Visiting the Berlin Wall 25 years after it came down; 25 years ago today.

One of the few sections of the Berlin Wall which still stands

.

25 years ago today on 9^th November, my birthday, the Berlin Wall came down with this momentous event the iron curtain fell and the Cold War ended. Although the official demolition of the Wall didn't actually start until June 13th 1990.   Any visit to Berlin is not complete without viewing what is left of the Berlin Wall.  Most of the Wall has been dismantled, only a few small sections remain today at the original Berlin sites. One stretch is one of the world’s largest street art exhibits where I found it was very easy to spend several hours viewing the street art. Stone slabs mark where the Wall had stood right next to the Reichstag.  The fall of the Wall in 1989 and the disintegration of the GDR enabled German reunification after 44 years.  In a recent survey 75% of East Germans questioned said the fall of the Wall has improved their lives while only 50% of West Germans questioned feel that they have benefited from the reunification.   

The division of Berlin.

At the end of the second world Berlin as Germany was divided into four zones, each occupied by one of the countries that had fought and defeated the Nazis. The zones controlled by France, Great Britain and America controlled West Berlin; the Soviet Union controlled East Berlin.  It is said some 3 million East Germans, nearly one fifth of the population of the Soviet controlled German Democratic Republic,(GDR), escaped to West Germany from the end of WW2 and the erection of the Wall in 1961.  Mostly escaping via Berlin and causing a brain drain from the GDR. The Berlin Wall was built to prevent East Germans from entering West Germany.  On 13^th August 1961, that people on both sides of Berlin woke up to see the entire perimeter sealed off, with work to erect a more permanent divide in full flow.  The Wall was 155 km in length, contained 302 observation towers and was guarded by more than 11,000 soldiers. The Wall on the Western side was decorated by graffiti, on the Eastern side were plain grey concrete blocks.

My pick of the graffiti a Trabant breaks through the Wall heading West.

There was a large stretch known as the ‘Death Strip’, on the East Berlin side of the Wall, which varied in width consisting of floodlights, soldiers and dogs, and various other obstacles such as barbed wire and a bed of nails. Also frequently-raked sand strips helped identify if anyone had attempted to cross unnoticed.  People attempting to get from East to West were regarded as traitors with the guards were instructed to shoot if they attempted to cross, although not to kill them.

A moving graffiti art remembrance of those who lost their lives attempting their escape.

It is estimated 10,000 people tried to escape over the Wall, 5,000 are thought to have succeeded.  136 people died attempting to cross the Wall.  The first was Gunter Litfin, an apprentice tailor, who was shot trying to cross from East to West and the last crashing in a self-made balloon.

Checkpoint Charlie the best known checkpoint between the American and Russian zones has been reconstructed for the benefit of tourists to Berlin.  Small pieces of the Wall are available for sale as souvenirs all over Berlin. 

Concrete blocks outside the Reichstag building 

mark the Walls path.

 

In September 2012 Karen Patrick walked part of the Great Wall of China for Dementia Care.    

Her story is related in her book 'Scaling the Dragon's Back' which is available from Amazon for Kindle, Barnes and Noble for Nook, on Kobo and for all other formats from www.theendlessbookcase.co.uk

Karen's book is sold in support of Dementia Care.