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What Was the Berlin Wall and What Did It Symbolize?

by | Mar 7, 2024 | Cold War Tour Berlin

Berlin Wall was a check-point built in the November 1961 by the German Democratic Republic with an aim of separating East and West Berlin. This wall was symbolic of the geopolitical division between the communists – the GDR, and the capitalists – West Germans.

 

Why was the Berlin Wall constructed?

In Post World War II, Germany was divided into four zones occupied by the Soviet Union, the United States, the British and the French. Berlin located in the Soviet zone also was split into four sectors. Thus, over time conflict emerged between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies, culminating in after the war and the establishment of the two different German States.

 

There were a number of pause factors which led to the construction of the Berlin Wall. Above all, the East German government wanted to stop people moving to west Germany which was regarded as more economically developed region and has democratic freedom. Leaving economic issues aside for a minute, the East German κρατος had a bad problem of ‘ speculation and brain drain,’ with educated people leaving for better circumstances in the west.

 

The wall acted as a fizikal barrier to prevent the continuance of the brain drain among the young skilled professionals. It was also a way of avoiding formation of spies and espionage from the western nations intelligence services.

 

This paper focuses on two broad categories of the Berlin Wall’s Physical Structure; namely the barrier and the Watchtower.

Thus, the Berlin Wall consisted of two walls, spaced about forty meters apart and a death strip in between. Opposite East Germany was the inner wall while the outer wall faced West Berlin. Space between the walls was very fortified and equipped with barbed wire, guard towers and tank trapage.

 

The wall over the time was made more and more hard to cross over and that reflected some enhancements over it. The primary barbed wire was replaced by concrete slabs; moreover, other measures of protection were also installed. The wall had a total length of about 155 km, and encircled West Berlin, the GDR’s capital city, from the surrounding East German land.

 

The Berlin Wall: Its Symbolism

It stopped being only an architectural creation but a signifier of what the Cold War was all about – dividing Eastern and Western Blocs. It was actually symbolic for the other global struggle of communism and capitalism.

 

For those inhabitant the Eastern Bloc, the wall was a symbol of the restriction in private liberty and freedom of movement, the poor economic prospect and non-existence of political freedom. The endeavor to transverse the wall was not only profound but craved a decent life from the other side of it.

 

On the other hand, Gorbachev assumed a meaning of the wall to the Western Bloc, particularly, freedom fighters and fighters against communism. It reminded the European people and the world at large of their desire to be free with or without the aid of the United States of America.

 

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

It took nearly three decades and 9 November 1989 marked the beginning of the materialization of this great vision and thus the fall of the well-famed Berlin Wall. As contributing factors to the unraveling of the wall, it involved eased travels restrictions to West Germany and nonviolent demonstration in East Germany.

 

East Germans going to the border, demanding to be let through, proved too much for the guards, and the channel was opened. This historic event sowed the seed of the conception of reunification of East and West Germany and the union’s eventual dissolution of Soviet Union.

 

In Conclusion

The Berlin Wall is a representation of the bipolar world the world was in during the Cold War. It symbolised communism against capitalism or the lack of freedom of an individual. It declared a historic period for German and the world with the desire for reunification of the nation and the collapse of the Cold War.

 

What Was the Berlin Wall and What Did It Symbolize?