The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall

One of the most iconic symbols of the Cold War was the infamous Berlin Wall which separated East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989.

After World War II, Germany, and the city of Berlin, were divided into American, British, French, and Soviet zones with border crossings such as Checkpoint Charlie.  Relationships quickly disintegrated, and in 1949 the American, British, and French sectors became West Germany, while the Soviet sector became East Germany.

Since the city of Berlin was situated entirely in the Soviet zone, West Berlin became an island of democracy within Communist East Germany.

Between 1949 and 1960, 2.5 million refugees, half under the age of 25, fled East Germany.  Roughly half a million people crossed the borders between East and West Berlin daily allowing an opportunity for citizens to compare living conditions on both sides.  East Germany was on the brink of social and economic collapse.

So on the night of 13 August 1961, while most Berliners slept, the Communist party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) stretched a barbed wire and concrete barricade between East and West Berlin.  Officially, the wall was meant to keep Western “fascists” out of East Germany.  Primarily, though, it served to stem mass defections from East to West. 

Between 1961 and 1988, over 100,000 people tried to escape across the wall which stretched almost 100 miles with an average height of 11.8 feet and wrapped entirely around West Berlin.

As a deterrent to escape attempts, there was also a 300-foot-No-Man’s-Land, an additional inner wall, soldiers patrolling with dogs, a raked ground that showed footprints, anti-vehicle trenches, electric fences, massive light systems, watchtowers, bunkers, and minefields.

Indeed, these measures were major deterrents for escaping, but it is estimated that at least 5,000 managed to make it safely across the border.

In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate celebrating the 750^th anniversary of Berlin on 12 June 1987, US President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet Communist leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” in support of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc.

The Berlin Wall stood until 9 November 1989 when the head of the East German Communist party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border any time they wanted.  Many celebrated by crossing the wall and bringing hammers and picks to chip away the iconic barrier.

After the wall fell, East and West Germany once again unified and Germany became a single state once again on 3 October 1990.

On 13 August 1998, a memorial was erected along Bernauer Strasse where traces of the former strip have been preserved.

But don’t expect to see much of the 100-mile long wall as most of it has been chiseled away and carted off.  Not much remains of the once infamous wall.

Both sides of the wall were featured in the John le Carre book (1963) and movie (1965) The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.  You’ll find the full movie here (107:24) and here (112:00), but it requires a lot of buffer time to load.

Berlin - Checkpoint Charlie Museum

Checkpoint Charlie Museum

Founded by human rights activist Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt, Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie explores the history of the Berlin Wall and the stories of the people whose lives were affected by it.  It depicts objects used to get over, under, and through the Berlin Wall in their efforts to escape the so-called “best border security system in the world.”

Celebrating its 50^th birthday, the museum also hosts a new exhibition tracing movements which have promoted human rights from 1800 onwards and how the struggle continues today.

The permanent exhibit traces the history of the Berlin Wall.  On exhibit are some of the various deceptive means of escape including hot air balloons, escape cars, suitcases, homemade mini-subs, and even a cleverly hollowed out surfboard.

The human rights exhibit entitled From Gandhi to Walesa: Non-Violent Struggle for Human Rights Worldwide, features a diary and wooden sandals of Mahatma Gandhi as well as other artifacts. They also have the typewriter used to draft Charta 77, the hectograph from the illegal periodical Umweltblatter, and Elena Bonner's ‘death mask’ of partner Andrei Sacharov.

2012 also marks the opening of the new permanent NATO exhibit which charts the creation of NATO in 1949.

Originally opened in 1962 by Dr. Hildebrandt in two-and-a-half rooms to protest the newly erected Berlin Wall in 1961, its popularity outgrew its original location and it was moved to its present location at the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing in 1963.  Because of its location, the museum café became a popular meeting point to plan escapes.

Today the museum is run by Dr. Hildebrandt’s widow Alexandra following his death in 2004.  Although the Berlin Wall may have come down, many people in the world still face discrimination, persecution, and unlawful imprisonment, and the attention the museum draws to their cause is immeasurable.

Here are some excellent videos.  The first is narrated by Alexandra Hildebrandt called Checkpoint Charlie (2:08).  This one is a segment from travel guru Rick Steve's travel show on Berlin called Berlin, Germany: Checkpoint Charlie (1:21).  The third, Checkpoint Charlie Berlin (3:25), is also quite informative.