On August 13th in 1961 a cordon was put around West-Berlin in an overnight action. The intention was to stop the permanent stream of refugees from the GDR which weakened the socialist State. Barricades, barbed wire fences and roadblocks by tanks were put up. In the following days construction workers began to build a wall made of concrete to reinforce the barrier. The wall, presented as "antifascist embankment for protection" in GDR propaganda, became an insurmountable obstacle.
At first the wall was built of 12 km of slabs and 137 km of barbed wire fences with 116 observation towers. The border area had been rebuilt four times through the years. All in all the wall parted 192 streets (97 within Berlin and 95 between the GDR and West-Berlin), 32 railroads, 8 suburban and 4 underground trains. Even lakes and rivers were blocked and observed.
West-Berlin was an enclave: travellers between West-Germany and West-Berlin had to pass the frontier and undergo tough controls. Again and again individuals tried to surmount the inhumane frontier in order to be free.
The number of people who died at the Berlin wall, were shot on escape attempts by frontier guards, drowned in river Spree or in lakes or died in other tragic ways, isn't yet confirmed. The first victim Rudolf Urban died when he jumped out of a window in Bernauer Straße. The last refugee who lost his life on the wall was Chris Gueffroy, shot on February 6th, 1989. Many people were terrified to see Peter Fechter bleeding to death at the wall without anyone coming to help him.
Protest Movements
During the end of the eighties the change in politics in the Soviet Union under Michael Gorbatschow affected the situation of the GDR, which underwent more and more political and economic difficulties. In 1989 countless citizens of the GDR fled to the opened border between Hungary and Austria and others sought refuge in embassies. In those years more than 220,000 East Germans left the GDR. At the same time many demonstrations took place and called for political changes. The national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the GDR turned into protest movements against the regime.
The night the wall fell
The evening of November 9th, 1989 the anxiously longed for freedom of travelling was proclaimed. Thousands of people rushed to the frontiers that had been opened in the course of the night. People from East- and West-Berlin lay in each other's arms. This was one of the most beautiful days in the history of Berlin.
