A Divided City

Beginning on August 13, 1961, the building of the Berlin Wall changed the history of the German capital permanently. For 28 years, the wall constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) physically separated East and West Berlin. One cannot stress its effects on the city and its people.

Originally a temporary barbed wire fence, what began as such quickly developed into a complex system of concrete walls, guard towers, and strongly guarded checkpoints. The wall’s main goal was to stop East German citizens from fleeing via West Berlin into the more affluent West Germany.

The Construction Starts

Constructing the Berlin Wall was quick and painstakingly planned. The wall itself developed within a few weeks, but the political climate and underlying tensions driving its building had been simmering for years.

Germany was split into four occupation zones run under Allied power rule following World War II: the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France. Berlin, deep within Soviet-held territory, was likewise split into four sectors.

The eastern portion of Germany, under Soviet Union administration, grew more unstable as the Cold War grew and tensions between the Soviet Union and the West raised. Many East Germans were escaping to the West, therefore compromising the GDR’s authority and creating financial problems for it.

Not able to stop the emigration with legal means, the GDR opted to build a physical barrier. Under cover of secrecy, the building started with closed-off streets and labourers sworn to silence. Within a few hours Berlin’s fate was sealed, families were split apart, and the city’s streets were divided.

A Question of Days and Weeks

From the early hours of August 13, 1961, the city was in upheaval as labourers started building barbed wire fences. It soon became abundantly evident that this was a more permanent split than only a transitory one.

Concrete barriers took over the quickly built barbed wire fences over the next days and weeks. Rising around 12 feet (3.6 meters), the wall covered over 96 miles (155 km) over the city.

Fascinatingly, wall building was not always straight-forward. While certain areas developed over time to become more complicated and difficult to access, others were established fast. To help border guards see escape attempts, the last form of the wall had trenches, guard towers, and even a “death strip”—an open area coated in sand or gravel.

A building driven by ideology

The physicality of the wall itself was only a manifestation of the ingrained ideological difference separating the East from the West. Although the building occurred in a few days and weeks, the underlying ideas and reasons guiding it were significantly more complicated.

Winston Churchill first proposed the Iron Curtain to represent the ideological and physical separation between the communist Eastern Bloc and the capitalist Western Bloc. It was a reflection of a larger conflict between the Western nations and the Soviet Union and her supporters.

The wall’s building sought to uphold the communist government, stop civilians from fleeing, and limit West influence. It was a clear reminder of the difficulties East German people had and a sign of tyranny.

The Downfall of the Wall

For 28 years, the Berlin Wall physically represented the gulf separating East from West Berlin. But the wall’s future grew dubious as the winds of change blew over Eastern Europe in the late 1980s.

East Berlin saw nonviolent demonstrations in November 1989 calling for political reform and more movement freedom. The East German administration said under increasing pressure that travel restrictions would be relaxed. In a historic turn of events on November 9, 1989, border guards opened the checkpoints, letting individuals travel across the once unbreakable barrier without restriction.

Symbolic of the end of the Cold War and the reunification of East and West Germany, the fall of the wall signalled a turning point in history. In a couple of months, the building that had taken just days and weeks to finish was destroyed, opening the path for a fresh period of freedom and unity.

In conclusion

Political tensions and ideological disputes drove the Berlin Wall’s building, which finally physically divided Berlin for almost three decades. Originally a temporary barrier, what started out as a crude barrier soon developed into a sophisticated system of walls and defences shutting off friends and relatives and permanently changing the city and its people.

Though the wall stood for a sad chapter in Berlin’s history, its removal in 1989 signalled hope and the start of a better future. The building and later destruction of the Berlin Wall act as a moving reminder of the strength of human will and the unrelenting search of freedom.