Berlin Wall was built in 1961 to divide the two parts of the city of Berlin—Communist East Berlin and non-Communist West Berlin. Berlin lay deep in Communist East Germany, but the Western allies of West Germany controlled West Berlin. East Germany, backed by the Soviet Union, built the Berlin Wall to prevent East Germans from emigrating to the West. In 1989, widespread demands for more freedom took place in East Germany. In response, the East German government ended its restrictions on emigration and travel to the West by its citizens. The East Germans opened the wall in November and soon began to tear it down. In October 1990, East and West Germany were united into the single non-Communist country of Germany. Berlin was reunited into a single city. By 1992, nearly all the Berlin Wall had been removed. Several sections remain standing as memorials, but most of it was broken up for use in roadbeds and other construction projects. Parts of the wall were sold to museums and private individuals.
Loading the player...Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was constructed as a system of heavily fortified barriers that is about 26 miles (42 kilometers) long. It included a wall of massive concrete slabs that varied from 12 to 15 feet (3.7 to 4.6 meters) in height. Pipes, barbed wire, and other obstacles were installed on top of much of the wall. Before the wall was opened in 1989, the East Berlin side included armed guards, guard dogs, barbed wire, electric alarms, mines, and trenches. Walls and other barriers were also built around the rest of West Berlin. The length of the barriers totaled about 110 miles (160 kilometers).
Before 1961, large numbers of East Germans chose to leave their country to escape Communist rule and seek freedom and a better living standard in the West. Many left by simply crossing into West Berlin from East Berlin. The Communists built the Berlin Wall to stop this emigration. The barriers around West Berlin and along the East German-West German border made escape to the West extremely difficult. More than 170 people died trying to escape from East Germany by crossing over the Berlin Wall. Most of them were shot by border guards. The opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was hailed as a historic event that symbolized the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe.
See also Berlin (History) ; Cold War (The Berlin Wall) .
