Die Berliner Mauer

During the division of Germany, the Berlin Wall was a massive border fortification system built by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) that existed from 1961 to 1989. It was meant to seal off West Berlin hermetically from East German territory, and it did more than separate the eastern and western halves of the city: it completely enclosed the three Western sectors. This also cut off West Berlin's connections to the surrounding countryside in the East German district of Potsdam. The structure usually ran a few meters behind the actual border and should not be confused with the inner German border between West Germany and East Germany. As the last major project in the division of Berlin, it became the defining symbol of the Cold War between the Western powers led by the United States and the Eastern Bloc led by the Soviet Union.

The construction of the Wall followed a decision by the Soviet political leadership in August 1961 and a subsequent directive from the East German government. It supplemented the inner German border, which had already been fortified for more than nine years in order to stop the massive flow of refugees. Since 1960, East German border troops had been under orders to shoot anyone crossing the border illegally, an order that was not formally enshrined in law until 1982. According to current research, between 136 and 245 people were killed trying to overcome the heavily guarded border installations. The exact number of deaths remains unclear to this day.

The background goes back to the postwar period, when Germany and Berlin were divided into four occupation zones. Berlin became a four-sector city administered jointly by the Allies, but it was not part of the Soviet occupation zone. As the Cold War began, tensions intensified, leading to the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in May 1949 and of East Germany in October of the same year. Formally, Berlin remained demilitarized and independent of both states, but in practice West Berlin came to resemble a West German state, while East Berlin became the de facto capital of East Germany.

Starting in 1952, East Germany began securing the inner German border with fences, guards, and a restricted zone five kilometers wide. At the same time, there was talk of sealing off the border with the Western sectors as well. This initially failed because the Soviet Union would not agree and because of transportation obstacles, since the Deutsche Reichsbahn depended on routes through the Western sectors. Only with the completion of the Berlin outer ring railway in 1961 did an independent bypass become possible. Despite intensive identity checks by the People's Police, the sector borders remained a loophole.

Between 1945 and the building of the Wall, about 3.5 million people fled the Soviet occupation zone and East Germany. Many of them were well-trained young professionals, and their departure threatened East Germany's economic strength and ultimately the survival of the state. The wave of refugees peaked in 1961, when 30,000 people fled in July alone. On August 12, 1961, 3,190 people left the country in a single day. This drain of people and expertise demanded an immediate response from the East German leadership.

The decision to close the sector border was made on August 3, 1961, at a meeting between Khrushchev and Ulbricht in Moscow. The plan was a closely guarded state secret that became public only shortly before it was carried out. On August 12, Ulbricht invited leading officials to a meeting at which he announced that the border would be closed that night. In the night of August 12 to 13, 1961, soldiers of the National People's Army, border police, and paramilitary combat groups began sealing off the roads and rail lines to West Berlin. All existing transport links, including the subway and the S-Bahn, were cut.

At first, the barrier consisted of fences, barbed wire, and walls at certain points. In areas where the sidewalk belonged to West Berlin while the buildings stood in East Berlin, building entrances were bricked up so that residents could reach their apartments only through back courtyards. The closure led to bizarre situations, such as the Lenné Triangle at Potsdamer Platz being left out, which for a time became a lawless zone. In the following days there were numerous escape attempts, which became harder as windows were bricked up and the border fortifications were expanded.

Reactions in East Germany were mixed. People knew the closure was aimed at stopping the exodus, but only isolated protests occurred. On August 13, people gathered at border crossings but were pushed back by border police. Mass protests failed to materialize, which is attributed to fear of repression after the 1953 uprising and to the shock of being caught off guard by the leadership. Other citizens reacted with indifference or welcomed the measure, hoping that socialist ideals could now be realized undisturbed. Young people opposed it most strongly, since they felt cut off from Western leisure culture.

In West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany, the building of the Wall met with sharp criticism. Chancellor Adenauer at first called for calm but did not visit the city until nine days later. Governing Mayor Willy Brandt protested vigorously but was politically powerless. On August 16, 300,000 West Berliners demonstrated in front of Schöneberg City Hall. In official West German usage, the Wall was soon called the "Wall of Shame." Adenauer later declared that the Soviet zone had been turned into a concentration camp. The West German states established an office to document human rights violations in East Germany.

The Western Allies reacted hesitantly. Military patrols did not appear at the border until 20 hours later, and diplomatic protests did not reach Moscow until after 72 hours. U.S. President Kennedy responded with restraint but stood by the free city of Berlin. He sent General Lucius D. Clay and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson to West Berlin to demonstrate solidarity. American combat troops were moved into the city and were greeted with great jubilation by the population. A direct confrontation occurred on October 27, 1961, at Checkpoint Charlie, when American and Soviet tanks faced each other. Both sides withdrew their forces, however, to avoid escalation to nuclear war.

East German propaganda called the Wall an "anti-fascist protective barrier" meant to guard against emigration, espionage, and aggression from the West. This term was embedded in school textbooks and public language, while other terms vanished from public use. Propaganda rules stipulated that images of the border fortifications could be shown only in connection with the Brandenburg Gate. In the Western public, by contrast, comparisons with concentration camps were drawn, giving rise to expressions such as "red concentration camp." These Nazi comparisons increasingly fell out of use in the 1960s, partly because of the beginning reckoning with the Nazi dictatorship.

On the evening of November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was opened amid the political upheaval. This happened under growing pressure from the East German population, which demanded more freedom. The fall of the Wall paved the way for the collapse of the SED dictatorship, the dissolution of East Germany, and German reunification. At the same time, it marked the end of the Eastern Bloc and ended the division of Germany that had existed since the end of World War II. The Wall remains a central symbol of 20th-century history and of the overcoming of division.