Modern Europe: Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was built during the Cold War as a literal barrier between communism and democracy. It started out as just a barbed wire fence when construction of the Berlin Wall began August 13, 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was a "desperate" move to stop East Berliners from escaping from Soviet-controlled East Berlin to American-, French-, and British-occupied West Berlin. The wall was completed within a day, and it completely sealed off each side from the other.


The actual concrete wall was added in 1965, and it remained the barrier until 1975 when the ‘Stützwandelement UL 12.11’ was constructed, which is the version most people are familiar with.

"It was made from 45,000 separate sections of reinforced concrete, each 3.6 m high and 1.5 m wide, and topped with a smooth pipe, intended to make it more difficult for escapers to scale it. The Grenzmauer was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire, over 300 watchtowers, and thirty bunkers."

Escapes were common in the initial days of the wall, but after the concrete wall was constructed, the escapes had to get more creative, so people dug tunnels, among other things. East German guards were allowed to shoot those trying to escape, though. This is one of the more dire stories:

"August 17, 1962: In the early afternoon, two 18-year-old young men ran toward the Wall with the intention on scaling it. The first of the young men to reach the Wall successfully scaled it. The second one, Peter Fechter, was not so lucky. As he was about to scale the wall, a border guard opened fire. Peter continued to climb the Wall, but ran out of energy just as he reached the top. He then tumbled back onto the East German side of the Wall. To the shock of the world, Peter was just left there. The East German guards did not shoot him again nor did they go to his aid. Peter shouted in agony for nearly an hour. Once he had bled to death, East German guards carried off his body. He became the 50th person to die at the Berlin Wall and a symbol of the struggle for freedom."

The wall came down on November 9, 1989 when an East German official announced that permanent relocations were allowed. (People had been fleeing East Germany through Hungary all year.) At first, people were nervous, but once the process started, the wall came down nearly as suddenly as it went up.





ABC's Coverage of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.