Communist East Germany closed its borders in Berlin on August 13, 1961 and built a wall. Eventually it was transformed into an increasingly elaborate fortress snaking through the city and capitalist West Berlin.
heavily fortified border Berlin Wall— It bridged the last gap between East and West.
On November 9, 1989, borders were opened and the Berlin Wall ceremonially fell as the world watched. This marked the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the collapse of East Germany’s communist dictatorship, paving the way for German unification in 1990 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Much of the wall was demolished soon afterward, but 35 years later, there are still places where visitors can see its ruins.
What was the Berlin Wall?
The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 and for 28 years stood as a front line in the Cold War between the U.S.-led Western world order and the Soviet Union.
Already in 1952, East German leaders had sealed off the country’s main border with West Germany, which snaked from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia.
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The 96-mile-long wall was built by the communist regime to cut off East Germany from perceived Western ideological contamination and stem the flow of people fleeing Germany. It penetrated the city center and surrounded West Berlin.
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But even barbed wire and walls could not stop people from fleeing. Efforts to complete Berlin’s border fortifications continued until 1989.
President John F. Kennedy’s Oath to Freedom
President John F. Kennedy visited West Germany on June 26, 1963. Addressing a crowd of about 150,000 people in West Berlin, he vowed that the United States would protect the city’s freedoms.
“Freedom is indivisible, and when one person is enslaved, all are not free,” he said. “When all people are free, we can look forward to the day when this city will be one, when this country and this great continent of Europe will be integrated into a world of peace and hope. can.”
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“When that day finally comes, the people of West Berlin will be able to take sober satisfaction in the fact that they have been on the front lines for almost 20 years,” President Kennedy added.
And he ended with the now iconic phrase: “A free man is a citizen of Berlin, no matter where he lives. Therefore, as a free man, I am proud of this word: Ich bin ein Berliner.”
“Tear down this wall!”
To commemorate Berlin’s 750th anniversary, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at the base of the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987. Thanks to the amplification system used, President Reagan’s words could be heard in East Berlin.
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In his speech, the American president gave the now-famous command to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev: “Tear down this wall!”
Many believe that President Reagan’s speech that day marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War, which culminated in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
When did the Berlin Wall fall?
In the late 1980s, especially after Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985, the power of the Soviet Union began to waver. He abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine, a central political principle of Soviet foreign policy that called for limiting the sovereignty of the Warsaw Pact. countries.
This allowed the Eastern Bloc countries to change their foreign policies, and on May 2, 1989, Hungary removed its border fence, making the first hole in the “Iron Curtain.”
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In East Germany, the dictatorship ended in 1989 due to growing protests and a wave of immigration to the West. New travel laws, mistakenly announced on November 9, 1989, led to an onslaught of people storming the Berlin Wall.
How did the Berlin Wall fall?
That night, Berlin’s Bornholmerstrasse intersection was the first to open. Border guards had not received orders to allow anyone to pass, but after Politburo spokesman Günther Schabowski casually announced new restrictions, they were forced to close the road under pressure from large crowds demanding passage. handed over.
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A new border crossing was built, leaving a large gap in the wall. Border soldiers began removing fences and other obstacles.
Systematic demolition of the wall began in June 1990, and the concrete pieces were sold around the world. Some sections were protected as historical monuments.
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Less than a year after borders were reopened, the Berlin Wall fell on October 3, 1990, paving the way for German unification. Demolition of the wall ended in 1994.
Where can you see part of the wall now?
Today, at the Old Bornholmer Strasse intersection in Berlin, there stands part of a wall board with a photo and a series of plaques, including a warning sent by the Associated Press Deutsche Presse.
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The longest remaining part of Berlin’s wall is in the so-called East Side Gallery, where once gray concrete slabs are covered with murals painted by 118 artists after the borders were opened.
Otherwise, the wall has now largely disappeared, with much of the former “death belt” between the outer wall facing West Berlin and the inner wall facing East Berlin being built up.
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Among the exceptions is a strip of the former border at the Bernauer Strasse monument in downtown Berlin, fragments of which are scattered elsewhere in the city and on its edges.
For the most part, the main border between East and West Germany outside Berlin consisted of a heavily fortified fence rather than a wall. However, there were some exceptions. The most famous is the village of Modlareuth, which is divided between Bavaria and eastern Thuringia, earning it the nickname “Little Berlin”. Parts of Modraloit’s border can still be seen today.
What is Checkpoint Charlie?
One of the most famous and most visited crossings commemorating the Berlin Wall is Checkpoint Charlie.
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The historic U.S.-controlled border crossing between the East and the West existed for 30 years. There, Allied guards registered members of the American, British, and French forces before traveling to East Berlin, so foreign tourists could see their status.
In October 1961, it was famously the scene of a tank showdown between American and Soviet troops, with their weapons at the ready.
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The checkpoint was removed on June 22, 1990, about six months after the wall was opened. The original booth is currently on display at the Union Museum in Berlin-Zehlendorf. original photo US Army tuba player Sergeant Jeff Harper This is part of a series of photos hung near the original site to commemorate the last Allied soldiers in Berlin in 1994.
