Berlin Wall

Partition wall built between East Berlin and West Berlin in 1961, with the aim of preventing citizens of communist East Germany from escaping to the West. Due to its position in the middle of a politically divided city, and, by extension, of a divided nation (East and West Germany), the Berlin Wall became one of the most significant symbols of the Cold War.

The dramatic story of “the two Berlins” and of the Wall between them began in 1945. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, France, Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union divided Germany among themselves into four occupation zones. Although located entirely in East Germany (dominated by the Soviet Union), Berlin was also partitioned, with its western half under the control of the United States, France, and Britain.

Not surprisingly, when the relationship between the Soviet Union and its former allies began to deteriorate in the postwar period, Germany's capital became the first “battleground” of the ensuing Cold War. Unable to compromise on crucial political and economic matters, the occupiers of Germany decided to make the division permanent. On May 12, 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) declared itself an independent state, followed a couple of weeks later by the establishment of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The border between the two Germanies was sealed, and on August 15, 1961, soldiers in East Germany begin building a five-foot high wall separating the eastern and the western halves of the city of Berlin.

Crossing the Wall

The Berlin Wall became a truly impressive structure. The Wall was, in fact, an entire complex of obstacles, including 13-feet-high concrete slabs, electric and wire-meshed fences, alarm cables, and antivehicle ditches. It even had special ramps for guard dogs. The row of obstacles extended more than 103 miles, and it was watched over by 14,000 border guards and 600 dogs.

As early as 1957, the East German government had introduced the penal offense of fleeing the Republic, punishable by up to four years in prison. Border guards received the order to shoot trespassers on sight. It is estimated that between 1961, when the Wall was erected, and 1989, when it was torn down, more than 75,000 people were arrested trying to cross the border illegally. More than 800 others died in escape attempts, out of which 250 persons were killed at the site of the Wall.

No fewer than 5,000 people, however, did manage to breach the Wall; about a tenth of these were deserting East German border guards. Amazing stories of escape have become part of contemporary German folklore. These include the tunnel under the Wall, which, in October 1964, delivered 57 East Berliners to freedom; a handful of low sports cars, which raced under the horizontal barriers at checkpoints; and four men wearing home-made Soviet-like uniforms, who simply walked by the respectful border guards. Despite its formidable complex of obstacles, the Berlin Wall was never able to completely stop the constant trickling of refugees out of East Germany.

A demonstrator from West Berlin tearing away part of the Berlin Wall in Germany in November 1989 as East German border guards look on from above. The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of the end for communist rule of East Berlin and East Germany. For the first time since the wall was built in 1961, East Germans could freely cross to the West. Demand for even more political changes led to the downfall of the East German communist government and the later unification of the two Germanies in October 1990.

Corbis.

In the Midst of the Cold War

Around the drama of individual East Berliners continuously challenging East German border guards, a wider crisis was unfolding. Alternating between suspicious appeasement and outright provocations, the two sides of the Cold War were fighting a daily battle in divided Berlin. Soviet and American intelligence agencies set up numerous million-dollar receivers and decoders on both sides of the Wall, as part of a deeply paranoid game of surveillance and espionage.

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