Berlin Wall
I
always found the Berlin Wall very interesting. This wall was a barrier constructed by the East
Germany’s government to keep its people away from Western Europe. The building of this wall started on 13
August 1961. It completely cut off the
city of West Berlin from East Berlin. There were guard towers placed
along this large wall and many people tried to climb this wall and died.
Later
in 1990, as people started demanding to tear down this wall, the East German government
finally announced the opening of border crossings. It was a historical
moment, when crowds on both sides waited for hours, and happily cheered when
the pieces of the Berlin wall came down and both East and West Berlin were
joined again.
The Berlin Wall was built by Eastern Germany’s
government.
The
Wall was a barrier to prevent the emigration of people to reach western Germany
and other countries of Western Europe.
Its
construction started on 13 August 1961, and it was built at the old borders of East & West Berlin, It started in 1961 and continued until 1990 and it took around one year
to build it.
It cost 16,155,000 East German
Marks or about 3,638,000 US Dollars.
It is not
existing now, as the people of Germany have united. http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/mauer.htm
In the beginning, they used barbed
wire, eventually replaced by a concrete structure topped with wire and studded
with watchtowers. And these materials
came from locally available concrete, cement and bricks; the materials transported to the site in
army vehicles, lorries and carts; it was designed by Hagen Koch, who was a 21-year-old Stasi recruit whose
background in technical draughtsmanship, mapped out the Berlin Wall. There were no changes made to the original
design. After the Berlin wall
fell in 1989, Hagen Koch started talking openly about his part in creating this
wall. He created an archive in his East Berlin flat where he welcomed visitors
including the Queen of Sweden and the artist Christo. He was reported seriously
ill in a Berlin care home having suffered a heart attack in 2011. He had lost
the power of speech. The Guardian UK, newspaper, was unable to verify if he is
still alive today.
However
The Soviet Union (now Russia) built the Berlin Wall to control
East Berlin from the US/French/British controlled West Berlin.
The construction of the wall was supervised by the East German (communist) leader Erich Hoeneker. And it was constructed by Communist labour battalions from East Berlin and the real problem was controlling the people trying to cross the border, as so many people died while escaping from East Berlin to the West Berlin. Army battalions had to be vigilant in supervision. http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/
The construction of the wall was supervised by the East German (communist) leader Erich Hoeneker. And it was constructed by Communist labour battalions from East Berlin and the real problem was controlling the people trying to cross the border, as so many people died while escaping from East Berlin to the West Berlin. Army battalions had to be vigilant in supervision. http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/
The Berlin Wall was
important since it showed that people didn't want to live in East Germany and
the government put the Berlin Wall to stop people from crossing into West
Germany. It was a big image disaster for Russia at that time, especially when
both Russia and the weat were claiming to be better than
each other. This was a historic wall that divided East Germany and West
Germany.
It was a symbol of the communist
controlled economy and the destruction of it resulted in the reuniting of Germany
as well as the spread of democracy.
The Berlin Wall was
brought down because many world leaders from Russia, USA, and Europe jointly
decided that it was useless to control people's freedom of travel and the way
should be made open to all Germans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall
Reference:
SSR, elorussian. "Berlin Wall - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23
Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall>.
1950s, the late, they would pack up their bags, hundreds of
thousands of others made it across the border. Once across, these refugees were
housed in warehouses, East Germany was rapidly losing both its labor force, and
its population.. "Berlin Wall - The Rise and Fall of the Berlin
Wall." 20th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. http://history1900s.about.com/od/coldwa1/a/berlinwall.htm
"NEWSEUM: THE BERLIN WALL." Newseum | Newseum
Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/>.
"Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer." Gedenkstätte
Berliner Mauer. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/de/>.
"Berlin Wall." A View On Cities. N.p., n.d.
Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/mauer.htm>.
1990, end of, and as Communism. "Berlin Wall Online -
Chronicle of the Berlin Wall history includes an archive of photographs and
texts." Dailysoft: IT-Consulting, Photography, Berlin and Berlin Wall
information. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/>
