Berlin's wall - Germany

The beautiful Berlin Wall, which divided the city into two parts, east and west, was a symbol of

the Cold War. The German Democratic Republic government built the wall to prevent the East

Germans to to escape in the West Germany.

A big part of it was demolished ever since the border between East and West was opened in

1989.

After the World War II, Germany was divided into four zones: one American, British, French

and Soviet. Berlin was also divided into four sectors. In 1948, the Soviet authorities tried to

annex the entire city and started a blockade of the western sectors. But the plans have failed

due to the air transport sectors in the West and in May 1949 the blockade was lifted. In the

same year Germany became the Soviet GDR - German Democratic Republic with its capital

in East Berlin. The other zones became West Germany - German Federal Republic with its

capital in Bonn. The western part of Berlin became an enclave surrounded by East Germany.

Until 1961 the Germans from East Germany could move freely between East Berlin and the

West until in 1961 when up to 20,000 East Germans were fleeing each month to West Berlin.

On August 12, 1961, the East German authorities decided to close the border with the

Western sectors of Berlin to prevent people to escape. Officially, this measure was an anti

fascist protective barrier designed to keep the East against the West German aggression. The

next day of this action, on August 13, West Berlin was surrounded by barbed wire. The border

traffic was stopped and the subway and the train system that connects different parts of the

city were stopped. The houses in the eastern part of the border were evacuated and the

windows overlooking the border were walled.

Over time, the barbed wire was replaced with a 3.6 meter high wall. Along the wall on the east

appeared "the dead zone", an area controlled by guards. A total of 302 guard towers and 20

bunkers were built along the border - 155 km. The guards had orders to shoot anyone who

tried to escape from the communist camp. As a result 192 people were killed in their attempt

to cross the border to the West.

After the Soviet president Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev visited the West German in 1989,

Hungary opened its borders to Austria. This allowed the East Germans to migrate en masse

to the West. Meanwhile, the street protests that have attracted more and more people put

pressure on the government of the GDR. Finally on November 9, 1989, the travel restrictions

were lifted. Shortly after this the border gates were opened and the people just invaded the

West Berlin.

The vast majority of the wall was knocked down since then, but some areas still remain

standing. The most famous part of the wall is 1316 meters in length, called Gallery East. It lies

between Warschauer Strasse and Ostbahnhof and contains 106 paintings. Other smaller

parts of the wall can be found at Center Memorial in Bernauer Strasse, from where the

destruction of the official of the Wall began at Potsdamer Platz, the Reichstag,

Invaliedenfriedhof Bornholmer Strasse, Nieder-Kirchner Strasse, and Zimmerstrasse near

Checkpoint Charlie.Less