The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a concrete barrier built by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany) that completely enclosed the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Germany, including East Berlin. The Wall included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses.
The separate and much longer inner German Border (the IGB) demarcated the border between East and West Germany. Both borders came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc.
Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans had avoided Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and escaped into West Germany, many over the border between East and West Berlin. During its existence from 1961 to 1989, the Wall stopped almost all such emigration and separated the GDR from West Berlin for more than a quarter of a century. After its erection, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between around 100 and 200.
During a revolutionary wave sweeping across the Eastern Bloc,
the East German government announced on November 9, 1989, after several weeks of civil unrest, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans climbed onto and crossed the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, parts of the wall were chipped away by a euphoric public and by souvenir hunters; industrial equipment was later used to remove almost all of the rest. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.
1 Background
1.1 Post-war Germany
1.2 The Eastern Bloc and the Berlin airlift
1.3 Emigration westward in the early 1950s
2 Erection of the inner German border
2.1 The Berlin emigration loophole
2.2 Brain drain
3 Construction begins, 1961
3.1 Immediate effects
3.2 Secondary response
4 Structure and adjacent areas
4.1 Layout and modifications
4.2 Surrounding municipalities
5 Official crossings and usage
5.1 Who could cross
5.2 Escape attempts
6 "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
7 The Fall
7.1 Oppositions
7.2 Celebrations
7.3 20th anniversary celebrations
8 Legacy
8.1 Museum
8.2 Cultural differences
8.3 Wall segments around the world
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 External links
12.1 Images and personal accounts
The separate and much longer inner German Border (the IGB) demarcated the border between East and West Germany. Both borders came to symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc.
Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans had avoided Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and escaped into West Germany, many over the border between East and West Berlin. During its existence from 1961 to 1989, the Wall stopped almost all such emigration and separated the GDR from West Berlin for more than a quarter of a century. After its erection, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between around 100 and 200.
During a revolutionary wave sweeping across the Eastern Bloc,
the East German government announced on November 9, 1989, after several weeks of civil unrest, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans climbed onto and crossed the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, parts of the wall were chipped away by a euphoric public and by souvenir hunters; industrial equipment was later used to remove almost all of the rest. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.1 Background
1.1 Post-war Germany
1.2 The Eastern Bloc and the Berlin airlift
1.3 Emigration westward in the early 1950s
2 Erection of the inner German border
2.1 The Berlin emigration loophole
2.2 Brain drain
3 Construction begins, 1961
3.1 Immediate effects
3.2 Secondary response
4 Structure and adjacent areas
4.1 Layout and modifications
4.2 Surrounding municipalities
5 Official crossings and usage
5.1 Who could cross
5.2 Escape attempts
6 "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
7 The Fall
7.1 Oppositions
7.2 Celebrations
7.3 20th anniversary celebrations
8 Legacy
8.1 Museum
8.2 Cultural differences
8.3 Wall segments around the world
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 External links
12.1 Images and personal accounts
Brain drain
Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection
The emigrants tended to be young and well-educated, leading to the brain drain feared by officials in East Germany. Yuri Andropov, then the CPSU Director on Relations with Communist and Workers Parties of Socialist Countries, wrote an urgent letter on August 28, 1958, to the Central Committee about the significant 50% increase in the number of East German intelligentsia among the refugees. Andropov reported that, while the East German leadership stated that they were leaving for economic reasons, testimony from refugees indicated that the reasons were more political than material. He stated "the flight of the intelligentsia has reached a particularly critical phase."
By 1960, the combination of World War II and the massive emigration westward left East Germany with only 61% of its population of working age, compared to 70.5% before the war. The loss was disproportionately heavy among professionals—engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers. The direct cost of manpower losses has been estimated at $7 billion to $9 billion, with East German party leader Walter Ulbricht later claiming that West Germany owed him $17 billion in compensation, including reparations as well as manpower losses. In addition, the drain of East Germany's young population potentially cost it over 22.5 billion marks in lost educational investment. The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that the re-securing of the German communist frontier was imperative.
Construction begins, 1961
East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, November 20th., 1961.
On June 15, 1961, two months before the construction of the Berlin Wall started, First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and GDR State Council chairman Walter Ulbricht stated in an international press conference, "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one has the intention of erecting a wall!). It was the first time the colloquial term Mauer (wall) had been used in this context.
The record of a telephone call between Nikita Khrushchev and Ulbricht on August 1st., 1961, suggests that it was Khrushchev from whom the initiative for the construction of the wall came. On Saturday, August 12th., 1961, the leaders of the GDR attended a garden party at a government guesthouse in Döllnsee, in a wooded area to the north of East Be
rlin, at which time Ulbricht signed the order to close the border and erect a wall.
At midnight, the police and units of the East German army began to close the border and by Sunday morning, August 13th., 1961, the border with West Berlin was closed. East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles, and to install barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 kilometres (97 miles) around the three western sectors and the 43 kilometres (27 miles) which actually divided West and East Berlin.
The barrier was built slightly inside East Berlin or East German territory to ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point, and was later built up into the Wall proper, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on August 15th.. During the construction of the Wall, National People's Army (NVA) and Combat Groups of the Working Class (KdA) soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, chain fences, walls, minefields, and other obstacles were installed along the length of the inner-German border between East and West Germany.
Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection
The emigrants tended to be young and well-educated, leading to the brain drain feared by officials in East Germany. Yuri Andropov, then the CPSU Director on Relations with Communist and Workers Parties of Socialist Countries, wrote an urgent letter on August 28, 1958, to the Central Committee about the significant 50% increase in the number of East German intelligentsia among the refugees. Andropov reported that, while the East German leadership stated that they were leaving for economic reasons, testimony from refugees indicated that the reasons were more political than material. He stated "the flight of the intelligentsia has reached a particularly critical phase."
By 1960, the combination of World War II and the massive emigration westward left East Germany with only 61% of its population of working age, compared to 70.5% before the war. The loss was disproportionately heavy among professionals—engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers. The direct cost of manpower losses has been estimated at $7 billion to $9 billion, with East German party leader Walter Ulbricht later claiming that West Germany owed him $17 billion in compensation, including reparations as well as manpower losses. In addition, the drain of East Germany's young population potentially cost it over 22.5 billion marks in lost educational investment. The brain drain of professionals had become so damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany that the re-securing of the German communist frontier was imperative.
Construction begins, 1961
East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, November 20th., 1961.
On June 15, 1961, two months before the construction of the Berlin Wall started, First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and GDR State Council chairman Walter Ulbricht stated in an international press conference, "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one has the intention of erecting a wall!). It was the first time the colloquial term Mauer (wall) had been used in this context.
The record of a telephone call between Nikita Khrushchev and Ulbricht on August 1st., 1961, suggests that it was Khrushchev from whom the initiative for the construction of the wall came. On Saturday, August 12th., 1961, the leaders of the GDR attended a garden party at a government guesthouse in Döllnsee, in a wooded area to the north of East Be
rlin, at which time Ulbricht signed the order to close the border and erect a wall.At midnight, the police and units of the East German army began to close the border and by Sunday morning, August 13th., 1961, the border with West Berlin was closed. East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles, and to install barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 kilometres (97 miles) around the three western sectors and the 43 kilometres (27 miles) which actually divided West and East Berlin.
The barrier was built slightly inside East Berlin or East German territory to ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point, and was later built up into the Wall proper, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on August 15th.. During the construction of the Wall, National People's Army (NVA) and Combat Groups of the Working Class (KdA) soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, chain fences, walls, minefields, and other obstacles were installed along the length of the inner-German border between East and West Germany.
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20 years after, Berlin revisits wall's fall USA Today -
Obama fires up Berlin Wall celebrations AFP via Yahoo! News -
Thousands cheer 20 years since fall of Berlin Wall AP via Yahoo! News -
Search results
Berlin Wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background
Erection of...
Construction...
Structure and...
The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany) that completely encircled the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Ger
many,...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall -
Berlin Wall: Definition from Answers.com
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall was erected in September 1961 to prevent the outflow of skilled manpower from the German Democratic Republic and otherwww.answers.com/topic/berlin-wall -
History of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall History ... in Berlin. Links. Maps. Memories. Photographs. Summary. Timeline. Wall Today ... The Berlin Wall today. The German are thorough people. ...www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/index.htm -
Berlin Wall Online - Chronicle of the Berlin Wall history ...
History of Berlin Wall in texts and photographs including facts, construction, measurements, timelime, escape attempts, maps, photographs and an archivewww.dailysoft.com/berlinwall -
Berlintwitterwall - 20 Jahre Mauerfall - Fall of the Wall - #fotw
... on the historic Fall of the Wall and post a wish for the future. ... the Berlin wall now or let us know. which walls still have to come. down to make our world a ...www.berlintwitterwall.com -
Berlin Wall - The New York Times
News about the Berlin Wall. Commentary and archival information about the Berlin Wall from The New York Times. ... Berlin, Before and After the Wall ...topics.nytimes.com/topics/.../b/berlin_wall/index.html -
The Berlin Wall - Berlin.de
The Berlin Wall Trail, a well-developed hiking and bike path, traces the course ... The Berlin Wall was the symbol of Germany's division and the GDR leadership's ...www.berlin.de/mauer/index.en.html
Berlin Wall: CBC News
The fall of the Berlin Wall anniversary ... CBC RADIOBerlin Wall memorial. Service at Chapel of Reconciliation, Berlin Nov. 6, 2009 ...www.cbc.ca/news/world/berlinwall -
" The Berlin Wall : Start "
http://neilarmstrong-biography.blogspot.com/ will assist you in your journey through the history of the Berlin Wall and help you to discover the last remaining pieces of this most visible ...www.the-berlin-wall.de -
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Berlin Wall Anniversary, WSJ, Wall Street Journal, news, columns, opinion, articles, features, today, daily, current, archivesonline.wsj.com/public/page/berlinwall.html
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20 years after, Berlin revisits wall's fall USA Today -
Obama fires up Berlin Wall celebrations AFP via Yahoo! News -
Thousands cheer 20 years since fall of Berlin Wall AP via Yahoo! News -
Search results
Berlin Wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Background
Erection of...
Construction...
Structure and...
The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier erected by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (East Germany) that completely encircled the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Ger
many,...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall -
Berlin Wall: Definition from Answers.com
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall was erected in September 1961 to prevent the outflow of skilled manpower from the German Democratic Republic and otherwww.answers.com/topic/berlin-wall -
History of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall History ... in Berlin. Links. Maps. Memories. Photographs. Summary. Timeline. Wall Today ... The Berlin Wall today. The German are thorough people. ...www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/index.htm -
Berlin Wall Online - Chronicle of the Berlin Wall history ...
History of Berlin Wall in texts and photographs including facts, construction, measurements, timelime, escape attempts, maps, photographs and an archivewww.dailysoft.com/berlinwall -
Berlintwitterwall - 20 Jahre Mauerfall - Fall of the Wall - #fotw
... on the historic Fall of the Wall and post a wish for the future. ... the Berlin wall now or let us know. which walls still have to come. down to make our world a ...www.berlintwitterwall.com -
Berlin Wall - The New York Times
News about the Berlin Wall. Commentary and archival information about the Berlin Wall from The New York Times. ... Berlin, Before and After the Wall ...topics.nytimes.com/topics/.../b/berlin_wall/index.html -
The Berlin Wall - Berlin.de
The Berlin Wall Trail, a well-developed hiking and bike path, traces the course ... The Berlin Wall was the symbol of Germany's division and the GDR leadership's ...www.berlin.de/mauer/index.en.html
Berlin Wall: CBC News
The fall of the Berlin Wall anniversary ... CBC RADIOBerlin Wall memorial. Service at Chapel of Reconciliation, Berlin Nov. 6, 2009 ...www.cbc.ca/news/world/berlinwall -
" The Berlin Wall : Start "
http://neilarmstrong-biography.blogspot.com/ will assist you in your journey through the history of the Berlin Wall and help you to discover the last remaining pieces of this most visible ...www.the-berlin-wall.de -
Berlin Wall - WSJ.com
Berlin Wall Anniversary, WSJ, Wall Street Journal, news, columns, opinion, articles, features, today, daily, current, archivesonline.wsj.com/public/page/berlinwall.html
