The Berlin Wall fell. The fall of the Berlin Wall. The year the Berlin Wall fell. Splitting in two - in one night

The capital of Germany, Berlin, arose in the first half of the 13th century. Since 1486, the city has been the capital of Brandenburg (then Prussia), since 1871 - of Germany. From May 1943 to May 1945, Berlin suffered one of the most destructive bombings in world history. At the final stage of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) in Europe, Soviet troops completely captured the city on May 2, 1945. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, the territory of Berlin was divided into occupation zones: the eastern one - the USSR and the three western ones - the USA, Great Britain and France. On June 24, 1948, Soviet troops began the blockade of West Berlin.

In 1948, the Western powers authorized the heads of state governments in their zones of occupation to convene a parliamentary council to draft a constitution and prepare for the creation of a West German state. Its first meeting took place in Bonn on September 1, 1948. The constitution was adopted by the council on May 8, 1949, and on May 23 the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was proclaimed. In response, in the eastern part controlled by the USSR, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was proclaimed on October 7, 1949, and Berlin was declared its capital.

East Berlin covered an area of ​​403 square kilometers and was the largest city in East Germany by population.
West Berlin covered an area of ​​480 square kilometers.

At first, the border between the western and eastern parts of Berlin was open. The dividing line was 44.8 kilometers long (the total length of the border between West Berlin and the GDR was 164 kilometers) ran right through the streets and houses, the Spree River, and canals. Officially, there were 81 street checkpoints, 13 crossings in the metro and on the city railway.

In 1957, the West German government led by Konrad Adenauer enacted the Hallstein Doctrine, which provided for the automatic severance of diplomatic relations with any country that recognized the GDR.

In November 1958, the head of the Soviet government, Nikita Khrushchev, accused the Western powers of violating the Potsdam Agreements of 1945 and announced the abolition of Berlin's international status by the Soviet Union. The Soviet government proposed turning West Berlin into a “demilitarized free city” and demanded that the United States, Great Britain and France negotiate on this topic within six months (“Khrushchev’s Ultimatum”). The Western powers rejected the ultimatum.

In August 1960, the GDR government introduced restrictions on visits by German citizens to East Berlin. 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 put into effect on January 1, 1961.

The situation worsened in the summer of 1961. The economic policy of the GDR, 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, and higher wages in West Berlin encouraged thousands of GDR citizens to leave for the West.

Between 1949 and 1961, almost 2.7 million people left the GDR and East Berlin. Almost half of the refugee flow consisted of young people under the age of 25. Every day, about half a million people crossed the borders of the Berlin sectors in both directions, who could compare living conditions here and there. In 1960 alone, about 200 thousand people moved to the West.

At a meeting of the general secretaries of the communist parties of the socialist countries on August 5, 1961, the GDR received the necessary consent from the Eastern European countries, and 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, a corresponding resolution was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the GDR.

In the early morning of August 13, 1961, temporary barriers were erected on the border with West Berlin, and cobblestones were dug up on the streets connecting East Berlin with West Berlin. The forces of the people's and transport police, as well as combat workers' squads, interrupted all transport links at the borders between the sectors. Under strict guard by East Berlin border guards, East Berlin construction workers began replacing barbed wire border fences with concrete slabs and hollow bricks. The border fortification complex also included residential buildings on Bernauer Strasse, where the sidewalks now belonged to the West Berlin district of Wedding, and the houses on the south side of the street to the East Berlin district of Mitte. Then the GDR government ordered the doors of the houses and the windows of the lower floors to be walled up - residents could only get into their apartments through the entrance from the courtyard, which belonged to East Berlin. A wave of forced evictions of people from apartments began not only on Bernauer Strasse, but also in other border zones.

From 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall was rebuilt several times along many sections of the border. At first it was built of stone, and then was replaced by reinforced concrete. In 1975, the last reconstruction of the wall began. The wall was built from 45 thousand concrete blocks measuring 3.6 by 1.5 meters, which were rounded at the top to make it difficult to escape. Outside the city, this front barrier also included metal bars.
By 1989, the total length of the Berlin Wall was 155 kilometers, the intra-city border between East and West Berlin was 43 kilometers, the border between West Berlin and the GDR (outer ring) was 112 kilometers. Closest to West Berlin, the front concrete barrier wall reached a height of 3.6 meters. It encircled the entire western sector of Berlin.

The concrete fence stretched for 106 kilometers, the metal fence for 66.5 kilometers, the earthen ditches had a length of 105.5 kilometers, and 127.5 kilometers were under tension. A control strip was made near the wall, like on the border.

Despite strict measures against attempts to “illegally cross the border,” people continued to flee “over the wall,” using sewer pipes, technical means, and constructing tunnels. Over the years of the wall's existence, about 100 people died trying to overcome it.

The democratic changes in the life of the GDR and other countries of the socialist community that began in the late 1980s sealed the fate of the wall. On November 9, 1989, the new government of the GDR announced an unimpeded transition from East Berlin to West Berlin and free return back. About 2 million residents of the GDR visited West Berlin during November 10-12. The spontaneous dismantling of the wall immediately began. Official dismantling took place in January 1990, and part of the wall was left as a historical monument.

On October 3, 1990, after the annexation of the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany, the status of the federal capital in a united Germany passed from Bonn to Berlin. In 2000, the government moved from Bonn to Berlin.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Story

Berlin crisis of 1961

Before the construction of the wall, the border between the western and eastern parts of Berlin was open. The dividing line with a length of 44.75 km (the total length of the border between West Berlin and the GDR was 164 km) ran right through the streets and houses, canals and waterways. There were officially 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 lack of a clear physical boundary between the zones led to frequent conflicts and a massive outflow of specialists to Germany. East Germans preferred to receive education in the GDR, where it was free, and to work in the Federal Republic of Germany.

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 the city their claims to sovereignty over West Berlin on the grounds that it is 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 Soviet Union's abolition of Berlin's international status 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, demanded that the United States, Great Britain and France negotiate on this topic within six months (Berlin Ultimatum (1958)). 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 ended without results.

After N. Khrushchev's visit to the United States in September 1959, the Soviet ultimatum was postponed. But the parties stubbornly adhered to their previous positions. In August, 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. 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 - gg., foreign policy tensions and higher levels of pay labor 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 predominantly 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 East Berlin economy loses 2.5 billion marks annually 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 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

Berlin map. The wall is marked with a yellow line, red dots are checkpoints.

The most well-known cases of escapes from the GDR in the following ways: a mass exodus through a 145-meter long tunnel, flights on a hang glider, in a balloon made of nylon fragments, along a rope thrown between the windows of neighboring houses, in a convertible car, using a bulldozer to ram a wall.

GDR citizens required special permission to visit West Berlin. Only pensioners had the right of free passage.

Victims of the wall

According to some estimates, 645 people died trying to overcome the Berlin Wall from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989. However, as of 2006, only 125 people have been documented to have suffered violent deaths as a result of attempting to scale the wall.

The first to be shot while trying to escape from East Berlin was 24-year-old Günter Litfin (German). Günter Litfin) (August 24, 1961). On August 17, 1962, Peter Fechter died at a border crossing from loss of blood after GDR border guards opened fire on him. On October 5, 1964, while trying to detain a large group of fugitives of 57 people, border guard Egon Schultz, whose name was elevated to a cult in the GDR, was killed (documents were later published according to which he was shot by mistake by fellow soldiers). In 1966, GDR border guards shot 2 children (10 and 13 years old) with 40 shots. The last victim of the regime operating in the border areas was Chris Gueffroy, who was shot on February 6, 1989.

Historians estimate that a total of 75,000 people were sentenced for attempting to escape from the GDR. Escape from the GDR was punishable according to paragraph 213 of the criminal law of the GDR by imprisonment for up to 8 years. Those who were armed, tried to destroy border structures, or were a soldier or intelligence officer at the time of capture were sentenced to no less than five years in prison. Helping to escape from the GDR was the most dangerous - such daredevils faced life imprisonment.

Order dated October 1, 1973

According to the latest data, the total number of people killed while trying to escape from the GDR to the West is 1,245 people.

Human trafficking

During the Cold War, the GDR practiced releasing citizens to the West for money. Such operations were carried out by Wolfgang Vogel, a lawyer from the GDR. From 1964 to 1989, he arranged border crossings for a total of 215 thousand East Germans and 34 thousand political prisoners from East German prisons. Their liberation cost West Germany 3.5 billion marks ($2.7 billion).

Fall of the wall

The location of the wall is plotted on a modern satellite image

Links

  • Section "Berlin Wall" on the official website of Berlin
  • Berlin Wall (German)

Notes

Links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

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25 years ago, on November 9, 1989, the leadership of East Germany announced the opening of the border with West Germany. The next day, East German authorities begin demolishing sections of the Berlin Wall. The famous fall of the Berlin Wall took place. Historical material about how the Berlin Wall was built. Some photographs have not been published before on the RuNet.

In 1959, the border between eastern and western Germany looked like this.

Before the construction of the wall, the border between the western and eastern parts of Berlin was open. But on the morning of August 13, 1961, Berlin residents were surprised to discover that the western part of the city was separated from the eastern part by a cordon of soldiers and military equipment. The living wall stood until a real one grew in its place. Within two days, the city was cut by a line of barbed wire fence with checkpoints.

The wall started with a line.

Then they made a temporary barrier. In the photo, soldiers are building barbed wire barriers. From West Berlin, citizens look at this process with curiosity and amusement. By August 15, the entire western zone was surrounded by barbed wire, and the actual construction of the wall began.

On August 13, four lines of the Berlin metro - U-Bahn - and some lines of the city railway - S-Bahn were also closed (during the period when the city was not divided, any Berliner could move freely around the city).

Construction of the wall, from West Berlin many curious citizens watch this process while in East Berlin people were prohibited from approaching the wall being built as it was a secret facility.

The dividing line, 44.75 km long (the total length of West Berlin's border with the GDR was 164 km), ran right through streets and houses, canals and waterways.

In this place in Berlin, the role of a wall was temporarily filled by Soviet tanks.

View of the Brandenburg Gate from West Berlin, August 13, 1961. The wall has not yet been built, but there is a border.

After a couple of months the appearance changed to this.

Brandenburg Gate in fog, Berlin Wall and a man on a watchtower, November 25, 1961

At this point the wall ran right along the tram tracks. Soviet specialists were not at all worried about the fact that they were complicating life primarily for their citizens.

The “security” of the workers far outnumbered the builders themselves.

Soldiers from the National People's Army of the GDR monitor construction and order.

August 22, 1961. Two East German construction workers are working on a huge, almost five-meter-tall wall and placing pieces of broken glass on top of it to prevent East Berliners from escaping.

When the wall was built, no one knew what would happen next. Many people feared that the wall would serve as a provocation to turn the Cold War into a hot war.

The border between the British zone and the Soviet one. The poster warns, “You are leaving the British Sector.”

Discussion between the parties on the correctness of the construction of the wall, September 1961.

The construction of the wall continues, residents of the surrounding houses are watching the process from their windows, September 9, 1961.

Some sections of the wall passed through a park and forest, which had to be partially cut down, on October 1, 1961.

The lack of a clear physical boundary between the zones led to frequent conflicts and a massive outflow of specialists to Germany. East Germans preferred to receive education in the GDR, where it was free, and to work in Germany.

A typical picture: the windows are blocked with bricks to prevent escape attempts. The back side of the house faces West Berlin, this side and the sidewalk are already East Berlin. October 6, 1961

October 16, 1961. An attempt to escape from “communist happiness.” Unfortunately, it is not known how successful the attempt was. It is known that the police and military of the GDR usually fired to kill in such cases.

By the way, in the period from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989, there were 5,075 successful escapes to West Berlin or Germany, including 574 cases of desertion...

On October 26-27, the Americans tried to break through the wall. This incident is known as the Checkpoint Charlie incident. Several bulldozers approached the wall. They were covered by 10 tanks, as well as soldiers who arrived in three jeeps. On the opposite side, Soviet tanks of the third battalion of the 68th Soviet Guards Tank Regiment lined up. The combat vehicles stood all night. As the coordinator of the French intelligence services of those years, K.K., later recalled. Melnik-Botkin, the world was close to nuclear war. When the Soviet ambassador in Paris was informed that NATO was ready to use atomic bombs, he replied: “Then we will all die together.” Still would! After all, the USSR held a trump card in its hands: the most powerful weapon ever created on the planet - a 57-megaton thermonuclear bomb.

The superpowers were wise enough not to start World War III. On October 28, Soviet tanks finally left their positions, after which the Americans immediately retreated. The wall remains.

American military police on the roof of a house, October 29, 1961, near the Friedrichstrasse border.

American soldiers anxiously look over the wall at the “Soviet” military, November 20, 1961.

Brandenburg Gate in fog, Berlin Wall and a man on a watchtower, November 25, 1961.

Western senior military officials observe the construction of the wall from the French zone, December 7, 1961.

Construction and renovation of the wall continued from 1962 to 1975. By 1975, it acquired its final form, becoming a complex engineering structure called Grenzmauer-75.

Of the year

Modern
state Completely dismantled, only some fragments remain. Openness to
public No. Crossing only with permission. In management GDR GDR
East Berlin. Battles/wars Berlin crisis of 1961 Events Quadrilateral status of Berlin
Treaty of the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany Media files on Wikimedia Commons

The location of the wall is plotted on a modern satellite image

Story

The construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13, 1961, on the recommendation of a meeting of secretaries of communist and workers' parties of the Warsaw Pact countries (August 3-5, 1961) and on the basis of a decision of the People's Chamber of the GDR of August 11, 1961. During its existence, it was rebuilt and improved several times. The last major reconstruction was carried out in 1975.

By 1989, it was a complex complex consisting of:

  • concrete fencing with a total length of 106 km and an average height of 3.6 meters;
  • metal mesh fencing with a length of 66.5 km;
  • electric signal fence with a length of 127.5 km;
  • earthen ditches with a length of 105.5 km;
  • anti-tank fortifications in certain areas;
  • 302 guard towers and other border structures;
  • strips 14 km long of sharp spikes and a control strip with constantly leveled sand.

There were no fences where the border passed along rivers and reservoirs. There were initially 13 border checkpoints, but by 1989 the number had been reduced to three.

On November 9, 1989, under the influence of mass popular uprisings, the Government of the GDR lifted restrictions on communication with West Berlin, and from June 1, 1990, completely abolished border controls. During January - November 1990, all border structures were demolished, with the exception of a 1.3 km section left as a monument to one of the most famous symbols of the Cold War (see Berlin Crisis of 1961).

Before the construction of the wall, the border between the western and eastern parts of Berlin was relatively open. The dividing line, 44.75 km long (the total length of West Berlin's border with the GDR was 164 km), ran right through streets and houses, canals and waterways. There were officially 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 lack of a clear physical boundary between the zones led to frequent conflicts and a massive outflow of specialists to West Berlin. Many East Germans preferred to work in West Berlin, where wages were significantly higher.

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 Hallstein 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 “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 Soviet Union's abolition of Berlin's international status 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, demanded that the United States, Great Britain and France negotiate on this topic within six months (Berlin Ultimatum (1958)). 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 stubbornly adhered to 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 nevertheless 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 said 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 tough course of the 1st Chairman of the State Council of the GDR Walter Ulbricht, economic policy 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 prompted 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 predominantly young and qualified specialists. Outraged East German authorities accused West Berlin and Germany of “human trafficking,” “poaching” personnel and attempts to thwart their economic plans. They claimed that the East Berlin economy loses 2.5 billion marks annually 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 am on August 13, 1961, the 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

Operation of public and road transport

Immediately after the start of work on the construction of the wall, a large number of transport systems and corridors that previously connected the Western sector with the Eastern sector were blocked. Among them is the city's metro (U-bahn), which was divided into two operating autonomous systems. One and a half dozen city metro stations stopped operating and were closed for the next three decades. Twelve of them in the Eastern sector became transit stations, through which trains traveled non-stop from the Western part of the city to the Western. Most of the city's metro lines remain in the west. The city's elevated train (S-bahn) system was also split, with most of the lines remaining in the east. Within the boundaries of the wall, several tram lines were blocked, and the tram system was also divided. By the end of the 60s, the tram in West Berlin was eliminated and remained only in the Eastern sector.

For visits to the Eastern Sector (for example, by Western tourists on buses), border checkpoints were established, which were controlled by GDR border guards. A very thorough search was carried out here, especially before leaving East Berlin, since there were repeated cases of transporting fugitives by vehicles in hiding places, some of which were quite successful.

Berlin's public transport remained divided by a wall until the beginning of 1990, and in fact it took several more years to restore the former unified transport infrastructure.

Crossing the border

GDR citizens required special permission to visit West Berlin. Only pensioners had the right of free passage.
The most famous cases of escapes from the GDR are as follows: 28 people escaped through a 145-meter-long tunnel they dug themselves, flights were made on a hang glider, in a balloon made of nylon fragments, on a rope thrown between the windows of neighboring houses, using a ramming wall with a bulldozer.
Between 13 August 1961 and 9 November 1989, there were 5,075 successful escapes to West Berlin or West Germany, including 574 desertions.

Crossing the border for money

During the Cold War, the GDR practiced releasing citizens to the West for money. Such operations were carried out by Wolfgang Vogel, a lawyer from the GDR. From 1964 to 1989, he arranged border crossings for a total of 215 thousand East Germans and 34 thousand political prisoners from East German prisons. Their liberation cost West Germany 3.5 billion marks ($2.7 billion).

Escapees and their victims

Memorial to the victims of the Wall. Photo from 1982.

The Potsdam Research Center, which is counting the victims of the Berlin Wall at the request of the German Federal Government, has documented, as of 2006, the death of 125 people as a result of attempts to overcome the wall. As of 2017, the number of documented victims has increased to 140 people

Those who tried to illegally cross the Berlin Wall in the opposite direction, from West Berlin to East Berlin, are called “Berlin Wall jumpers,” and there were also victims among them, although according to instructions, GDR border guards did not use firearms against them.

For attempting to illegally cross the Berlin Wall, there was an article in the criminal code of the GDR that provided for up to 10 years in prison.

“Mr. Gorbachev, destroy this wall!”

On June 12, 1987, US President Ronald Reagan, delivering a speech at the Brandenburg Gate in honor of the 750th anniversary of Berlin, called on the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev to demolish the Wall, thereby symbolizing the desire of the Soviet leadership for change:

We hear from Moscow about a new policy of reform and glasnost. Some political prisoners were released. Certain foreign radio news broadcasts are no longer jammed. Some economic enterprises were allowed to operate with greater freedom from government control.

Is this the beginning of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are these symbolic gestures meant to raise false hopes in the West and strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome perestroika and glasnost because we believe that freedom and security go together, that the progress of human freedom can only bring world peace. There is one move the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would become a symbol of freedom and peace.

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you are looking for peace, if you are looking for prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you are looking for liberalization: come here! Mister Gorbachev, open these gates! Mr. Gorbachev, destroy this wall!

Fall of the wall

As a result of mass protests, the SED leadership resigned (October 24 - Erich Honecker, November 7 - Willy Stoff, November 13 - Horst Sindermann, Egon Krenz, who replaced Erich Honecker as General Secretary of the SED Central Committee and Chairman of the State Council of the GDR, was also removed 3 December 1989). Gregor Gysi became the chairman of the SED, Manfred Gerlach became the chairman of the State Council of the GDR, and Hans Modrow became the chairman of the Council of Ministers.

The entire Berlin Wall complex, which occupies four hectares, was completed in 2012. The Berlin Senate - an analogue of the state government - invested 28 million euros in the construction.

The memorial is located on Bernauer Strasse, along which the border between the GDR and West Berlin passed (the buildings themselves were in the eastern sector, and the sidewalk adjacent to them was in the western).

Part of the Berlin Wall memorial complex was the Chapel of Reconciliation, built in 2000 on the foundation of the Church of Reconciliation, which was blown up in 1985. The initiator and active participant in the creation of the memorial on Bernauer Strasse was Manfred Fischer, who is called the “pastor of the Berlin Wall.”

In culture

Fine arts and architecture.

If from the “eastern” side of the wall it was impossible to get close to it until the very end, then in the West it became a platform for the creativity of numerous artists - both professional and amateur. By 1989, it had turned into a multi-kilometer exhibition of graffiti, including very highly artistic ones. After the destruction of the wall, its fragments quickly turned into objects of trade. Many fragments of the wall ended up in the United States, for example, in the office of Microsoft Corporation, the CIA headquarters in Langley, at the Ronald Reagan Museum, in Fatima, etc. In 2009, Germany bought a fragment of the Berlin Wall for installation in front of the German embassy in Kiev as part of celebrating the 20th anniversary of its destruction. In 2017, radical member of the Ukrainian Rada Oleg Goncharenko wrote “Nein” on a fragment of a wall near the German Embassy in the capital of Ukraine.

Music

  • The song by the pop rock band Tokio Hotel - World Behind My Wall, dedicated to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • Udo Lindenberg's song - "Wir wollen einfach nur zusammen sein".
  • On the album Back for the Attack (1987) by the rock band Dokken, there is the song Lost Behind The Wall, which tells about life “on the other side of the wall.” And in the lyrics of the song there is the line “Die Mauer muss weg”, which translated from German means “the wall must disappear.”
  • On July 21, 1990, after the demolition of the Wall, but before the reunification of Germany, a grandiose performance of “The Wall” in Berlin, based on the album of the rock group Pink Floyd, organized by Roger Waters, took place on Potsdamer Platz.
  • A year before the release of the song “Wind of change” (literally “Wind of Change”) by the group Scorpions, the Berlin Wall was destroyed, and soon the Soviet Union collapsed, so the track was and is perceived as the anthem of Perestroika, glasnost and the end of the Cold War, as a symbol of peace between the peoples of Germany and Russia, world peace. Klaus said: “Our fathers came to Russia with tanks. We are coming to you with guitars"
  • 1985 single by Elton John - Nikita.
  • Song by progressive rock band Camel - West Berlin
  • In the 1977 song Holidays in the Sun, the punk rock band Sex Pistols call for the Berlin Wall to be torn down.
  • Song of the bard Nikolai Nick. Brown's "Berlin Wall" in 1990 with the question: "When will we destroy the idols of lies?"
  • The title of Queen's album - Jazz and the drawing on its cover were taken from a drawing on the Berlin wall in the area of ​​​​Checkpoint Charlie, which the musicians saw while visiting East Berlin.
  • Mike Mareen - composition Germany, just about the wall. 1987 album Let's Start Now
  • The song of the group "Bi-2" "Goodbye Berlin" talks about the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • The Pigott Brothers - song "Berlin Wall", 2012, album The Age of Peace.

Books

  • Humorous story by Mikhail Kazovsky “Psycho, or an Unsuccessful Attempt to Cross the Wall” (2008).
  • In the book “Rivne / Rivne (Stina)” by Alexander Irvanets, a wall runs through the Ukrainian city, dividing it into eastern and western sectors. The main character receives permission to visit his family in eastern Rivne.
  • In the novel by Russian writer Ilya Stogov “mASIAfucker” (2002), the main character recalls his visit to his mistress in Berlin during the destruction of the wall. He is focused on his experiences and is not able to empathize with the general enthusiasm of people on the streets of the city.
  • The story “Apothegeus” (1989) by Soviet and Russian writer Yuri Polyakov describes the trip of a group of Moscow Komsomol functionaries to Berlin with a “visit” of the Berlin Wall.
  • Mark Levy's novel “The Words We Didn't Say to Each Other” (2008) describes the events that took place in Germany in November 1989, and the main characters meet on the day the Berlin Wall fell.

Games

  • Each box of the World in Conflict collector's edition of the video game contained a piece of the Berlin Wall, the authenticity of which was confirmed by the attached certificate.
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer features the Berlin Wall map, where the action takes place at Checkpoint Charlie.
  • In the game "Ostalgie: the Berlin wall" the wall is automatically destroyed depending on your actions.

Movies

  • Film "Tunnel, 2001" The day before the construction of the Berlin Wall begins, swimming champion Harry crosses the border with a false passport. In West Berlin, he meets with a group of dissidents who are planning to dig a 145-meter tunnel.
  • Movie "

One of the journalists in the 80s described his impressions of the Berlin Wall as follows: “I walked and walked along the street and just ran into a blank wall. There was nothing nearby, nothing. Just a long, gray wall.”

Long and gray wall. And really, nothing special. However, this is the most famous monument of recent world and German history, or rather, what is left of the wall and turned into a memorial.

History of construction

It is impossible to talk about the emergence of the Berlin Wall without knowing how Europe changed after World War II.

Then Germany split into two parts: East and West, the GDR (Eastern) followed the path of building socialism and was completely controlled by the USSR, joined the military bloc of the Warsaw Pact, Germany (the Allied occupation zone) continued capitalist development.

Berlin was divided in the same unnatural way. The area of ​​responsibility of the three allies: France, England, and the USA became West Berlin, ¼ of which went to the GDR.

By 1961, it became clear that more and more people did not want to build a socialist bright future, and border crossings became more frequent. The young people, the future of the country, were leaving. In July alone, about 200 thousand people left the GDR across the border with West Berlin.

The leadership of the GDR, supported by the Warsaw Pact countries, decided to strengthen the country's state border with West Berlin.

On the night of August 13, GDR military units began covering the entire perimeter of the West Berlin border with barbed wire; they were finished by the 15th; then the construction of the fence continued for a year.

Another problem remained for the GDR authorities: Berlin had one transport system of metro and electric trains. It was solved simply: they closed all the stations on the line, above which the territory of an unfriendly state was located, where they could not close, they set up a checkpoint, like at the Friedrichstrasse station. They did the same with the railroad.

The border was fortified.

What did the Berlin Wall look like?

The word “wall” does not fully reflect the complex border fortification that, in fact, was the Berlin Wall. It was a whole border complex, consisting of several parts and well fortified.

It stretched for a distance of 106 kilometers, its height was 3.6 meters and was designed so that it could not be overcome without special devices. The construction material – gray reinforced concrete – gave the impression of inaccessibility and steadfastness.


Barbed wire was strung along the top of the wall and a high voltage current was passed through it to prevent any attempts to illegally cross the border. In addition, a metal mesh was installed in front of the wall, and metal strips with spikes were placed in some places. Observation towers and checkpoints were erected along the perimeter of the structure (there were 302 such structures). To make the Berlin Wall completely impregnable, anti-tank structures were built.


The complex of border structures was completed by a control strip with sand, which was leveled daily.

The Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of Berlin and Germany, was in the way of the barrage. The problem was solved simply: they were surrounded by a wall on all sides. No one, neither East Germans nor West Berliners, could approach the gates from 1961 until 1990. The absurdity of the “Iron Curtain” has reached its apogee.

Part of the once united people, it would seem, forever cut itself off from the other part, bristling with electrified barbed wire.

Living surrounded by a wall

Of course, it was West Berlin that was surrounded by a wall, but it seemed that the GDR had fenced itself off from the whole world, safely hidden behind the most primitive security structure.

But no walls can stop people who want freedom.

Only citizens of retirement age enjoyed the right of free transition. The rest invented many ways to overcome the wall. It is interesting that the more the border became stronger, the more sophisticated the means of crossing it became.

They flew over her on a hang glider, a homemade hot air balloon, climbed on a rope stretched between border windows, and rammed the walls of houses with bulldozers. To get to the other side, they dug tunnels, one of them was 145 m long, and many people moved through it to West Berlin.

During the years of the wall's existence (from 1961 to 1989), more than 5,000 people left the GDR, including members of the People's Army.

Lawyer Wolfgang Vogel, a public figure from the GDR who was involved in mediating exchanges of people (among his most famous cases were the exchange of Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel for Gary Powers, the exchange of Anatoly Sharansky), arranged border crossings for money. The leadership of the GDR had a stable income from this. So more than 200 thousand people and about 40 thousand political prisoners left the country. Very cynical, because we were talking about people’s lives.

People died trying to cross the wall. The first to die was 24-year-old Peter Fechter in August 1962, the last victim of the wall was Chris Gueffroy in 1989. Peter Fechter bled to death after lying wounded against a wall for 1.5 hours before border guards picked him up. Now at the site of his death there is a monument: a simple column of red granite with a modest inscription: “He just wanted freedom.”

Fall of the Berlin Wall

In 1989, the leadership of the GDR could no longer restrain its citizens from their desire to leave the country. Perestroika began in the USSR, and “big brother” could no longer help. In the fall, the entire leadership of East Germany resigned, and on November 9, free passage across the former, once so fortified border was allowed.

Thousands of Germans on both sides rushed to each other, rejoiced and celebrated. These were unforgettable moments. The event instantly acquired a sacred meaning: no to the unnatural division of a single people, yes to a united Germany. No to all kinds of borders, yes to freedom and the right to human life for all people in the world.

Just as the wall used to be a symbol of separation, these days it has begun to unite people. They drew graffiti on it, wrote messages, and cut off pieces as souvenirs. People understood that history was being made before their eyes, and they were its creators.

The wall was finally demolished a year later, leaving a 1,300-meter-long fragment as a reminder of the most expressive symbol of the Cold War.

Epilogue

This building has become a symbol of the absurd desire to slow down the natural course of history. But the Berlin Wall and, to a greater extent, its fall took on enormous meaning: no barriers could divide a united people, no walls could protect from the wind of change that blew through the bricked-up windows of border houses.

This is what the Scorpions song “Wind of Change” is about, dedicated to the fall of the wall and becoming the anthem of German unification.

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