The Berlin Wall was put up to separate West
and East Berlin.
The East was controlled by the communist Soviets,
while the West was controlled by the Allies:
the United States, England, and France.
The wall was put up in 1961 and came down
in 1989.
The wall was composed of concrete, sewage
piping, and barbed wire, and was heavily guarded
by military.
The heavily guarded area was called the “death
strip”, as it was a narrow band of sand
embedded with bombs in addition to the other
precautions.
The wall was about 106 miles long, with 12
checkpoints around it.
The main ones were Alpha (Helmstedt), Bravo
(Dreilinden), and Charlie (Fredrichstrasse).
Though the number of deaths are not specifically
known it is speculated to be as low as 78,
but as high as 300.
Many died because of the accidental or illegal
actions of the guards.
Still, approximately 5,000 people successfully
made it over the wall.
On the night of August 12-13, 1961, East German
soldiers laid down more than 30 miles of barbed
wire barrier through the heart of Berlin.
East Berlin citizens were forbidden to pass
into West Berlin, and the number of checkpoints
in which Westerners could cross the border
was drastically reduced.
The original barbed wire fence was put up
without warning.
Because the barbed wire was put up overnight,
many families were split up.
Animals were also split; not just families.
When the wall came up everyone was affected,
including bunnies.
The Berlin bunnies were bunnies that resided
on the death strip, protected from predators
and an easy place to find food.
Their light weight did not set off the bombs
buried underneath.
Sigrid Paul was one such mother whom was separated
from her newborn son.
He was born in a hospital in the communist
ruled east berlin, but had complications,
and was taken to a west berlin hospital that
was better suited to deal with his complications.
But because of legal confusion her son spent
his first 5 years away from his mother in
west berlin, where they had family.
After the five years she was permitted to
go to west berlin to live with her son.
This is just one of many stories of families
being separated by the berlin wall.
In an effort to force the democratic government,
or the Allies, to surrender west berlin, the
soviets inputted a blockade, leaving west
berliners starving and in need of food and
supplies.
Similar to a modern-day siege, this was called
the Berlin blockade.
The Soviets cut off railroads and streets
leading into west berlin.
Because the Allies would not let the soviets
win, they came up with a solution: to airdrop
all of the needed supplies.
The US flew 189,963 (one hundred eighty nine
thousand, nine hundred and sixty three) flights,
carrying 1,605,216 (one million, six hundred
five thousand, two hundred sixteen) tons of
supplies over to the desperate west berliners.
Great Britain flew 87,841 (eighty seven thousand,
eight hundred and forty one) planes, carrying
541,743 ( five hundred forty one thousand,
seven hundred forty three) tons of supplies,
and France flew 424 planes, carrying 896 tons
of supplies.
The Berlin wall was built and taken down during
the cold war.
The cold war was mostly tension between both
the united states and the soviet union.
This was caused by the two countries in possession
of atomic bombs and threats for total war.
Although this never happened, the Berlin wall
was an important physical representative of
the split between communism and democracy,
and how they would go as far to build a physical
wall between each other.
Along with this, the Berlin wall represented
the divide between east and the west physically,
politically, and philosophically.
This is shown for example, in the people who
built the wall: East Berlin.
The west side of Berlin was more democratic
and free, while the east side was communist
and very controlling.
On November 9, 1989, Berliners from both sides
gathered at the wall in anticipation of reunion.
Thousands of people stood or sat on the wall
waiting for the signal to be given.
People celebrated the fall of the Berlin wall
by drinking champagne and tearing it down
with anything they could find, sometimes even
with their own hands.
The West was decorated heavily with graffiti
to show freedom of expression and the East
was completely bare symbolizing their oppression.
Nevertheless, the guards stood back and watched
as Berliners rejoiced and continued destroying
the wall.
Berlin was formally reunited on October 3,
1990.
