The collapse of the Berlin Wall. Fall of the Berlin Wall


November 9 - the day the Berlin Wall fell: Questions and answers. What is the Berlin Wall, when was it built and when was it demolished, and what do the Germans celebrate on November 9th?

When I started teaching at school German, The Berlin Wall had been gone for 4 years (and by the end of my studies - 10 years). But we studied from old Soviet textbooks, and in the texts about Berlin, we, of course, talked about its Eastern part. Therefore, the main attractions of Berlin are imprinted on my brain: Alexanderplatz, Treptower Park, the University. Humboldt and the main street Unter den Linden
Naturally, later I learned about the Berlin Wall, and about Wiedervereinigung (reunification), and even about Ostalgie (Osten+Nostalgie - nostalgia for the GDR).

But only after visiting Berlin, seeing both its zoos, both universities and both opera houses (eastern and western), the western central street Kurfürstendamm, Potsdamerplatz square, which was closed during the existence of the wall, the remains of the wall itself - I realized that once Berlin was divided into two parts, and the importance of the fact that it is now one city again.


— What is the Berlin Wall?

They call it the Berlin Wall GDR border with West Berlin, this is an engineered and fortified structure. By the way, the official name of the Berlin Wall was Antifaschistischer Schutzwall.

- Why and why was it erected?
From 1949 to 1961, more than 2.6 million residents of the GDR fled to the Federal Republic of Germany. Some fled from communist repression, others simply looked in the West better life. The border between West and East Germany had been closed since 1952, but escapes through the open border sectors in Berlin were possible with almost no risk to the fugitives. The GDR authorities saw no other way to stop the mass exodus to the West
- On August 13, 1961, they began construction of the Berlin Wall.


— How long did the construction last?

On the night of August 12-13, 1961, the border between West and East Berlin was cordoned off within a few hours. It was a day off, and many Berliners were sleeping when the GDR authorities began to close the border. By early Sunday morning, the city was already divided by border barriers and rows of barbed wire. Some families were cut off almost overnight from their loved ones and friends living in the same city. And on August 15, the first section of the wall was already built. Construction continued for quite a long time in different stages. We can say that the wall was expanded and completed until its fall in 1989.

— What was the size of the Berlin Wall?
155 km (around West Berlin), including 43.1 km within Berlin

— Why was the border open?
One can argue for a long time that a peaceful revolution in the GDR was long overdue, and that the prerequisite for this was perestroika in the USSR. But the facts themselves are more striking. In fact, the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 was the result of coordination errors and non-compliance with orders. This evening, journalists asked GDR government spokesman Günter Schabowski about the new rules for foreign travel, to which he wrong replied that “as far as he knows,” they come into force “immediately, right now.”


Naturally, at the border control points, where thousands of East Berlin residents began to flock that same evening, there were no orders to open the border. Fortunately, the border guards did not use force against their compatriots, succumbed to the pressure and opened the border. By the way, in Germany they are still grateful to Mikhail Gorbachev for the fact that he also did not use military force and withdrew troops from Germany.
— The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, then why is German Unity Day celebrated on October 3? Initially, the holiday was planned to be scheduled for November 9, but this day was associated with dark periods in the history of Germany (the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 and the November pogroms of 1938), so they chose a different date - October 3, 1990, when the actual unification of the two German states took place.

Aigul Berkheeva, Deutsch-online

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After the end of World War II, Berlin was occupied by four countries: the USA, Great Britain, France and the USSR. And since after the victory over the common enemy, the confrontation between the USSR and the NATO bloc began to grow with new strength, then soon Germany, and Berlin in particular, was divided into two camps: the socialist GDR (German Democratic Republic) and the democratic West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany). Thus Berlin became bipolar. It is worth noting that until 1961, movement between the two states was practically free and thrifty Germans managed to receive free Soviet education in the GDR, but work in the western part of the country.

The lack of a clear physical border between the zones led to frequent conflicts, smuggling of goods and a massive outflow of specialists to Germany. In the period from January 1 to August 13, 1961 alone, 207 thousand specialists left the GDR. The authorities claimed that the annual economic damage from this amounted to 2.5 billion marks.

The construction of the Berlin Wall was preceded by a serious aggravation of the political situation around Berlin, since both parties to the conflict (NATO and the USSR) laid claim to the city as part of the newly formed states. In August 1960, the GDR government introduced restrictions on visits by German citizens to East Berlin, citing the need to stop them from conducting “Western propaganda.” In response, all trade relations between Germany and the GDR were severed, and both parties to the conflict and their allies began to increase their military presence in the region.

In the context of the aggravation of the situation around Berlin, the leaders of the GDR and the USSR held an emergency meeting at which they decided to close the border. On August 13, 1961, construction of the wall began. In the first hour of the night, troops were brought up to the border area between West and East Berlin, and for several hours they completely blocked all sections of the border located within the city. By August 15, the entire western zone was surrounded barbed wire, and the actual construction of the wall began. On the same day, four Berlin metro lines and some S-Bahn lines were closed. Potsdamer Platz was also closed, as it was located in the border area. Many buildings and residential buildings adjacent to the future border were evicted. The windows facing West Berlin were blocked with bricks, and later during reconstruction the walls were completely demolished.

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. The wall consisted of concrete segments 3.60 m high, equipped on top with almost insurmountable cylindrical barriers. If necessary, the wall could be increased in height. In addition to the wall itself, new watchtowers and buildings for border guards were erected, the number of street lighting facilities was increased, and complex system barriers. On the East Berlin side, along the wall there was a special restricted area with warning signs; after the wall there were rows of anti-tank hedgehogs, or a strip dotted with metal spikes, nicknamed “Stalin’s lawn,” followed by a metal mesh with barbed wire and signal flares.

When an attempt was made to break through or overcome this grid, signal flares would go off, notifying the GDR border guards of the violation. Next was the road along which border guard patrols moved, after which there was a regularly leveled wide strip of sand to detect traces, followed by the wall described above, separating West Berlin. Towards the end of the 80s, it was also planned to install video cameras, motion sensors and even weapons with a remote control system.

By the way, the wall was not insurmountable; only according to official information, 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.

The GDR authorities practiced the release of their subjects for money. From 1964 to 1989, they released 249 thousand people to the West, including 34 thousand political prisoners, receiving $2.7 billion from Germany for this.

There were also casualties, according to the GDR government, 125 people died while trying to cross the Berlin Wall, and more than 3,000 were detained. The last perpetrator to die was Chris Gueffroy, who was killed while trying to illegally cross the border on February 6, 1989.

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 General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev to demolish the Wall, thereby symbolizing the desire of the Soviet leadership for change. Gorbachev heeded Reagan's request... 2 years later.

At 19:34 on November 9, 1989, the mayor of East Berlin, Günther Schabowski, announced on live television the authorities’ decision to open the checkpoint. When asked by a shocked journalist when it would come into force, he answered: “Immediately.”

Over the next three days More than 3 million people visited the West. The Berlin Wall still stood, but only as a symbol of the recent past. It was broken, painted with numerous graffiti, drawings and inscriptions; Berliners and visitors to the city tried to take away pieces of the once powerful structure as souvenirs. In October 1990, the lands of the former GDR entered the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Berlin Wall was demolished within a few months. It was decided to preserve only small parts of it as a monument for subsequent generations.

(Berliner Mauer) - a complex of engineering and technical structures that existed from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989 on the border of the eastern part of the territory of Berlin - the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the western part of the city - West Berlin, which had, as a political unit, special international status.

The Berlin Wall is one of the most famous symbols of the Cold War.

After World War II, Berlin was divided between the victorious powers (USSR, USA, France and Great Britain) into four occupation zones. The eastern zone, the largest, almost half the territory of the city, went to the USSR - as the country whose troops occupied Berlin.

On June 21, 1948, the USA, England and France carried out monetary reform in the western zones without the consent of the USSR, introducing a new German mark into circulation. To prevent the influx of money, the Soviet administration blocked West Berlin and cut off all ties with the western zones. During the Berlin crisis, in July 1948, projects for the creation of a West German state began to appear.

As a result, on May 23, 1949, the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was proclaimed. During the same period, the formation of the German state in the Soviet zone also took place. On October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was formed. The eastern part of Berlin became the capital of the GDR.

Germany chose the market path economic development and in the political sphere began to focus on the largest states of the West. Prices have stopped rising in the country and the unemployment rate has decreased.

Construction and renovation of the wall continued from 1962 to 1975. On June 19, 1962, construction of the parallel wall began. Another one was added to the existing wall, 90 meters behind the first, all buildings between the walls were demolished, and the gap was turned into a control strip.

The world-famous concept of the “Berlin Wall” meant the front barrier wall closest to West Berlin.

In 1965, the construction of the wall from concrete slabs began, and 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, rounded at the top to make it difficult to escape.

By 1989, the Berlin Wall was a complex complex of engineering and technical structures. The total length of the wall was 155 km, the intra-city border between East and West Berlin was 43 km, the border between West Berlin and the GDR (outer ring) was 112 km. Closer to West Berlin, the front barrier wall reached a height of 3.60 meters. It encircled the entire western sector of Berlin. In the city itself, the Wall divided 97 streets, six metro lines and ten districts of the city.

The complex included 302 observation posts, 20 bunkers, 259 devices for guard dogs and other border structures.

The wall was constantly patrolled by special units subordinate to the GDR police. The border guards were armed with small arms and had trained service dogs at their disposal. modern means tracking, alarm systems. In addition, the guards had the right to shoot to kill if the border violators did not stop after warning shots.

The heavily guarded "no man's land" between the wall and West Berlin came to be called the "death strip."

There were eight border crossings, or checkpoints, between East and West Berlin where West Germans and tourists could visit East Germany.

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 an automatic break diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes 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 blocks and both German states increased their armed forces and stepped up 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 policy aimed at “catching up and overtaking the Federal Republic of Germany”, and the corresponding increase in production standards, economic difficulties, forced collectivization - years, foreign policy tensions and more high level wages 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. East Berlin police were put on alert full readiness. 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 under 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, total number people killed while trying to escape from the GDR to the West is 1245 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. West Germany their release cost 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

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 the recent world and German history, or rather, what was 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 Warsaw Pact, Germany (the zone of Allied occupation) 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.

She was flown over on a homemade hang glider hot air balloon, climbed along a rope stretched between border windows, 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, public figure from the GDR, who was involved in mediation in the exchange of people (among his most famous cases are 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 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 would 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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