross the border. Nevertheless, reckless refugees tried to find loopholes through which they could leave the “socialist paradise.” According to various sources, between 136 and 206 East Berliners died trying to escape, most of them within five years of the construction of the fence.
The first killed was Günter Litfin, shot dead in August 1961 by GDR border guards while trying to get into West Berlin along the Spree River. In 1966, 40 shots killed two children. They were 10 and 13 years old. The last two victims were Winfried Freudenberg, who crashed on March 8, 1989, while flying over a wall in a homemade hot air balloon, and Chris Gueffroy, who died in a hail of bullets while trying to cross the border in February of the same year.
Fall and destruction
Mikhail Gorbachev, who came to power, began to modernize the state and government apparatus. Under the slogans "Glasnost" and "Perestroika" he reformed the Soviet Union. The leadership of the GDR lost the support of the USSR and could no longer stop its citizens trying to leave the country. Socialist Hungary, followed by Czechoslovakia, liberalized the border regime. Residents of East Germany filled these states, wanting to get to Germany through them. The Berlin Wall was no longer necessary.
In fact, the beginning of the fall of the wall was the evening of November 9, 1989. At a live press conference dedicated to the authorities’ decision to open checkpoints, the question was asked when this resolution would come into force. In response, Schabowski, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Party of Germany, uttered the famous words: “This will happen, as far as I know, ... now, immediately.”
Berliners watching the performance on TV were speechless. When the initial shock wore off, people from both sides of the border rushed to the hated fence. The border guards did not hold back their pressure. The reunion that had been dreamed of for 28 years took place. The demolition of the Berlin Wall began on June 13, 1990 at Bernauer Strasse. But even before this moment, the townspeople had broken many of its fragments, taking away pieces of concrete as souvenirs.
Those of you who want to include a visit to the infamous landmark in your excursion program will be interested in information that the guidebooks do not contain. So, the Berlin Wall: facts and figures.
- On October 27, 1961, a confrontation between American and Soviet troops occurred at a checkpoint on Friedrichstrasse - 30 battle tanks collided at the border.
- On June 11, 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle informed the USSR Ambassador about the possibility of a nuclear war in the event of a new military conflict in Berlin.
- Despite enhanced security measures, in the period between 1961-1989. 5,000 townspeople managed to get over the fence. Taking advantage of their official position, 1,300 GDR soldiers also crossed the border.
- After the opening of the passage, West Berliners showed generosity to the East German border guards - bars near the wall gave out free beer.
- Today, some of the concrete monster's segments can be found in different parts of the world, such as the CIA headquarters and the Vatican.
- The construction and protection of the border fence became a great economic burden for the GDR. The cost was more than 400 million marks (200 million euros). Ironically, the “anti-capitalist stronghold” led to the collapse of the socialist country.
- On November 9, 2014, on the day of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, 7,000 glowing rubber balls were installed along the entire perimeter of the former border, which soared into the sky at exactly 19:00.
Berlin Wall today
Currently, all that remains of the structure, which aroused hatred and fear among people for 28 years, are only small fragments and a double line of paving stones, snaking like a long snake through the city. To ensure that the memory of the victims remains forever in the hearts of people, the Berlin authorities have opened several museums and memorial centers located next to the remains of the wall.
Memorial on Bernauerstrasse
“Window of Memory” is the name of the memorial, created to familiarize contemporaries with the tragic events associated with the split of the capital. It is dedicated to people living in the eastern part and trying to get to the western part by jumping from the windows of houses and falling to their deaths. The monument is a rusty iron composition containing photographs of the dead.
Nearby there is an area of gray concrete and border strip, a tower, the Chapel of Peace, built on the site of a bombed Gothic temple, a library, a museum and an observation deck. You can get to the memorial by metro (line U8). Stop Bernauerstrasse.
Topography of terror
This place is a reminder of the countless tragedies caused by the Nazi regime. The museum is located on the territory of the headquarters of one of the leaders of the SS - Reichsführer Himmler. Now in a pavilion with an area of 800 m2, visitors can look at photographs and documents introducing genocide and other crimes of fascism. Nearby, in the open air, are the ruins of Gestapo barracks and basements, and part of the Berlin Wall.
Address: Niederkirchnerstrasse 8. You can get here by S-Bahn (city train). Line U2 to Anhalter Bahnhof.
Checkpoint Charlie
At the former border checkpoint for diplomats and officials, where a conflict took place in 1961 - a confrontation between Soviet and American tank divisions, today there is a museum of the Berlin Wall. Among the exhibits are unique photographs and devices with which the East Germans moved to the western side: scuba gear, hang gliders and hot air balloons. Near the museum there is a model of a guard booth with “soldiers” standing nearby, dressed in American military uniforms of that time. “Border guards” willingly take pictures with everyone.
