The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier in and around Berlin, Germany, that physically and ideologically divided Berlin (in East Berlin and West Berlin) from 1961 to 1989 during the era of the Cold War. It was build by East Germany to protect its population from fascist elements, however, the communists needed the wall to prevent the massive emigration and defection during the post-World War II period.
History[]
The wall was constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961. It completely cut off West Berlin from the Federal Republic of Germany (GER, West Germany) by land, being completely surrounded by East Germany until government officials opened it in the evening hours on 9 November 1989 as a result of a series of massive demonstrations.
The barrier included guarded towers and, later on, the so-called "death strip" with anti-vehicle trenches and other obstacles to further complicate an escape. In many sections the "death strip" was surrounded by two walls: The actual wall on the West Berlin side and a secondary lower wall on the East Berlin/East Germany side of the strip. People who were trying to escape and were spotted (in the strip) were shot and some were killed, and only a few managed to escape over the years.
Demolition began on 13 June 1990 and finished in 1992.
Germany was reunited on 3 October 1990.
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Paraphernalia[]
The Wall
- Border length around West Berlin: 155 km (96 mi)
- Border length between West Berlin and East Germany: 111.9 km (69.5 mi)
- Border length between West and East Berlin: 43.1 km (26.8 mi)
- Number of watch towers: 302
Note: The border lengths include checkpoints and other buildings as well as natural borders. The actual parts of the wall were about 140 kilometers (87 mi) long in total.
Only three longer sections are still standing and are being used as memorials:
- 80-metre-long piece (see Topography of Terror)
- 1,316-meter-long section (see East Side Gallery)
- 300-meter-long section (see Mauerpark), however, this is a section of the lower secondary wall
Notes[]
- The East German government referred to the wall as "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) while a mayor of West Berlin called it the "Wall of Shame" (German: Schandmauer) in the 1960s.
Appearances[]
Gallery[]
(as seen in Divinity II #3)
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This section is for footnotes and citations.