The Symbolic Divide
The dividing of the city of Berlin during the Cold War as between two parts – separate from one another by the Berlin Wall, considered as a poignant symbol of such division, lasted from 1961 until 1989. It represented a concrete geography of East versus West, of ideological and political divide, of separating families, friends, communities, for nearly three decades.
Defining the Extent
In total the Berlin Wall spanned roughly 155 kilometers (96 miles). One thing to mention is that this physical barrier had nothing to do with my solid walls. Certain of these contrived security and control elements, the most visible being concrete walls and barbed wire fences, watchtowers, and mined areas. A ‘death strip’ — a highly guarded area surrounded by a barrier, and with the wall itself, allowing border guards an unobstructed view — was another feature of the wall.
Inner City Boundaries
The wall spanned about 43 kilometers (27 miles) within the city of Berlin itself. Rapids carried this road among streets, neighborhoods, and public infrastructure in a long winding course that split the eastern from the western half of the town. Built of large concrete blocks and at certain points reaching 3.6 m (12 feet) high, this inner-city section of the wall was completed.
Surrounding Areas
The wall spread out beyond the city and into the surrounding countryside of East Germany. The wall in the case was usually built out of slightly less sophisticated materials such as barbed wire fences and watchtowers in these areas. These rural parts of the wall measured about 112 kilometers (69 miles long).
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie was one of the most well known crossing points along the Berlin Wall. The Friedrichstraße met this symbolic point, that of both a physical and an ideological one, between East and West. Checkpoint Charlie was flanked by armed soldiers and was where diplomats, military personnel and visitors from the Western side could cross into East Berlin. This was an important part of the narrative of the Cold War.
A Legacy Remembered
Today, fragments of the Berlin Wall are a reminder of all that transpired during the Cold War. Several portions of the wall have survived, and visitors can really experience playing this important historical site. Located near the trail of the former Wall and revealing construction of the wall, its effect as well as stories of people who lived under it, the Berlin Wall Memorial offers profound documentation and exhibitions.
Length in Memory
The physical length of the Berlin Wall was big; there’s no measuring how immeasurable the emotional and psychological impact it had on the people it divided. The wall illustrated the border between two separate manifestations of government and a crystalized ideological disagreement during the Cold War years.
A Uniting Force
On 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down — a moment when people on both sides of the forced divide came together to tear it apart. It became a symbol of unity, hope and humanity’s desire for freedom.
In Conclusion
It was 155 kilometers (96 mile) long and it made a physical, a symbolic boundary between East and West, the Berlin Wall. Its reach extended from the city streets of Berlin, in what was West Germany, all the way out into East Germany’s rural areas. Yes, the physical size of the Wall easily dwarfs what you see here in front of you, but the reality of its historical significance far outreaches these physical dimensions, recording the times of the Cold War and, as such, making a lasting statement of how the human spirit can prevail.
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