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What Did the East German Government Call the Berlin Wall?

by | Mar 7, 2024 | Cold War Tour Berlin

Berlin was a pre-war structure which separated East Germany from West Germany during the cold war. However, what was in English commonly called the “Berlin Wall” had an official name in the East German government.

The Official East German Name

The East German government gave the name “Antifaschistischer Schutzwall” which is translated to English as “Antifascist Protective Wall” to the division. It was supposed to protect the East German population from the western imperialism and the threat of fascists.

Construction and Purpose

The Berlin Wall was built by East Germany also called the German Democratic Republic in August 1961. In a nutshell, its main role was to ensure that citizens of East Germany did not cross what was then East Germany to West Germany. It represented such political culture of the two geographic halves of the world, the eastern block which was dominated by communism and the western block that espoused democracy during the cold war.

Parts of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall consisted of several components:

  • Concrete Wall: The main construction of the wall was made of concrete and engaged almost 155 kilometers (96 miles) of the Berlin city.
  • Border Fortifications: Besides the wall, the East German government carried out other bordering protections among them being watchtowers, trenches designed to stop vehicles, and barbed wire. These were meant to prevent any attempt made towards the prisoners escaping.
  • Checkpoint Charlie: Checkpoint Charlie was one of the most famous road boundaries between East Berlin and West Berlin. It had also been an embodiment of a divided city.

Contribution à la transformation de Berlin et de ses habitants

The presence of the Berlin Wall had profound effects on the Berlin population and the city itself:

Breaking up of Families and Communities

Although when the wall was put up it also cut families and friends off from each other within a day. Separately, the river divided a lot of people from their families who resided on the opposite side. They had to separate neighbours, students and even members of the same church, which shattered the social structure of the residents in the city.

Escape Attempts

Nevertheless, thousands of East Germans braved the risks and fled to West Germany knowing that the penalty for their action was severe. Some would attempt to escape by climbing over the wall, to get through other dug small underground tunnels, or were innovative enough to find other ways of getting through the border secretly.

Symbol of the Cold War

The Berlin Wall symbolised the conflict between communists and democrats throughout the world. Such presence embodied the segregation of Europe and the bipolar conflict of the international in the Cold War.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Barline Wall was in existence for 28years before it came Crashing down on November 9, 1989. It was as a result of political transition and pressure from the people; mainly demonstrations in East Germany.

As soon as the wall came down, it marked the beginnings of the end of Cold War and endeavors to reunify East and West Germans. It was the start of a critical period in history that contributed in one way or another to the unraveling of the Soviet Union and a new world order.

Conclusion

The line divides East and West Germany, and a symbol of the Cold War, was the Berlin Wall or formally ‘Antifaschistischer Schutzwall’, as the East German government called it. Both the construction of the Tower and its consequences for the city and the people of the city constitute some of the defining history of the twentieth century. The collapse of the Berlin Wall became symbolic and still remains such to address the significance of people’s unification and the fight for freedom all over the world.

 

What Did the East German Government Call the Berlin Wall?