Berlin Wall
On August 13, 1961
Communist government of the German Democratic Republic began to build a barbed wire and concrete
Antifascistischer Schutzwall
antifascist bulwark
purpose
keep so-called Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state
Building the Wall
East German army, police force and volunteer construction workers had completed a makeshift barbed wire and concrete block wall–the Berlin Wall–that divided one side of the city from the other.
Before the wall was built, Berliners on both sides of the city could move around fairly freely
After the wall was built, it became impossible to get from East to West Berlin except through one of three checkpoints: at Helmstedt, at Dreilinden and in the center of Berlin at Friedrichstrasse
November 9, 1989
cold war began
the spokesman for East Berlin’s Communist Party announced a change in his city’s relations with the West
he said
citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country’s borders.
People used hammers and picks to knock away chunks of the wall
cranes and bulldozers pulled down section after section
Soon the wall was gone and Berlin was united for the first time since 1945
The reunification of East and West Germany was made official on October 3, 1990, almost one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall.