The Berlin Wall was a concrete division for splitting of West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany during the cold war. They may have demographically halved the country but it remained a symbol of east and west, of communism and capitalism. At this point let us discuss one of the most important symbols – The Berlin Wall and its use.
On the Symbolic Level: The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall itself was the symbol of the cold war period of the twentieth century. Constructed on the 13th August 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (GDR), it was principally designed for the purpose of bottling up people from going over to the ‘West’.
Unfortunately the most familiar emblem of the Berlin Wall is a concrete wall with barbed wire and guard towers. They were the divided wall between East Berlin and the larger free world regions of West Berlin and West Germany.
Checkpoint Charlie: A Symbol of the Cold War
Of all the moving checkpoints all through the Berlin Wall, the most popular was Checkpoint Charlie. Known to the Western Allies as Operation Gladio – it was another manifestation of the Cold War confrontation.
Checkpoint Charlie was situated at a junction of East Berlin and West Berlin. It also became a check-point where the official diplomats and other high ranking officials could cross to and from East Berlin.
Popular Crossing at Check Point Charlie
In Checkpoint Charlie there was a barrier that could symbolically be represented by a sign. The sign read:
They knew that they were getting out of the American sector.
This sign stated that was the check point from American sectors to Soviet sectors.
East Side Gallery: Arts and graphics on the wall
Since the ultimate collapse of the wall in 1989, a small portion of this was turned into an art gallery known as the East Side Gallery. Thus, it was used as hope, freedom, and as the representation of art.
The East Side Gallery is 1.3kilometers long and covers over one hundred murals painted by local and international artists. Every mural has its purpose and symbolizes the common dreams of people.
Art: Symbolic Murals at the East Side Gallery
Some of the most iconic murals at the East Side Gallery include:
“The Fraternal Kiss” by Dmitri Vrubel: This fresco represents a photograph widely known as ‘Kiss of the Spartak’ – Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker.
“Trabant Breaking Through the Wall” by Birgit Kinder: This mural shows a Trabant car, meaning freedom and reunification.
“The Mortal Kiss” by Christine MacLean: This mural depicts two men in an amorous position, emblem of love, and liberation.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Ultimate Symbol of Unity
The breaking down the Berlin wall November 9, 1989 unveiled the demarcation of the iron curtain symbolizing the end of the cold war. This great event remain one of the most important signifiers for unity, liberty and the victory of democracy over communism.
The collapse of the Berlin Wall led to Deutsche Wiedervereinigung and starting of the political and social processes in Europe. That was the sign of the dismantlement of physical barriers, as well as of ideological ones, which gave a way to a new period.
Today’s Berlin Wall None of the dividing lines that have now snaked their way around the planet is as well-known as the historic Berlin Wall that divided East from West Berlin for close to three decades.
While the major part of the Berlin Wall has already been demolished after the wall has been brought down, there are preserved several sections as the sites filled with the history. One of these remnants is the special historical exhibition called the Topography of Terror” at the site of the former Gestapo and SS headquarters.
Today the concrete slabs with parts of the Berlin Wall let people feel the struggle of the spirit in the fight for freedom.<|human|>Today with an iron and concrete slabs with pieces of the Berlin Wall everyone feels the fight of the spirit for freedom.
