German wall history. The Berlin Wall: a history of creation and destruction in the context of European history. Church between the walls
Berlin Wall (Germany) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.
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Berlin is a city with a rich cultural heritage, with incredible architecture, museums, theaters, galleries, but for many tourists it is primarily associated with the notorious Berlin Wall. A concrete fence more than three meters high, surrounded by barbed wire, stretching one hundred and sixty kilometers, was not just a border between two parts of the German state, it divided thousands of families overnight for almost thirty years.
The Berlin Wall was erected at the end of the summer of 1961, and it fell only in the fall of 1989, during which time about seventy-five thousand people were detained and convicted while trying to cross it, and more than a thousand were shot on the spot, including even children. In November 1989, Germans from East Berlin were allowed to cross the border with special visas, but people did not wait to receive them and forcibly stormed the wall, behind which they were joyfully welcomed by the residents of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Some of them today decorate large American corporations, museums and even the headquarters of the CIA.
This became a global event; the reunification of families, the city and the entire state was talked about in all corners of the planet. In a matter of days, no stone was left of the wall; its fragments, which West Berlin artists decorated with eloquent graffiti, were sold for a lot of money to private collections. Tourist interest in this unique historical site has not subsided to this day. Many people come to Berlin precisely to see at least its ruins with their own eyes, but the Berliners themselves cannot answer with confidence where exactly it was located. Therefore, today an initiative group, with the support of a special EU fund, is restoring fragments of the Berlin Wall, trying to use the same building materials and achieving maximum historical compliance.
For example, an almost eight-hundred-meter section of the wall along Bernauer Strasse was reconstructed; it was here that people most often tried to cross the border illegally, and their lives ended tragically. When restoring the wall, they used the same slabs from which it originally consisted; they had to be purchased from private collectors around the world at a price of a thousand EUR for each fragment. The completeness of the picture is also provided by three watchtowers, of which there were more than three hundred until the early 90s of the last century.
Today, these unique objects are of great tourist interest, and are also a symbol of freedom, unity and invincibility of people who once lived in complete isolation.
For the first time in Berlin. Where to go, what to try:
When talking about, we first of all imagine the USA and the USSR and the famous arms race. And if you ask anyone a question - what symbols of this period do you know, then the person will fall into a bit of a stupor. After all, you won’t answer right away. It seems to fit, although it is not physical evidence (not counting the presence of atomic weapons). And the Iron Curtain is again something ephemeral that cannot be touched. But there is still one symbol that cannot be ignored - it runs like a red thread through the entire history of Germany and the USSR in the second half of the 20th century. Of course, after such a hint it will immediately become clear what we are talking about - of course, about the legendary Berlin Wall, which divided the current capital of Germany into 2 parts. And not only the city, but also human destinies.
Prerequisites for construction
It ended in 1945. For a long 5 years (for the USSR - 4, and for some countries even 6 years, for example, for Poland), all of Europe was in the fire of battles, bloodshed, and deprivation. Already in 1944 it became clear that Germany would lose this war. The Allies were already planning how they would divide the conquered lands. After the surrender of Germany, the country was divided into foreign zones of influence - the Western part was under the leadership of the USA, England and France. The eastern one was taken by the Soviet Union. The capital of the state, Berlin, did not escape this fate.
Despite the fact that the city was entirely in the zone of influence of the USSR, at the Potsdam conference it was decided to divide it too. Thus, two Berlins appeared on the map of Germany - East and West. Now let’s imagine what happened to the residents and their lives in the divided territories.
As you know, the USSR had a socialist way of life and worldview. Stalin and his followers pursued the same policy in relation to the conquered lands. And the USA was a capitalist country, with completely different ideas about life. And Berliners began to fully feel this difference. And not in favor of the Land of Soviets. Massive flows of emigrants began from one part to another, from total control and poverty to a more developed industrial part.
The USA and the USSR fought each other as best they could in order to surpass their rival in the political arena. In 1948, a council was held in Bonn, under the protectorate of the Western powers, to create a constitution for the new West German state. On May 8, 1949, the constitution was adopted, and after 2 weeks the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany - the Federal Republic of Germany - was officially proclaimed. Of course, in this situation, the USSR could not stand aside - in the fall of 1949 the answer followed - the creation of the GDR (German Democratic Republic). Bonn became the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin became the capital of the GDR.
A neighborhood like the United States was like a “bone in the throat,” as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev admitted. Moreover, the standard of living in the western part was much higher (what is there to hide). Of course, the General Secretaries could not help but understand that the free movement of residents around Berlin could negatively affect the image of the Soviet government. A plan was hatched to drive the Western powers out of Germany. In 1948, the blockade of Berlin was ordered. Total!!! Soviet posts did not allow vehicles with food and things to pass through. The Americans found something to do here too - they began delivering from the air. This situation continued for more than a year, and in the end the USSR was forced to retreat.
The next 10 years were relatively quiet. The USSR was preparing for human space flight, and the Germans continued to leave the eastern part of Berlin and settle in the western part. The number of refugees grew steadily. In 10 years, more than 3 million people of the intelligent profession (doctors, teachers, engineers) left Soviet Berlin. The USSR and Western countries sat down at the negotiating table time after time, but all meetings ended in vain. Meanwhile, the situation was getting worse. In 1961, about 19 thousand people left the GDR through Berlin. Then another 30 thousand. On August 12, more than 2,400 people crossed the border in one day - the largest number of emigrants ever to leave East Germany in one day.
The Soviet leadership was seriously concerned about the current situation. Khrushchev gave an official order to stop the flow of refugees once and for all. The decision was made to build a wall. Within two weeks, the East German army, police and volunteers had constructed a makeshift wall from barbed wire and a concrete wall.
Life divided in half
Before the appearance of this structure on the streets of Berlin, all residents could move freely - to shops, to meet friends, to the cinema, to the theater. Now this has become almost impossible. It was possible to obtain a pass to the western part only at three checkpoints - in Helmstedt (checkpoint Alpha), in Dreilinden (checkpoint Bravo) and on Friedrichstrasse in the city center (checkpoint Charlie).
Let us note that there were many times fewer West Berliners among those wishing to visit the Eastern part of the capital. In total, there were about 12 checkpoints along the wall, where soldiers inspected all persons (including diplomats). And we can say with confidence that the German who received the coveted pass to the western part was a rare lucky person - the Soviet leadership did not encourage traveling to the west, where residents could become infected with the “capitalist” infection.
Over time, a stronger wall was built from reinforced concrete. Measures were taken for defectors - the so-called “death strip”. It was located on the eastern part and consisted of a sand embankment (so that footprints were visible), searchlights, wire machine guns, and patrol soldiers on top of the wall, who received permission to shoot to kill anyone who dared to cross the border.
At least 170 people were killed as they sought a better life behind the wall. It would seem that's it! You can't just cross the border. But no! The German mind was inventive. If the desire to get to West Berlin was burning, then people (during the entire existence of the wall from 1961 to 1989) jumped out of windows adjacent to the wall, crawled under barbed wire, and even used sewer pipes. In this way, about 5 thousand people fled, including border guards.
A fall
In 1989, the Cold War was already winding down. The USSR and the USA tried to establish friendly contacts with each other. These changes also affected Berlin. The representative of the USSR in Germany announced that now citizens of the city and country can freely cross borders. In the evening, more than 2 million people came to the wall, holding beer and bottles of champagne. Many brought hammers and picks to destroy the symbol of Soviet occupation forever. They were helped by cranes and bulldozers that demolished the foundation of the wall. One of the residents wrote on the wall: “Only today did the war finally end.” Prophetic words. It was November 9, 1989.
Germany was finally united on October 3, 1990, almost a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the Cold War and the harsh policies of the Soviet leadership.
The content of the article
BERLIN WALL- a barrier erected by the authorities of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) around West Berlin in August 1961. It completely surrounded the territory of the three western (American, British and French) sectors of the old German capital and interrupted free communication between the two parts of the city, divided since 1948.
Berlin crisis.
Before the construction of the wall, the border between the western and eastern parts of Berlin was open. The 44.75 km dividing line (the total length of West Berlin's border with the GDR was 164 km) ran right through streets and houses, canals and waterways. Officially, there were 81 street checkpoints, 13 crossings in the metro and on the city railway. In addition, there were hundreds of illegal routes. Every day, from 300 to 500 thousand people crossed the border between both parts of the city for various reasons.
The construction of the Berlin Wall was preceded by a serious aggravation of the political situation around Berlin. Both military-political blocs - NATO and the Warsaw Pact Organization (WTO) confirmed the irreconcilability of their positions on the “German Question”. The West German government led by Konrad Adenauer introduced the “Halstein Doctrine” in 1957, which provided for the automatic severance of diplomatic relations with any country that recognized the GDR. It categorically rejected proposals from the East German side to create a confederation of German states, insisting instead on holding all-German elections. In turn, the GDR authorities declared in 1958 their claims to sovereignty over West Berlin on the grounds that it was located “on the territory of the GDR.” In November 1958, the head of the Soviet government, Nikita Khrushchev, accused the Western powers of violating the Potsdam Agreements of 1945. He announced the abolition of Berlin's international status by the Soviet Union and described the entire city (including its western sectors) as the “capital of the GDR.” The Soviet government proposed turning West Berlin into a “demilitarized free city” and, in an ultimatum tone, demanded that the United States, Great Britain and France negotiate on this topic within six months (“Khrushchev’s Ultimatum”). This demand was rejected by the Western powers. Negotiations between their foreign ministers and the head of the USSR Foreign Ministry in Geneva in the spring and summer of 1959 ended without result. After N. Khrushchev's visit to the USA in September 1959, the Soviet ultimatum was postponed. But the parties continued to insist on their previous positions. In August 1960, the GDR government introduced restrictions on visits by German citizens to East Berlin, citing the need to stop them from conducting “revanchist propaganda.” In response, West Germany refused a trade agreement between both parts of the country, which the GDR regarded as an “economic war.” After lengthy and difficult negotiations, the agreement was finally put into effect on January 1, 1961. But the crisis was not resolved. ATS leaders continued to demand the neutralization and demilitarization of West Berlin. In turn, the foreign ministers of NATO countries confirmed in May 1961 their intention to guarantee the presence of the armed forces of Western powers in the western part of the city and its “viability”. Western leaders declared that they would defend “the freedom of West Berlin” with all their might.
Both blocs and both German states increased their armed forces and intensified propaganda against the enemy. The GDR authorities complained about Western threats and maneuvers, “provocative” violations of the country’s border (137 for May–July 1961), and the activities of anti-communist groups. They accused “German agents” of organizing dozens of acts of sabotage and arson. Great dissatisfaction with the leadership and police of East Germany was caused by the inability to control the flow of people moving across the border.
The situation worsened in the summer of 1961. The hard course of the East German leader Walter Ulbricht, economic policies aimed at “catching up and overtaking the Federal Republic of Germany” and the corresponding increase in production standards, economic difficulties, forced collectivization of 1957–1960, foreign policy tensions and higher wages in West Berlin encouraged thousands of GDR citizens to leave for the West. In total, more than 207 thousand people left the country in 1961. In July 1961 alone, more than 30 thousand East Germans fled the country. These were most often young and qualified specialists. Outraged East German authorities accused West Berlin and Germany of “human trafficking,” “poaching” personnel and trying to thwart their economic plans. They claimed that the economy of East Berlin annually loses 2.5 billion marks because of this.
In the context of the aggravation of the situation around Berlin, the leaders of the ATS countries decided to close the border. Rumors of such plans were in the air as early as June 1961, but the leader of the GDR, Walter Ulbricht, then denied such intentions. In fact, at that time they had not yet received final consent from the USSR and other members of the Eastern Bloc. From August 3 to 5, 1961, a meeting of the first secretaries of the ruling communist parties of the ATS states was held in Moscow, at which Ulbricht insisted on closing the border in Berlin. This time he received support from the Allies. On August 7, at a meeting of the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED - East German Communist Party), a decision was made to close the border of the GDR with West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. On August 12, the Council of Ministers of the GDR adopted a corresponding resolution. The East Berlin police were put on full alert. At 1 a.m. on August 13, 1961, the Chinese Wall II project began. About 25 thousand members of paramilitary “battle groups” from GDR enterprises occupied the border line with West Berlin; their actions covered parts of the East German army. The Soviet army was in a state of readiness.
Construction of the wall.
“The night came from 12 to 13 August 1961,” East German historians Hartmut and Ellen Mehls later described the events. – The thermometer showed 13 degrees Celsius. The sky was cloudy and a light breeze was blowing. Like every Saturday, most residents of the GDR capital went to bed late, hoping to sleep longer on August 13th. Until 0 o'clock this night in Berlin proceeded as usual. But shortly after midnight, the telephone rang in many apartments in the capital, and traffic rapidly increased. Functionaries of the SED, the state apparatus and economic departments were unexpectedly and urgently called to duty. The huge mechanism quickly and accurately began to move. At 1 hour 11 minutes the General German News Agency broadcast the statement of the Warsaw Pact states... When the morning of August 13 arrived, the border between the German Democratic Republic and West Berlin was under control. Security was ensured on it in the afternoon.” East German authorities closed checkpoints, housed and sealed border buildings, and erected barbed wire along the border.
On August 15, 1961, the SED Politburo announced the start of the “second stage” of ensuring “border security.” Soldiers and construction workers, guarded by border guards, began building a wall of pre-prepared concrete blocks around West Berlin. At that moment, 19-year-old border guard Konrad Schumann jumped over the barbed wire fence and became the first GDR citizen to flee to the West since August 13th. On June 19, 1962, construction of the second border wall began. The height of the wall that gradually surrounded West Berlin reached 6 meters. Anyone who might try to illegally cross the wall and thus end up in the “death strip” was ordered to open fire by the GDR border guards. On August 17, 1962, Peter Fechter, an 18-year-old construction worker from East Berlin, was shot and killed while trying to climb over the Berlin Wall. Since then, 92 people have died under similar circumstances; many were injured.
The construction of the Berlin Wall did not mean a complete blockade of West Berlin, as it did in the late 1940s. In December 1963, an agreement was signed allowing residents of the western part of the city to visit their relatives in East Berlin for Christmas and New Year. In 1968, the situation worsened again: the GDR introduced a passport and visa regime for transit travel for citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany and the West Berlin population. The passage of members and officials of the West German government, as well as German military personnel, through the territory of East Germany was suspended.
The detente in relations between the two German states after the government of Willy Brandt came to power in Germany in 1969, which proclaimed the “New Ostpolitik,” made it possible to take the next step. On September 3, 1971, Great Britain, the USSR, the USA and France signed a quadripartite agreement on Berlin. In December 1971, agreements were concluded between the authorities of the GDR and West Berlin that allowed West Berliners to receive permission to enter and visit East Germany one or more times a year (for a total stay of up to 30 days a year). In addition, permission to enter could be granted in cases of urgent "family or humanitarian reasons". Unimpeded transport links between Germany and West Berlin were guaranteed. Access to the city was by air, 8 railway lines, 5 streets and 2 waterways. However, the Berlin Wall continued to divide the city, passing through its very center. It turned into a kind of symbol of the split of Europe into opposing military-political blocs. The Wall was also one of Berlin's main attractions. Any visitor to the city was eager to see this structure made of gray and gloomy concrete, and in the western part of the city, tourists were sold postcards with its image and the inscription: “The wall must be removed!”
Fall of the wall.
When in May 1989, under the influence of perestroika in the Soviet Union, the GDR's Warsaw Pact partner, Hungary, destroyed fortifications on the border with its western neighbor Austria, the GDR leadership had no intention of following its example. But it soon lost control of the rapidly unfolding events. Thousands of GDR citizens flocked to other Eastern European countries in the hope of getting from there to West Germany. Already in August 1989, the diplomatic missions of the Federal Republic of Germany in Berlin, Budapest and Prague were forced to stop receiving visitors due to the influx of East German residents seeking entry into the West German state. Hundreds of East Germans fled to the West through Hungary. When the Hungarian government announced the opening of borders on September 11, 1989, the Berlin Wall lost its meaning: within three days, 15 thousand citizens left the GDR through Hungarian territory. Mass demonstrations demanding civil rights and freedoms began in the country.
On November 9, 1989 at 19:34, speaking at a press conference broadcast on television, GDR government representative Günter Schabowski announced new rules for exiting and entering the country. He spoke in a heavy, official language, as if he were talking about some minor technical matter, such as repairing transport routes. According to the decisions taken, from the next day, citizens of the GDR could receive visas to immediately visit West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. Hundreds of thousands of East Germans, without waiting for the appointed time, rushed to the border on the evening of November 9. The border guards, who had not received orders, first tried to push the crowd back, using water cannons, but then, yielding to the massive pressure, they were forced to open the border. Thousands of West Berliners came out to greet the guests from the East. What was happening was reminiscent of a national holiday. The feeling of happiness and brotherhood washed away all state barriers and obstacles. West Berliners, in turn, began to cross the border, breaking into the eastern part of the city. “...Spotlights, hustle and bustle, jubilation. A group of people had already burst into the border crossing corridor, before the first lattice barrier. Behind him are five embarrassed border guards,” recalled a witness to what was happening, Maria Meister from West Berlin. – From the watchtowers, already surrounded by a crowd, soldiers look down. Applause for every Trabant, for every group of pedestrians approaching shyly... Curiosity drives us forward, but there is also fear that something terrible might happen. Do the GDR border guards realize that this is a super-secure border now violated?... We move on... The legs move, the mind warns. Detente comes only at the crossroads... We are just in East Berlin, people help each other with coins on the phone. Their faces laugh, their tongue refuses to obey: madness, madness. The light display shows the time: 0 hours 55 minutes, 6 degrees Celsius." Night from 9 to 10 November 1989. ("Volkszeitung", 1989, 17 November. No. 47).
So the Berlin Wall fell under the pressure of the people. “We have been waiting for this day for almost 30 years! - said the address to the citizens of the GDR by the country's leading social movement "New Forum". - Sick of the wall, we shook the bars of the cage. Young people grew up with the dream of one day becoming free and exploring the world. This dream will now come true: this is a holiday for all of us! "
Over the next three days, more than 3 million people visited the West. On December 22, 1989, the Brandenburg Gate opened for passage, through which the border between East and West Berlin was drawn. The Berlin Wall still stood, but only as a symbol of the recent past. It was broken, painted with numerous graffiti, drawings and inscriptions; Berliners and visitors to the city tried to take away pieces of the once powerful structure as souvenirs. In October 1990, the lands of the former GDR entered the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Berlin Wall was demolished within a few months. It was decided to preserve only small parts of it as a monument for subsequent generations.
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.
Where to stay in Berlin
It is better to book hotels in Berlin in advance, so I recommend these to you:
Don’t forget to check discounts on the Roomguru service, where you can see prices for the same hotel in different booking systems. Using the example of hotels above:
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.
On the morning of August 13, 1961, stunned Berliners woke up to find their city marred by barbed wire along the border between West and East Berlin. It was from this date that, by order of the GDR authorities, the construction of the famous Berlin Wall began, dividing not only the city. Colleagues, friends, relatives and even entire families found themselves separated and lost full communication with each other. And this lasted for almost three decades, everyone knows and remembers about it. We will remind you of some not very well-known facts regarding the Berlin Wall, this infamous symbol of the Cold War.
Construction of the wall
Literally three days later, almost 200 streets were blocked off with barbed wire, power and telephone lines were cut, and communication pipes were welded shut.
The windows of adjacent houses overlooking West Berlin were blocked with bricks, and residents of such houses were evicted.
After this, they began to build a real wall 3.5 meters high.
Many then, realizing what was happening, tried to move to West Berlin. Later it was much more difficult to do this.
As a result, a powerful barrier complex was built, consisting of two concrete walls spaced 100 meters apart, barbed wire fences, trenches, a checkpoint, and observation towers with searchlights. Its total length was 155 kilometers, of which 43 kilometers passed through the territory of Berlin.
"Wall" dogs
It was not for nothing that the territory between the two walls was called the “death strip”. Defectors were allowed to be shot to kill. Dogs were also used here for protection, mostly German shepherds. No one knows exactly how many there were, but their number was in the thousands. Each dog was wearing a five-meter chain, which, in turn, was attached to a 100-meter wire, which allowed the shepherds to run freely around the territory.
After the wall fell, something had to be done with the dogs, and the people of Germany were asked to take them. However, the West Germans were afraid to take such dogs, because they considered them very angry and dangerous, capable of tearing a person to pieces. But, nevertheless, the dogs were partially taken to private homes and shelters. In extreme cases, euthanasia was used.
Church between the walls
All buildings located on the dividing strip were destroyed. An exception was made only for the 19th century temple, the Church of Reconciliation, whose parishioners were about 7,000 people.
At first, after the first wall was built, visiting the church became impossible for Western parishioners. And soon the wall grew on the eastern side, 10 meters from the main entrance to the temple. And then the church, which found itself in a restricted area, was closed.
For some time, the eastern border guards used the church bell tower as an observation tower, but then it was decided to blow up the church, which was done in January 1985.
Berlin metro
Berlin was divided not only by a wall above ground, but even underground. Only two lines of the Berlin metro remain accessible to residents of the eastern sector. The remaining routes, which passed through both West and East Berlin, could only be used by West Germans. Stations on these lines belonging to East Berlin were closed and erased from maps. Trains passed by these “ghost stations” without stopping.
The entrances to such stations in East Berlin were closed and partially bricked up.
Some of them were completely razed to the ground. In the 70-80s, many young people, walking along the streets of the city, often did not even realize that not so long ago there was an entrance to the metro.
"Little Berlin"
After the division of Germany, the small river Tannbach, flowing through the village of Modlerut, began to be used as the border between the Soviet and American zones.
At first, this did not cause much inconvenience to the villagers, because they could freely cross the border to visit their relatives. But in 1966, a 3.5-meter stone wall appeared here, which became an insurmountable obstacle that divided the residents. It was carefully guarded by East Germany. In the West, this village was nicknamed “Little Berlin”.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the wall in the village was also destroyed, but part of it was left as a monument.
Part of the wall that was forgotten
Most of the Berlin Wall was demolished in 1989. Part of it, 1.3 km long, was deliberately left untouched as a reminder of the division of Germany, the remaining pieces were taken out or disassembled into museums and souvenirs.
However, in 1999, the German historian Christian Bormann discovered an 80-meter piece of this wall in one of the suburbs of Berlin, in a remote deserted place in the bushes, which everyone had forgotten about.
Moreover, not only the stone wall itself was preserved here, but also its attributes - barbed wire, signal wires, security systems... Christian did not talk about his find right away, but only in January of this year, fearing that the wall might soon collapse and collapse .
