A brief history of the Berlin wall
At the end of the second world war, in 1945, Berlin was divided into 4 sectors. In the western half of Berlin were the American, British and French sectors and in the east, the Soviet sector. In 1946, the Soviet administration in the eastern sector began the instigation of formal demarcation between east and west – amongst other things, that meant a valid pass was required to travel between sectors.
This was the start of what was to become a physically divided city.
In 1949, the Federal Republic of (West) Germany was founded and in the same year, the German Democratic Republic (east) was also established.
In 1952, the decision was made by the East German government to close the border not only between east and west Germany but also between west Berlin and East Germany – effectively isolating the area of West Berlin. However, despite this, it was still possible to cross from the eastern sector of Berlin into the western sector.
Amidst rising concern about the number of people, especially skilled workers escaping to the west, the east Germans finally prevented the flood of people, by closing the border between east and west Berlin.
On August 13th 1961, the Berlin wall was erected and divided the two halves of the city for 28 years.
East German guards were on orders to shoot anyone trying to cross the border and although many people made successful and often daring escapes, a further 192 lost their lives trying to do so.
The Berlin wall came to symbolise the cold war and attracted many tourists (curious to see for themselves
the divided city) and political figures, to show solidarity with both the beleagured inhabitants of west Berlin
And the repressed people of the Soviet east.
The wall stretched some 155km, punctuated with over 300 watchtowers, completely enclosing west Berlin and was a mixture of concrete wall sections and barbed wire barricades.
Many peoples‘ image of the wall is often only of big concrete wall sections running through the city itself
but of course the border extended all the way around Berlin, from Henningsdorf in the north, to Zehlendorf in the south west.
Of the total length of the border, some 106km was made up of the concrete sections and appx 37km of the border ran through the city itself.
Over the 28 years in which the Berlin wall stood, the East Germans made several modifications to the design, further preventing any attempts to escape.
The few sections of wall that remain standing today, are the 4th generation, designed to prevent them from being pulled over and with the addition of a cap on the top of the wall, to prevent climbing hooks from being used to assist with an escape attempt.
By the mid 1980‘s the political system of eastern Europe had already begun to crumble and with the new moderate policies of the Gorbatshov era and the rise of free trade unions in countries like Poland – it spelt the end for the wall and it was only a matter of time.
Growing unrest in Hungary, Poland and Czeckoslovakia led to demonstrations within Germany (especially Leipzig) itself against the government.
Finally, the East German head of state (Erich Honecker) resigned on 18th October 1989 and on the 9th November 1989 the new government, facing a wave of discontent, decided to lift all restrictions on travel between east and west.
During the course of that day – November 9th 1989, some of the most iconic scenes of the 20th century were played out, as people stood shoulder to shoulder on top of the wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate and finally thousands of east Berliners flooded through the newly-opened border, into west berlin.
East Germany and West Germany were eventually formally re-united, on October 3rd 1990 with Berlin, once again, being the capital city.
Today many tourists still come to Berlin, not only to enjoy the vibrancy of the city but also to discover the history of Berlins divided past.
In that they are often disappointed because only a few remaining sections of the wall remain standing, however it is possible to re-trace the route of the wall through the city itself, as it is marked by a double row of paving stones.
Although some of the original line of the wall has been lost due to the development of roads etc, it is still possible to follow most of it due to the inaugauration of the Berliner Mauer Radweg (the Berlin wall cycle route).
