   #copyright

Berlin Wall

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recent History

   East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November
   1961.
   Enlarge
   East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November
   1961.
   Remnant of the Berlin Wall near Potsdamer Platz, June 2003.
   Enlarge
   Remnant of the Berlin Wall near Potsdamer Platz, June 2003.

   The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer or Antifaschistischer
   Schutzwall in the former German Democratic Republic), an iconic symbol
   of the Cold War, was initially constructed starting on August 13, 1961
   and dismantled in the weeks following November 9, 1989. Part of the
   Iron Curtain, the Berlin Wall was the most prominent part of the GDR
   border system. Conceived by the East German administration of Walter
   Ulbricht and approved by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev the wall was a
   long separation barrier between West Berlin and East Germany (the
   German Democratic Republic), which closed the border between East and
   West Berlin for a period of 28 years. It was built during the
   post-World War II period of divided Germany, in an effort to stop the
   drain of labour and economic output associated with the daily migration
   of huge numbers of professionals and skilled workers from East to West
   Berlin, and the attendant defections, which had political and economic
   consequences for the Communist bloc. It effectively decreased
   emigration (escapes - "Republikflucht" in German) from 2.5 million
   between 1949 and 1962 to 5,000 between 1962 and 1989.

   However, the creation of the Wall was a propaganda disaster for East
   Germany and for the communist bloc as a whole. It became a key symbol
   of what Western powers regarded as Communist tyranny, particularly
   after the high-profile shootings of would-be defectors. Political
   liberalization in the late 1980s, associated with the decline of the
   Soviet Union, led to relaxed border restrictions in East Germany,
   culminating in mass demonstrations and the fall of the East German
   government. When a government statement that crossing of the border
   would be permitted was broadcast on November 9, 1989, masses of East
   Germans approached and then crossed the wall, and were joined by crowds
   of West Germans in a celebratory atmosphere. The Wall was subsequently
   destroyed by a euphoric public over a period of several weeks, and its
   fall was the first step toward German reunification, which was formally
   concluded on October 3, 1990.

Background

   Occupied Germany in 1945
   Enlarge
   Occupied Germany in 1945

   After the end of World War II in Europe, what territorially remained of
   pre-1945 Germany had been divided into four occupation zones(thanks to
   the Yalta Conference), each one controlled by one of the four occupying
   Allied powers: the Americans, British, French and Soviets. The old
   capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was
   itself similarly subdivided into four zones. Although the intent was
   for the occupying powers to govern Germany together inside the 1947
   borders, the advent of Cold War tension caused the French, British and
   American zones to be formed into the Federal Republic of Germany (and
   West Berlin) in 1949, excluding the Soviet zone which then formed the
   German Democratic Republic (including East Berlin) the same year.

Divergence of German states

   From 1948 onwards, West Germany developed into a western capitalist
   country with a social market economy ("Soziale Marktwirtschaft" in
   German) and a democratic parliamentary government. Prolonged economic
   growth starting in the 1950s fuelled a 30-year " economic miracle".
   Across the inner-German border, East Germany established an
   authoritarian government with a Soviet-style command economy. While
   East Germany became one of the richest, most advanced countries in the
   Eastern bloc, many of its citizens still looked to the West for
   political freedoms and economic prosperity. The flight of growing
   numbers of East Germans to non-communist countries via West Berlin led
   to Germany erecting the GDR border system (of which the Berlin Wall was
   a part) in 1961 to prevent any further exodus.

Massive emigration

   From 1949 to 1961, huge numbers of professionals and skilled workers
   migrated daily from East to West Berlin – earning the name
   "Grenzgänger" – frequently because of lucrative opportunities connected
   with rebuilding Western Europe funded by the Marshall Plan (one day the
   entire Mathematics Department of the University of Leipzig defected ).
   Furthermore, many West Berliners travelled into East Berlin to do their
   shopping at state- subsidized stores, where prices were much lower than
   in West Berlin. This drain of labour and economic output threatened
   East Germany with economic collapse. This had ramifications for the
   whole Communist bloc and particularly the Soviet Union, because East
   Germany's economy was being subsidised by the Soviet government, and
   simultaneously, the now-threatened East German production was
   responsible for all war reparations to Poland and the Soviet Union.

Proposed barrier

   The impetus for the creation of the Berlin Wall came from East German
   leader Walter Ulbricht, approved by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev,
   but with conditions imposed. Ulbricht's proposal for a second air
   blockade was refused and the construction of a barrier was permitted
   provided that it was composed at first of barbed wire. If the Allies
   challenged the barrier, the East Germans were to fall back and were not
   to fire first under any circumstances.

Construction begins, 1961

   On 15 June 1961 - two months before the construction of the Berlin Wall
   started - Walter Ulbricht pretended in an international press meeting:
   "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one intends to
   set up a wall). It was the first time the colloquial term Mauer (Wall)
   was used.

   Construction of 45 km (28 miles) around the three western sectors began
   early on Sunday 13 August 1961 in East Berlin. That morning the zonal
   boundary had been sealed by East German troops. The barrier was built
   by East German troops and workers, not directly involving the Soviets.
   It was built slightly inside East German territory to ensure that it
   did not encroach on West Berlin at any point; if one stood next to the
   West Berlin side of the barrier (and later the Wall), one was actually
   standing on East Berlin soil. Some streets running alongside the
   barrier were torn up to make them impassable to most vehicles, and a
   barbed-wire fence was erected, which was later built up into the
   full-scale Wall. It physically divided the city and completely
   surrounded West Berlin. During the construction of the Wall, NVA and
   KdA soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who
   attempted to defect. Additionally, the whole length of the border
   between East and West Germany was closed with chain-fences, walls,
   minefields, and other installations (see GDR border system).

Secondary response

   It was clear both that West German morale needed more and that there
   was a serious potential threat to the viability of West Berlin. If West
   Berlin fell after all the efforts of the Berlin Airlift, how could any
   of America's allies rely on her? On the other hand, in the face of any
   serious Soviet threat, an enclave like West Berlin could not be
   defended except with nuclear weapons . As such, it was vitally
   important for the Americans to show the Soviets that they could push
   their luck no further.

   Accordingly, General Lucius D. Clay, who was deeply respected by
   Berliners after commanding the American effort during the Berlin
   Airlift (1948–49), and was known to have a firm attitude towards the
   Soviets, was sent to Berlin with ambassadorial rank as Kennedy's
   special advisor. He and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson arrived at
   Tempelhof Airport on the afternoon of Saturday 19 August.

   They arrived in a city defended by what would soon be known as the "
   Berlin Brigade", which then consisted of the 2nd and 3rd Battle Groups
   of the 6th Infantry, with Company F, 40th Armor. The battle groups were
   pentatomic, with 1362 officers and men each. On 16 August, Kennedy had
   given the order for them to be reinforced. Early on 19 August, the 1st
   Battle Group, 18th Infantry (commanded by Col. Glover S. Johns Jr.) was
   alerted.

   On Sunday morning, lead elements in a column of 491 vehicles and
   trailers carrying 1500 men divided into five march units and left the
   Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint at 06:34. At Marienborn, the Soviet
   checkpoint next to Helmstedt on the West German/East German border,
   U.S. personnel were counted by guards. The column was 160 km (~100
   miles) long, and covered 177 km (~110 miles) from Marienborn to Berlin
   in full battle gear, with VoPos (East German police) watching from
   beside trees next to the autobahn all the way along. The front of the
   convoy arrived at the outskirts of Berlin just before noon, to be met
   by Clay and Johnson, before parading through the streets of Berlin to
   an adoring crowd. At 0400 on Monday, 21 August, Lyndon Johnson left a
   visibly reassured West Berlin in the hands of Gen. Frederick O. Hartel
   and his brigade, now of 4224 officers and men. Every three months for
   the next three and a half years, a new American battalion was rotated
   into West Berlin by autobahn to demonstrate Allied rights.

   The creation of the Wall had important implications for both Germanies.
   By stemming the exodus of people from East Germany, the East German
   government was able to reassert its control over the country. However,
   the Wall was a propaganda disaster for East Germany and for the
   communist bloc as a whole. It became a key symbol of what Western
   powers regarded as Communist tyranny, particularly after the
   high-profile shootings of would-be defectors (which were later treated
   as acts of murder by the reunified Germany). In 1987, Ronald Reagan
   gave a famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate, at which he challenged
   Mikhail Gorbachev to " tear down this wall". In West Germany, dismay
   that the Western powers had done nothing to prevent the Wall's creation
   led directly to the policy of Ostpolitik or rapprochement with the
   east, in an effort to stabilize the relationship of the two Germanys.

Layout and modifications

   Position and course of the Berlin Wall and its border control
   checkpoints (1989)
   Enlarge
   Position and course of the Berlin Wall and its border control
   checkpoints (1989)

   The Wall was over 155 km (96 miles) long. In June 1962, work started on
   a second parallel fence up to 91 meters (100 yards) further in, with
   houses in between the fences torn down and their inhabitants relocated.
   A no man's land was created between the two barriers, which became
   widely known as the "death strip". It was paved with raked gravel,
   making it easy to spot footprints left by escapees; it offered no
   cover; it was mined and booby-trapped with tripwires; and, most
   importantly, it offered a clear field of fire to the watching guards.

   Over the years, the Wall went through four distinct phases:
    1. Basic wire fence (1961)
    2. Improved wire fence (1962-1965)
    3. Concrete wall (1965-1975)
    4. Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall 75) (1975-1989)

   Satellite image of Berlin, with the wall's location marked in yellow.
   Enlarge
   Satellite image of Berlin, with the wall's location marked in yellow.

   The "fourth generation wall", known officially as "Stützwandelement UL
   12.11"(Retaining wall element UL 12.11), was the final and most
   sophisticated version of the Wall. Begun in 1975 and completed about
   1980, it was constructed from 45,000 separate sections of reinforced
   concrete, each 3.6 m (12 ft) high and 1.2 m (4 ft) wide, and cost
   16,155,000 East German Marks. The top of the wall was lined with a
   smooth pipe, intended to make it more difficult for escapers to scale
   it. It was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle
   trenches, barbed wire, over 116 watchtowers, and twenty bunkers. This
   version of the Wall is the one most commonly seen in photographs, and
   surviving fragments of Wall in Berlin and elsewhere around the world
   are generally pieces of the fourth-generation Wall.

Official crossings and usage

   There were eight border crossings between East and West Berlin,
   allowing visits by West Berliners, West Germans, western foreigners and
   Allied personnel into East Berlin, as well as visits of East German
   citizens into West Berlin, provided they held the necessary permit.
   Those crossings were restricted according to which nationality was
   allowed to use it (East Germans, West Germans, West Berliners, other
   countries). The most famous was Friedrichstraße ( Checkpoint Charlie),
   which was restricted to Allied personnel and non-German citizens.

   Several other border crossings existed between West Berlin and
   surrounding East Germany. These could be used for transit between West
   Germany and West Berlin, for visits by West Berliners into East
   Germany, for transit into countries neighbouring East Germany (Poland,
   Czechoslovakia, Denmark), and for visits by East Germans into West
   Berlin carrying a permit. After the 1972 agreements, new crossings were
   opened to allow West Berlin waste be transported into East German
   dumps, as well as some crossings for access to West Berlin's exclaves
   (see Steinstücken).
   The famous you are leaving and...
   Enlarge
   The famous you are leaving and...
   ...you are entering at Glienicker Brücke 1985
   Enlarge
   ...you are entering at Glienicker Brücke 1985

   During most of the history of the Wall, Allied military personnel,
   officials, and diplomats were able to pass into East Berlin without
   passport check; likewise Soviet patrols could pass into West Berlin.
   This was a requirement of the post-war Four Powers Agreements. West
   Berliners were initially subject to very severe restrictions; all
   crossing points were closed to West Berliners between August 26, 1961
   and December 17, 1963, and it was not until September 1971 that travel
   restrictions were eased following a Four Powers Agreement on transit
   issues. Passage in and out of West Berlin was limited to twelve
   crossing points on the Wall, though all but two of these were reserved
   for Germans.

   Four motorways usable by West Germans connected West Berlin to West
   Germany, the most famous being Berlin-Helmstedt autobahn, which entered
   East German territory at the town of Helmstedt (Checkpoint Alpha) and
   connected to Berlin at Dreilinden (Checkpoint Bravo) in south-western
   Berlin. Access to West Berlin was also possible by railway (four
   routes) and by boat using canals and rivers.

   Foreigners frequently and legally crossed the Wall, and the East
   Germans welcomed their hard currency. They were of course always
   subject to careful checks both entering and leaving. When exiting, the
   police would typically run a mirror under each vehicle to look for
   persons clinging to the undercarriage. East Germans were occasionally
   given permission to cross, particularly when they were too old to work.
   At the border section in Potsdam where the captured U-2 pilot Gary
   Powers was traded for Russian spy Rudolf Abel.

   One location where Westerners could cross the border was
   Friedrichstraße station in East Berlin. When the Wall was erected,
   Berlin's complex public transit networks, the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, were
   divided with it. Some lines were cut in half; many stations were shut
   down. Three Western lines traveled through brief sections of East
   Berlin territory, passing through eastern stations (called
   Geisterbahnhöfe, or ghost stations) without stopping.

   Both the eastern and western networks converged at Friedrichstrasse,
   which became a major crossing point for those (mostly Westerners) with
   permission to cross.

Escape attempts

   During the Wall's existence there were around 5,000 successful escapes
   (a form of illegal emigration) into West Berlin. Varying reports claim
   either 192 or 239 people were killed trying to cross and many more
   injured.

   Early successful escapes involved people jumping the initial barbed
   wire or leaping out of apartment windows along the line but these ended
   as the wall improved. On August 15, 1961, Conrad Schumann was the first
   East German border guard to escape by jumping the barbed wire to West
   Berlin. Later successful escape attempts included long tunnels, sliding
   along aerial wires, flying ultralights, and even one man who drove a
   very low sports car underneath a barricade at Checkpoint Charlie.

   Another airborne escape was by Thomas Kruger, who landed a Zlin Z-42M
   light aircraft of the Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik, an East
   German youth military training organization, at RAF Gatow. His
   aircraft, registration DDR-WOH, was dismantled and returned to the East
   Germans by road, complete with humorous slogans painted on by RAF
   Airmen such as "Wish you were here" and "Come back soon". DDR-WOH is
   still flying today, but under the registration D-EWOH.

   The most notorious failed attempt was that of Peter Fechter who was
   shot and left to bleed to death in full view of the western media, on
   August 17, 1962. The last person to be shot dead while trying to cross
   the border was Chris Gueffroy on February 6, 1989.

The fall, 1989

   Germans dancing at the Brandenburg Gate after the fall of the Berlin
   Wall.
   Enlarge
   Germans dancing at the Brandenburg Gate after the fall of the Berlin
   Wall.

   On August 23, 1989, communist Hungary removed its border restrictions
   with Austria, and in September more than 13,000 East German tourists in
   Hungary escaped to Austria. Mass demonstrations against the government
   in East Germany began in the autumn of 1989. The long-time leader of
   East Germany, Erich Honecker, resigned on October 18, 1989 and was
   replaced by Egon Krenz a few days later. Honecker had predicted in
   January of that year that the wall would stand for a "hundred more
   years" if the conditions which had caused its construction did not
   change.

   Meanwhile the wave of refugees leaving East Germany for the West had
   increased and had found its way through Czechoslovakia, tolerated by
   the new Krenz government and in agreement with the still communist
   Czech government. In order to ease the complications, the politbureau
   lead by Krenz decided on November 9 1989 to allow refugees to exit
   directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany,
   including West Berlin. On the same day, the ministerial administration
   modified the proposal to include private travel. The new regulations
   were to take effect on November 10. Günter Schabowski, the East German
   Minister of Propaganda, had the task of announcing this; however he had
   been on vacation prior to this decision and had not been fully updated.
   Shortly before a press conference on November 9, 1989, he was handed a
   note that said that East Berliners would be allowed to cross the border
   with proper permission, but gave no further instructions on how to
   handle the information. These regulations had only been completed a few
   hours earlier, and were to take effect the following day, so as to
   allow time to inform the border guards. However, nobody had informed
   Schabowski. He read the note out loud at the end of the conference and
   when asked when the regulations would come into effect, he assumed it
   would be the same day based on the wording of the note and replied "As
   far as I know effective immediately, right now".

   Tens of thousands of East Berliners heard Schabowski's statement live
   on East German television and flooded the checkpoints in the Wall
   demanding entry into West Berlin. The surprised and overwhelmed border
   guards made many hectic telephone calls with their superiors, but it
   became clear that there was no-one within the East German authorities
   who would dare to take personal responsibility for issuing orders to
   use lethal force, so there was no way for the vastly outnumbered
   soldiers to hold back the huge crowd of East German citizens. In face
   of the escalating crowd the guards finally yielded, opening the
   checkpoints and allowing people through with little or no identity
   checks. The ecstatic East Berliners were soon greeted by West Berliners
   on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. November 9 is thus
   considered the date the Wall fell. In the days and weeks that followed
   people came to the wall with sledgehammers in order to chip off
   souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts of it in the process. These people
   were nicknamed "Mauerspechte" (wall woodpeckers).

   The East German regime announced the opening of ten new border
   crossings the following weekend, including some in symbolic locations (
   Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke, Bernauer Straße). Crowds on both
   sides waited there for hours, cheering at the bulldozers who took parts
   of the Wall away to reinstate old roads. Photos and television footage
   of these events is sometimes mislabelled "dismantling of the Wall",
   even though it was "merely" the construction of new crossings. New
   border crossings continued to be opened through summer 1990, including
   the most famous one at the Brandenburg Gate on December 22, 1989.

   West Germans and West Berliners were allowed visa free travel starting
   December 23, 1989. Until then they could visit East Germany and East
   Berlin under the restrictive conditions prevalent before, which
   involved application for a visa several days or weeks in advance, and
   obligatory exchange of at least 25 DM per day of their planned stay,
   all of which hindered spontaneous visits. Thus, in the weeks between
   November 9 and December 23, East Germans could travel "more freely"
   than Westerners.

   Technically the Wall remained guarded for some time after November 9,
   even though at an ever decreasing intensity. In the first months, the
   East German military even tried to repair some of the damages done by
   the "wall peckers". Gradually these attempts ceased, and guards became
   more and more lax, tolerating the increasing demolitions and
   "unauthorised" border crossing through the holes. On June 13, 1990, the
   official dismantling of the Wall by the East German military began in
   Bernauer Straße. On July 1, the day East Germany adopted the West
   German currency, all border controls ceased, although the inter-German
   border had become meaningless for some time before that. The
   dismantling continued to be carried out by military units (after
   unification under the Bundeswehr) and took until November 1991. Only a
   few short sections and watchtowers were left standing as memorials.

   The fall of the Wall was the first step toward German reunification,
   which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.

Celebrations

   "Irgendwann fällt jede Mauer" - "Eventually every wall falls"
   Enlarge
   "Irgendwann fällt jede Mauer"
   - "Eventually every wall falls"

   On December 25, 1989 Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin
   celebrating the end of the Wall, including Beethoven's 9th symphony (
   Ode to Joy) with the chorus' word "Joy" (Freude) changed to "Freedom"
   (Freiheit). Roger Waters performed the Pink Floyd album The Wall in
   Potsdamer Platz on 21 July 1990, with guests including the Scorpions,
   Bryan Adams, and Van Morrison. David Hasselhoff performed his song
   "Looking for Freedom", which was very popular in Germany at that time,
   standing on the Berlin wall.

   Some believe November 9 would have made a suitable German National
   Holiday, since it both marks the emotional apogee of East Germany's
   peaceful revolution and is also the date of the declaration of the
   first German republic, the Weimar Republic, in 1918. However, November
   9 is also the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch and the infamous
   Kristallnacht pogroms of 1938 and, therefore, October 3 was chosen
   instead. Part of this decision was that the East German government
   wanted to conclude reunification before East Germany could celebrate a
   41st anniversary on October 7, 1990.

Aftermath and implications

   Almost all of the remaining sections of Berlin Wall were rapidly
   chipped away. Photo December 1990.
   Enlarge
   Almost all of the remaining sections of Berlin Wall were rapidly
   chipped away. Photo December 1990.
   A temporary memorial of over 1,000 crosses and a segment of the wall
   for those who died attempting to cross.
   Enlarge
   A temporary memorial of over 1,000 crosses and a segment of the wall
   for those who died attempting to cross.

   The fall of the Wall considerably changed traffic patterns in the city
   and the M-Bahn. An experimental magnetic levitation train system around
   1.6 km (1 mile) in length was demolished just months after its official
   opening in July 1991 as it used part of the track bed of an underground
   line previously severed by the wall.

Legacy

   Little is left of the Wall in Berlin, which was destroyed almost
   everywhere, except for three locations: an 80 meter (300 ft) section
   near Potsdamer Platz, a longer section along the Spree River near the
   Oberbaumbrücke nicknamed East Side Gallery, and a third section in the
   north at Bernauer Straße, which was turned into a memorial in 1999.
   Even the parts that are left standing no longer accurately represent
   the Wall's original appearance: they are badly damaged (since so many
   people attempted to pick up "original Berlin Wall" pieces), and today
   graffiti is prevalent on the eastern side of the Wall, which obviously
   would not have been possible while the Wall was actually guarded by the
   armed soldiers of East Germany. Previously, graffiti was exclusively on
   the western side. Fragments of the Wall both with and without
   certificates of authenticity are a staple on the online auction service
   eBay as well as German souvenir shops and are found on mantlepieces and
   desktops throughout the world. Even people in the US and China wanted a
   fragment of this time period.

Museum

   Fifteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a private museum
   rebuilt a 200 metre (656 ft) section close to Checkpoint Charlie,
   although not in the location of the original wall. They also erected
   over 1,000 crosses in memory of those who had died attempting to flee
   to the West. The memorial was installed in October 2004 and demolished
   in July 2005.

Cultural differences

   Even now, some years after reunification, there is still talk in
   Germany of continuing cultural differences between East and West
   Germans (colloquially Ossis and Wessis), sometimes described as "Mauer
   im Kopf" ("The wall in the head"). A September 2004 poll found that 25%
   of West Germans and 12% of East Germans wished that East Germany and
   West Germany were again cut off by the Berlin Wall. Many German public
   figures have called these numbers "alarming".

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
