The most famous barrier during the Cold War was Berlin Wall which separated Berlin for 28 years into east and west. It was built on 13 August 1961 by the GDR regime to stop its citizens from crossing over to West where they would enquiry the free capitalist world. A big influence that the wall had on residents of Berlin was that it separated families and friends. However, not many people would probably care to ask how much it cost to put up such edifice as the infamous Berlin Wall.

Construction and Affiliated Expenditure

The calculation of the cost of development of the Berlin Wall is very complex since it include many factors and costs at different period. The component used in actualing the physical aspect of constructing the wall were through putting up barb wire fencings concrete barriers, guard towers among other security features.

The first stage of preparing the wall was to erect the wall in a hurry by setting it at night using sharp barbed wires and other related objects. This flamboyant and fast building was done to ensure that people did not escape from the Eastern Germany to the Western side.

With time though, and after cases of individuals escaping through the border, the GDR improved and even provided more finance in the construction of the wall. Subsequently, over the years several concrete elements, reinforced steel fencing, signal fences, patrol roads etc and a complex network of Border security systems were incorporated.

Hierarchy and Cost Override

It may not be easy to quantify the exact cost implications of constructing and maintaining this Berlin Wall, but all the same the costs incurred are believed to be colossal. The construction phase also included material costs, manpower and recurrent fund to ran Security Architecture and the security tools.

The GDR also provided an assortment of state funds for the construction and maintenance of the division barrier wall. Such expenses were purchase cost of construction materials, guards for the borders, and the cost of keeping Appropriate surveillance. However, the economic cost of sustaining a borderline of that size for close to three decades proved a daunting task to the East German economy.

The Human Cost

When comparing the estimate of the Berlin Wall, one cannot overlook the lives of people to whom the Wall took away so much of their spirit. The wall was affecting families, friends, and loved ones; the overall damage emotionally was high and traumatic.

Furthermore, many attempts were made to breach the wall and seize the city successfully and unsuccessfully – many people lost their lives in the process. There are numerous people who gave their lives in order to avoid living under the tyranny of East Germany and receiving their due penalties. But more importantly, the human costs, hard to quantify in strictly monetary sense, have to be taken into account.

Consequences and the Breaking of the Berlin Wall

Every school child and most adults around the world will remember the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 as the sign that Germany was coming back together after a bitterly divided period and also the sign that the Soviet Union was collapsing. Some few years back, with the coming of German re-unification, huge efforts were made to demolish this wall.

Although additional expenses were incurred in the course of dismantling the actual wall such as cost in cleaning up the area and the need to reconstruct the infrastructure, the process has provided a wealth of economic benefits. The overthrow of such wall ensured social and economic integration of East Germany to that of West Germany hence enabling new prosperity.

The Value of Unity

It is important that cost associated with the construction of the Berlin Wall cannot just be accounted for financially. It was constructed and fell with great impact in history for Berlin, Germany and the entire world. The fact that afterwards there was unity and freedom speaks volumes about how much reunification actually matters or need for protection of human rights in the Korean peninsula.

In conclusion, however exact decades in dollars and cents maybe hard to come by but the TRUE COST of building berlin wall included money, broken spirits and the life style of people living in divided Germany for nearly 3 décades. Through the wall we still feel united, free and inspired to fight for peace.