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Who Built the Berlin Wall?

by | Mar 7, 2024 | Cold War Tour Berlin

The Berlin Wall, which represents division and the period of the Cold War, was constructed by the German Democratic Republic, or more familiarly known as East Germany. It was put up on August thirteen, 1961 and was in place for nearly thirty years before it was torn down in 1989.

 

Site Dedicated to the Building of the Berlin Wall Explaining This to the Public

Originally, the main goal of the construction of the Berlin Wall was in trying to stop East Germans from moving to the West. The GDR government said that the construction of the wall was aimed with the purpose of shielding its people from the so called decadence of the west and imperialism. However, the wall has functioned mainly as a tool used to prevent the highly skilled and professional population in the Eastern bloc from migrating to the more developed western bloc.

 

The Construction Process

The establishment of Berlin Wall was a collective project involving State Ministry for Ministry for State Security, the Stasi, and Border Troops. Each structure included concrete walls in the form of segments of barbed wire fencing, watchtowers, and anti-vehicle trenches.

 

The first step of building was to place a barbed wire and created two sides in a hurry overnight when the city of Berlin existed. Then posts were installed to create concrete formations to enhance the barrier.

 

Key Features of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall itself was 155 kilometers (96 miles) long and surrounded the West Berlin while sealing it off from the East Germany. It comprised two long vertical concrete walls, with a courtyard aisle often referred to as the ‘death strip’ in-between. The death strip was 50 yards wide and surrounded by fences; anti-climber devices and armed guards were put up to ensure none tried to break through the wall.

 

The wall was fortified with guard towers in which soldiers armed themselves. They were ordered to fire at anyone that tried to move from the eastern side to the western side without permission.

 

Life at the Berlin Wall

The effects of the construction of the Berlin Wall can generally be deduced to impact the laypeople of both East and West Berlin. Civilians’ lives were brought to stenders, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends were separated. There are also many general features which affected the lives of East Berliners, which include the fact that most people were confined to the area enclosed by the symbol of the Berlin Wall and which very limited their ability to travel or communicate with the rest of the world.

 

It was worse for those who lived near the wall since life became almost unbearable. Some of the buildings that earlier had view of the western part of the city became useless because of its location. No Man’s Land between the outer walls was covered with animating blocks and booby traps, so that there could be no hope of anyone getting away.

 

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Domestically as well as internationally more people started demanding the demolition of the Berlin Wall. In the later 1980 there were demonstrations across the East Germany encouraging for political liberalization and for the reunion of Germany.

 

The East German government released a statement on November the 9th, 1989 allowing East Berliners to make the cross-border transit. It triggered a massive crowds visiting the wall mostly composed of the targeted individuals, and taking apart the wall on their own. The represented dividing wall changed its meaning becoming the construction of togetherness and victorious over oppression.

 

Conclusion

The barrier of concrete and barbed wire put up by the German Democratic Republic or simply G .D. R was seen as a concrete symbol of the ideological and political split of the cold war . Its goal was mainly to stop people of the east German territory from moving to west Germany. The oppressive structure symbolized restriction on individual liberty and showed those in political rivalry the faces of those they disregarded. The break up of the Berlin walls in 1989 was momentous in marking the end of a period of Cold war and reunification of Germany.

Who Built the Berlin Wall?