In the Cold War era, a division symbol was erected in Germany’s capital city Berlin. Berlin Wall, this huge barrier in history, what made someone put it there?

The Political Landscape

In the aftermath of World War II, Germany was divided into four occupation zones controlled by the victorious Allied powers: Here were the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France. These zones eventually transformed into two separate countries: The two Germany’s: West Germany, also the Federal Republic of Germany, and East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic.

The political discourse was soon characterized by the tensions between east and west, both ideologically and in terms of vision of Germany’s future. The Soviet Union and East German leaders were becoming increasingly concerned about the drain on them by a growing number of East Germans fleeing to the more prosperous West.

The Refugee Crisis

For East Germans it was easy to migrate to West Germany in the early years after the war. Considering there was such an obvious lack of living conditions and opportunities between the two country, they offered many to leave their homes to go in search of a better life.

From the Soviet perspective this mass migration was bad for their influence in East Germany. The East German government also tried more restrictive border controls and denied travel to the West in order to curb emigration.

But these measures were only a partial success. A brain drain and economic strain on the Soviet backed East German economy continued.

The Pressure Mounts

East German leaders grew more and more desperate for a solution as the number of refugees inched up. The Soviet Union took action for fear of a larger exodus.

On August 12–13, 1961, the Berlin Wall was built. Stopping the mass migration of East Germans to West Germany and reestablishing a permanent physical division between the two countries were goals.

Physical and Political Features of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall ran around 155 kilometers though the center of Berlin. Concrete segments, barbed wire, watchtowers, and a heavily guarded ‘death strip’ between two parallel walls made it up. It was a formidable structure, so that in effect was very difficult for anyone to get from East to West.

The Wall as a Symbol

Besides its ability to be represented in the physical form, the Berlin Wall was a powerful symbol of the gulf between capitalism and communism. The Iron Curtain literally means that. It was the Cold War ideologist barrier.

The wall was a constant reminder to many East Germans that they were not free. Families and friends were sundered, a united Germany a distant dream, unattainable.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Over time public sentiment on the wall began to change. During the late 1980s, a range of political movement within the Soviet Union and East German pressure to free their citizens led to a series of events that culminated in the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

An East German official’s announcement, on November 9, 1989, that citizens could travel freely in and out of the West sparked a wave of euphoria. East and West Berliners celebrated the end of a divide that had tormented the city for 28 years. It was the start of the end of the Berlin Wall.

The End of an Era

A few months and years later the Berlin Wall was broken down and Germany was reunited on October 3, 1990. The physical, and symbolic, wall that had remained in Berlin for 28 years was gone.

No more than the reunification of Germany, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a crucial step in the end of the Cold War. This was the triumph of democracy on totalitarianism, the yearning for freedom and unity amongst the people of Berlin.

In Conclusion

It was built in 1961 in response to the refugee crisis, to halt the flow of East Germans leaving for the West. It was a physical and symbolic divide between the two aspects of Germany, symbolizing the divide of the Cold War’s ideology. When it fell in 1989 it was the power of popular demand for freedom that it was its downfall and paved the way for the German reunification.

Politically divided; unified, the human spirit will forever hold the construction and eventual dismantling of the Berlin Wall as a reminder of the consequences and attempts to regain the unity that was so important to the world.