Berlin Wall - Cold War - HISTORY.com Berlin Wall A+E Networks Introduction On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete “Antifascistischer Schutzwall,” or “antifascist bulwark,” between East and West Berlin. The official purpose of this Berlin Wall was to keep Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, but it primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections from East to West. The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border whenever they pleased. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War.

Google The Berlin Wall: The Partitioning of Berlin As World War II came to an end in 1945, a pair of Allied peace conferences at Yalta and Potsdam determined the fate of Germany’s territories. They split the defeated nation into four “allied occupation zones”: The eastern part of the country went to the Soviet Union, while the western part went to the United States, Great Britain and (eventually) France. Did You Know? On October 22, 1961, a quarrel between an East German border guard and an American official on his way to the opera in East Berlin very nearly led to what one observer called "a nuclear-age equivalent of the Wild West Showdown at the O.K. Corral." That day, American and Soviet tanks faced off at Checkpoint Charlie for 16 hours. Photographs of the confrontation are some of the most familiar and memorable images of the Cold War. Even though Berlin was located entirely within the Soviet part of the country (it sat about 100 miles from the border between the eastern and western occupation zones), the Yalta and Potsdam agreements split the city into similar sectors. The Soviets took the eastern half, while the other Allies took the western.

This four-way occupation of Berlin began in June 1945. The Berlin Wall: Blockade and Crisis The existence of West Berlin, a conspicuously capitalist city deep within communist East Germany, “stuck like a bone in the Soviet throat,” as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev put it. The Russians began maneuvering to drive the United States, Britain and France out of the city for good. In 1948, a Soviet blockade of West Berlin aimed to starve the western Allies out of the city. Instead of retreating, however, the United States and its allies supplied their sectors of the city from the air. This effort, known as the Berlin Airlift , lasted for more than a year and delivered more than 2.3 million tons of food, fuel and other goods to West Berlin. The Soviets called off the blockade in 1949. After a decade of relative calm, tensions flared again in 1958.

For the next three years, the Soviets–emboldened by the successful launch of the Sputnik satellite the year before and embarrassed by the seemingly endless flow of refugees from east to west (nearly 3 million since the end of the blockade, many of them young skilled workers such as doctors, teachers and engineers)–blustered and made threats, while the Allies resisted. Summits, conferences and other negotiations came and went without resolution. Meanwhile, the flood of refugees continued. In June 1961, some 19,000 people left the GDR through Berlin. The following month, 30,000 fled. In the first 11 days of August, 16,000 East Germans crossed the border into West Berlin, and on August 12 some 2,400 followed—the largest number of defectors ever to leave East Germany in a single day. The Berlin Wall: Building the Wall That night, Premier Khrushchev gave the East German government permission to stop the flow of emigrants by closing its border for good.

In just two weeks, the East German army, police force and volunteer construction workers had completed a makeshift barbed wire and concrete block wall–the Berlin Wall–that divided one side of the city from the other. Before the wall was built, Berliners on both sides of the city could move around fairly freely: They crossed the East-West border to work, to shop, to go to the theater and the movies. Trains and subway lines carried passengers back and forth. After the wall was built, it became impossible to get from East to West Berlin except through one of three checkpoints: at Helmstedt (“Checkpoint Alpha” in American military parlance), at Dreilinden (“Checkpoint Bravo”) and in the center of Berlin at Friedrichstrasse (“Checkpoint Charlie”). (Eventually, the GDR built 12 checkpoints along the wall.) At each of the checkpoints, East German soldiers screened diplomats and other officials before they were allowed to enter or leave. Except under special circumstances, travelers from East and West Berlin were rarely allowed across the border. The Berlin Wall: 1961-1989 The construction of the Berlin Wall did stop the flood of refugees from East to West, and it did defuse the crisis over Berlin.

(Though he was not happy about it, President Kennedy conceded that “a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.”) Over time, East German officials replaced the makeshift wall with one that was sturdier and more difficult to scale. A 12-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide mass of reinforced concrete was topped with an enormous pipe that made climbing over nearly impossible. Behind the wall on the East German side was a so-called “Death Strip”: a gauntlet of soft sand (to show footprints), floodlights, vicious dogs, trip-wire machine guns and patrolling soldiers with orders to shoot escapees on sight. In all, at least 171 people were killed trying to get over, under or around the Berlin Wall. Escape from East Germany was not impossible, however: From 1961 until the wall came down in 1989, more than 5,000 East Germans (including some 600 border guards) managed to cross the border by jumping out of windows adjacent to the wall, climbing over the barbed wire, flying in hot air balloons, crawling through the sewers and driving through unfortified parts of the wall at high speeds.

The Berlin Wall: The Fall of the Wall On November 9, 1989, as the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin’s Communist Party announced a change in his city’s relations with the West. Starting at midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country’s borders. East and West Berliners flocked to the wall, drinking beer and champagne and chanting “Tor auf!” (“Open the gate!”). At midnight, they flooded through the checkpoints. More than 2 million people from East Berlin visited West Berlin that weekend to participate in a celebration that was, one journalist wrote, “the greatest street party in the history of the world.” People used hammers and picks to knock away chunks of the wall–they became known as “mauerspechte,” or “wall woodpeckers”—while cranes and bulldozers pulled down section after section. Soon the wall was gone and Berlin was united for the first time since 1945.

“Only today,” one Berliner spray-painted on a piece of the wall, “is the war really over.” The reunification of East and West Germany was made official on October 3, 1990, almost one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Tags Ten Facts About The Berlin Wall Previous Facts - Next Facts Ten Facts About The Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall was a wall separating the Eastern side of Berlin from the Western side. It was a symbol of The Cold War until it fell in 1989. Here are ten facts about the Berlin Wall. Fact One Construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13 1961 as a way of separating the three zones controlled by France, Britain and America from the zone controlled by the Soviet Union. After World War Two, Germany was split into four zones, each occupied by one of the four Allied powers that defeated the Nazis. The zones controlled by France, Great Britain and America became West Germany, or Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany). The Soviet-controlled zone became East Germany, or Deutsche Demokratische Republik (Germany Democratic Republic).

Germany's capital, Berlin, was situated in Soviet-controlled East Germany , but as this city was the administrative area for the Allied forces, it too was split into four. This meant that France, Great Britain and America controlled West Berlin, whereas the Soviet Union controlled the East. Relations between America and the Soviet Union soured considerably during much of the second half of the Twentieth Century. The Berlin Wall was a symbol of this hostility, a physical representation of what was called the Iron Curtain. Fact Two The Berlin Wall was constructed as a way of preventing East Germans from entering West Germany. It was not so much a boundary for West Germans wanting to enter the East, who were able to do so by obtaining a permit several weeks in advance. It didn't face much opposition by the western powers as its construction confirmed that the Soviet Union were not planning to take over West Berlin. Fact Three Official figures show that at least 136 people died trying to cross the border. People attempting to get from East to West were regarded as traitors and guards were instructed to shoot at them if they attempted to cross, although not to kill them. Fact Four The west side of the Berlin wall was covered in graffiti. The East side was not.

Fact Five The Berlin Wall was something of a propaganda disaster for the Soviet Union and East Germany. It showed the communists to be tyrannical in the way they controlled the movement of their people and their willingness to shoot at people they considered to be traitors. Fact Six West Berliners used the Berlin Wall as an ideal way of getting rid of rubbish. If they had anything that needed throwing away, they threw it over the wall. After all, it wasn't as if they would be made to go over it to fetch it back. Fact Seven Michael Knight himself, David Hassellhoff, is huge in Germany. The Hoff performed his hit "Looking For Freedom" while standing on the Berlin Wall in 1989. Fact Eight Despite there being a wall separating East from West, there were a number of checkpoints that allowed passage to and from the two sides. The most famous of these was Checkpoint Charlie, a checkpoint separating the American-controlled zone of West Berlin from the Soviet-controlled East Berlin. The guard house for Checkpoint Charlie was removed in October 1990 and is now situated in the Allied Museum in Berlin-Zehlendorf.

The last remnant of Checkpoint Charlie, an East German watchtower, was demolished in 2000. Fact Nine Although November 9th 1989 is recognised as the date of the fall of the Berlin Wall, official demolition of it didn't start until June 13th 1990. Between November 9th and June 13th, border controls still existed, although were less strict that previously. Parts of the wall was chipped away by Germans to keep as souvenirs/sell on eBay. People who did this were known as "wall woodpeckers" (Mauerspechte) Some parts of the wall had been taken down but only to make way for more crossing points. All border controls ended on July 1st 1990 and Germany was recognised as one country again from October 3rd 1990. President Ronald Reagan making a speech at the Berlin Wall at a checkpoint near the famous Brandenburg gate Fact Ten The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier above the ground, but what about under the ground? Berlin, like many major cities, has an underground or subway system.

After construction of the Berlin Wall, trains could only operate on the side in which they were based. Some trains either ran purely on the west side or the east side. Trains which previously crossed the border would now go no further than its respective border and then turn back. This was apart from three lines that were used by West Berliners but which went through East Berlin for a small part of their journeys. They travelled through several stations which became known as Ghost Stations (GeisterbahnhÃ¶fe), dimly lit and heavily-guarded stations that the trains were unable to stop at. This was apart from certain exceptions: Friedrichstasse Station was situated in East Berlin, but was used a transfer station for passengers to get onto other trains travelling to locations in West Berlin. Passengers could also enter East Berlin at this station if they had the relevant permits (also needed for crossing the Berlin Wall). Bornholmer Strasse Station was a station that both West and East Berlin trains passed through, but not on the same lines. Neither side's trains stopped at the station, and the two lines through it were separated by a tall fence. Finally, Wallankstrasse Station was another station situated right on the border.

There were exits in the station, some leading the West Berlin, some leading to East Berlin. The exits to West Berlin were open and allowed people to pass through it freely. The exits to streets in East Berlin were locked. When the Ghost Stations were reopened after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first people using them found them preserved as they were when they closed in 1961 with the same signage and advertisements on the walls. The Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall The mounting tensions between the Allies and Soviets culminated in the Berlin Crisis and the construction of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall During the early years of the Cold War, West Berlin was a geographical loophole through which thousands of East Germans fled to the democratic West. In response, the Communist East German authorities built a wall that totally encircled West Berlin. It was thrown up overnight, on 13 August 1961. For the next three decades, the city became the hot end of the Cold War as the world's nuclear superpowers faced off across the Wall. Half a century later, we look back on the Wall and its impact through a BBC archive collection.

Photo: West Berliners gather at the Wall whilst an East German soldier patrols the other side, in August 1961. (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images) More information about: The Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), starting on 13 August 1961, the Wall completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1992. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany.

In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protective Wall" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by GDR authorities, implying that the NATO countries and West Germany in particular were considered equal to "fascists" by GDR propaganda. The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB), which demarcated the border between East and West Germany, it came to symbolize a physical marker of the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin; from which they could then travel to West Germany and other Western European countries.

Between 1961 and 1989, the Wall prevented almost all such emigration. During this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin. In 1989, a series of radical political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc, associated with the liberalization of the Eastern Bloc's authoritarian systems and the erosion of political power in the pro-Soviet governments in nearby Poland and Hungary. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of what was left. Contrary to popular belief the Wall's actual demolition did not begin until the summer of 1990 and was not completed until 1992.

The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990. The Wall. Built in a day - demolished in a day - SoundFaith The Wall. Built in a day - demolished in a day Sermon St Mary's Comberton 10th February 2008 Romans 5:12-21; Matt 4:1-11 << Christ is the Second Adam who has broken the chain of sin and death by offering us the free gift of life >> THE BERLIN WALL On the morning of Sunday 13th August 1961, residents of Berlin woke up to discover that their city had changed completely. Streets were being torn up, barricades of paving stones were being built, tanks posted at key locations and in only 24 hours, 96 miles of barbed wired fence was erected – separating the 2 halves of the city East Berlin and West Berlin. The Berlin Wall was born. The actions of that single day gave birth to an era – fear / separation / escape attempts.

Wall immediate consequences – families separated; Communism in East Germany was bolstered; contact with the curtailed; people were shot trying to cross the wall. Over the years the barrier was reinforced. A second fence was added to the first, creating a 100m no-go area. Later a concrete wall 3.5m high was added. Many of you will remember... Equally dramatic way in which the wall fell. Again, the actions of a single day proved tremendously significant. November 9th, 1989, The East German Minister of Propaganda, Gunter Schabowski announced that the border would be opened for private trips abroad – but neglected to mention that this would not take place until the following day. Within minutes, thousands of East Berliners had flooded to checkpoints and were demanding to cross the border. The guards, confused themselves and overwhelmed by sheer numbers of people could do nothing but let them pass. The wall had fallen. And so the actions of that single day gave birth to another era – freedom, democracy, United Germany. Within a year East and West Germany were formally united as a single country. The wall was attacked by citizens wielding sledgehammers and eventually demolished.

And a concert held on Christmas day featured Beethoven's famous 9th symphony – the words “Ode to Joy” changed to “Ode to freedom”. 2 momentous days which ushered in 2 contrasting eras. St Paul – Romans; involved, many would say too complicated Central thought of this reading very simple. 2 momentous days which ushered in 2 contrasting eras. First Momentous Day: Adam in Garden. – succumbing to temptation and eating of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden of Eden. Ushered in the era of sin and death. Second Momentous Day: Jesus Christ in Garden of Gethsemane– resisting the temptation to save his own life, went obediently to the cross. So paid the price for man's sin and ushered in an era of justification and life. Reading is difficult – because Paul building up to what he wants to say: almost but not quite says it. v18-19 central “Therefore just as one man's trespass [Adam] led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness [Christ] leads to justification and life for all.

For just as by the one man's disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience [Christ] the many will be made righteous.” Timeline | ADAMThe Fall | MOSESGiving of the Law | CHRISTDeath and Resurrection | <------------------------------- Sin and death ------------------------------------> 2 main events (Adam / Christ) 2 eras Human nature was no longer innocent but sinful. We know that don't we – One more cookie from the jar; Men - Website with scantily clad women strange allure; Easier to turn on the TV and pour ourselves a drink than to campaign for electricity and clean drinking water for the poor. If only Adam had known... one sin set off a chain reaction. Nuclear reactor – one atom splits; particle hits another atom ,causes that to split etc etc - --> meltdown. Disaster. JESUS CHRIST – second Adam. God come to earth but Fully human. Here was a man who did not yield to temptation. Gospel reading – interesting first temptation to eat something. Did not try to snatch power, but humbly and willingly went to the cross.

Side issue – MOSES & LAW (important in Romans) – v13-14 and v20 sin more obvious with law. v20 “But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” – Crescendo. Berlin Wall reinforced – grew. In humankind's worst sin (rejecting Jesus), the full extend of God's grace was made known. The 2 eras and the “all” Death for all. The Berlin Wall, 1961-1989: A Timeline Of A Divided Germany The Berlin Wall, 1961-1989: A Timeline Of A Divided Germany 11/09/14 AT 11:06 AM Close The Berlin Wall went from the impenetrable symbol of a monolithic East to nothing more than a concrete wall in less than a few hours on Nov. 9, 1989, but what put into motion the fall of the Wall and the German Democratic Republic, better known as East Germany, started long before.

Before the construction of the Wall in 1961, East Germany had a serious “brain drain” problem. East Germans, particularly the young and educated, were fleeing the totalitarian communist regime and weak East German economy for opportunities in the West. The rest of the East-West German border was closed in 1952, but the division of East and West Berlin was largely an imaginary line guarded on each side. People simply ran across. Aug. 12, 1961: To stop brain drain, East German State Council Chairman Walter Ulbricht signed orders to close the border with West Germany and build up fortifications in Berlin. Within a few days, guards had laid down barbed wire and destroyed roads to stop vehicles from crossing. In the next few years, the border would become increasingly militarized and fortified. Aug. 22 and Aug. 24, 1961: Ida Siekmann , 58, lived on the Bernauer Strasse, a road that ran along the border of East and West Berlin. Many of the people living in her apartment building had jumped out of their windows into West Berlin to escape the East.

Ten days after Ulbricht signed the order to build the Wall, Siekmann jumped out of her fourth story window into West Berlin territory, but firefighters were unable to deploy a life net in time to catch her. She died later that day, becoming the first fatality among those trying to cross into West Berlin. West German citizens sit on the top of the Berlin wall near the Allied checkpoint Charlie after the opening of the East German border was announced in this Nov. 9, 1989, file photo. Photo: Reuters Two days later, Günter Litfin, 24, became the first person shot trying to do so. His plans to move to West Berlin were nixed when the border was closed, so on Aug. 24 he attempted to swim across a narrow canal that linked two rivers in the city. It was the same day that East German border guards were given the order to shoot any would-be escapees. Guards discovered him swimming across the canal and killed him.

May 5, 1963: Machinist Heinz Meixner, a young Austrian who had fallen in love with an East German girl while deployed to the East for work, succeeded with one of the most creative escapes from East to West Berlin. He was sneaking out his girlfriend and her mother. Instead of digging a tunnel or running across with them, he rented a small convertible, cut out the windshield and took out just enough air from the tires so the car would slip under the gate at Checkpoint Charlie. When he pulled up to the gate and gave the East German guards his papers, he simply ducked and drove the convertible right underneath and to the West. Most people weren’t as creative; the majority of escapees got across the border by bribing officials or escaping through third countries. June 26, 1963: U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech at the steps of the Rathaus Schoeneberg where the West Berlin Senate met. The speech was a show of solidarity with West Germany and the Berliners who had only lived in a divided Berlin for two years.

1965: East Germany began building the “third generation” fortifications, which included a larger concrete barrier that would become what would be referred to most commonly when people mentioned the Berlin Wall -- even though the fortifications included far more than just a wall. 1975: East Germany began building the “fourth generation” fortifications, called the Grenzmauer 75, or Border Wall 75. It included an improved, 11-foot, 10-inch concrete wall with steel tubing across the top to make it harder to climb. This is the final and most sophisticated iteration of the wall. It had an enhanced “death strip" of fortifications along the East German side of the new and improved interlocking concrete slab barrier closest to West Berlin. Starting on the East German side, there was a fence specifically made to be difficult to scale, a signal fence that would trip an alarm, anti-vehicle fortifications like “Czech hedgehogs,” watchtowers, spotlights, strips of 5-inch spikes, minefields (until 1983) and trenches before the actual wall. Trying to cross was a death wish.

Here’s what it looked like along the Bernauer Strasse, where Ida Siekman lived 14 years earlier: Jan. 22, 1985: The East German government demolished the Church of Reconciliation, a Berlin landmark along the Bernauer Strasse completed in 1894. The church stood along the East-West border, and East Germany actually encapsulated the church in the death strip, blocking it off from both East and West Berliners. Would-be escapees often would use the church for cover while trying to get closer to the fence because it blocked the view of border guards. A new Church of Reconciliation was built at the site in 2000 and is open to the public. June 12, 1987: U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivered his famous “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” speech at the Brandenburg Gate. It’s become Reagan’s most famous speech, but it wasn’t at the time. The general consensus amongst historians is that it didn’t influence Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s opinion of the wall.

Gorbachev had already taken steps to open up the Eastern Bloc as leader of the USSR beginning in 1985. In 1990, Reagan would take a ceremonial swing at the Wall with a sledgehammer. May 1989: Communist Hungary began tearing down its own border fence with Austria. A couple of months later, the respective Austrian and Hungarian foreign ministers held a very public “fence-cutting” photo op, in which they sliced through the border fence with bolt cutters. More than 10,000 East Germans eventually fled to Austria from Hungary, and East Germany knew it had to do something about it. A botched announcement of a suspension of visa requirements by an East German official would ultimately be what spurred the fall of the wall six months later. What is the Berlin Wall? Hungarian Foreign Minister Gyula Horn (R) and his Austrian counterpart Alois Mock cut the "Iron Curtain" at the Hungarian-Austrian border near Hegyeshalom in this June 27,1989 file photo.

Austrian President Heinz Fischer and his Hungarian counterpart Laszlo Solyom will meet on the Hungarian-Austrian border Sopron, 207 km (129 miles) west from Budapest, on June 26, 2009 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hungary's dismantling of the Iron Curtain which eventually led to the fall of communism. Photo: Reuters/Ferenc Redei/NEPSZABADSAG/Files September-October 1989: The “Monday demonstrations” began Sept. 4 in Leipzig, East Germany. They were a series of peaceful protests against the East German communist government that grew out of a series of prayer and discussion sessions with the Revs. Chistian Fuehrer and Cristoph Wonneberger. Each Monday night a crowd would gather at Nikolaikirche, or St. Nicholas Church, and by early October the number grew to more than 70,000 people. Protesters prepared for a violent crackdown by the East German police and the army, but it never came. What is the Berlin Wall?

About 70,000 people walk through the city center of former East German town of Leipzig during a public protest, the so-called Monday marches against the tyrannical East German communist regime in a file photo October 9, 1989. The Monday marches forced communist dictator Erich Honecker from power and brought down the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. Photo: Reuters/File photo Oct. 18, 1989: Longtime East German leader Erich Honecker was forced out of office by reformists within the East German government. Honecker had led East Germany since 1971 and believed in the wall. His protege, Egon Krenz, took over and promised there would be some reforms, but his promises failed to satisfy the hundreds of thousands of East Germans set on true change. Oct. 23, 1989: The Monday demonstration crowd in Leipzig grew to an unprecedented 320,000 people, out of a city population of a half million. East German authorities couldn’t ignore it anymore. Nov.

4, 1989: The following Saturday after the massive demonstrations in Leipzig, East Berliners held their own protest, which would come to be known as the Alexanderplatz demonstration. Some 500,000 to 1 million Berliners came out to demand reform. East German authorities tried to subvert the protests, but there was little to no violence. Artists, opposition party members and even some representatives of the Communist regime came out to speak at the demonstration. Related Stories A Couple Of Reporters Recall Fall Of Berlin Wall Nov. 9, 1989: Around 7 p.m., at the end of an otherwise bland press conference , East German spokesman Günter Schabowski read off a note on a change in policy to a group of sleepy reporters on live television. The note read East Germany would allow citizens to travel to West Germany through any border crossing with little more than a passport in the coming week, but Shabowski’s interpretation was that it would go into effect immediately. East Germans watching the press conference were at first confused, but excitement about the possibility of breaking the 28-year divide in Berlin drove them into the streets and their nearest border points.

Within a few hours, thousands had gathered at Berlin Wall checkpoints and were demanding to be let through per the order Schabowski had read. Later that night, a commander in charge of the Bornholmer Strasse crossing knew he didn’t stand a chance of keeping the crowd away without injuries. At first Lt. Col. Harald Jager started letting the more vocal people through with warnings they wouldn’t be allowed back, but that didn’t quell the crowd. At 11:30 p.m. he ordered his guards to let the East Berliners through. The other checkpoint commanders shortly followed suit. The Berlin Wall no longer divided East and West Berlin. Between 1961 and 1989, 161 people had died trying to cross it. East Germany begins construction of the Berlin Wall - Aug 12, 1961 - HISTORY.com East Germany begins construction of the Berlin Wall Share this: East Germany begins construction of the Berlin Wall Author East Germany begins construction of the Berlin Wall URL Publisher A+E Networks In an effort to stem the tide of refugees attempting to leave East Berlin, the communist government of East Germany begins building the Berlin Wall to divide East and West Berlin.

Construction of the wall caused a short-term crisis in U.S.-Soviet bloc relations, and the wall itself came to symbolize the Cold War. Throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s, thousands of people from East Berlin crossed over into West Berlin to reunite with families and escape communist repression. In an effort to stop that outflow, the government of East Germany, on the night of August 12, 1961, began to seal off all points of entrance into West Berlin from East Berlin by stringing barbed wire and posting sentries. In the days and weeks to come, construction of a concrete block wall began, complete with sentry towers and minefields around it. The Berlin Wall succeeded in completely sealing off the two sections of Berlin. The U.S. government responded angrily. Commanders of U.S. troops in West Berlin even began to make plans to bulldoze the wall, but gave up on the idea when the Soviets moved armored units into position to protect it. The West German government was furious with America’s lack of action, but President John F.

Kennedy believed that “A wall is a hell of a lot better than a war.” In an attempt to reassure the West Germans that the United States was not abandoning them, Kennedy traveled to the Berlin Wall in June 1963, and famously declared, “Ich bin ein Berliner!” (“I am a Berliner!”). Since the word “Berliner” was commonly referred to as a jelly doughnut throughout most of Germany, Kennedy’s improper use of German grammar was also translated as “I am a jelly doughnut.” However, due to the context of his speech, Kennedy’s intended meaning that he stood together with West Berlin in its rivalry with communist East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic was understood by the German people. In the years to come, the Berlin Wall became a physical symbol of the Cold War. The stark division between communist East Berlin and democratic West Berlin served as the subject for numerous editorials and speeches in the United States, while the Soviet bloc characterized the wall as a necessary protection against the degrading and immoral influences of decadent Western culture and capitalism. During the lifetime of the wall, nearly 80 people were killed trying to escape from East to West Berlin.

In late 1989, with communist governments falling throughout Eastern Europe, the Berlin Wall was finally opened and then demolished. For many observers, this action was the signal that the Cold War was finally coming to an end. Related Videos Nine surprising facts about the fall of the Berlin Wall FacebookEmail Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Nine surprising facts about the fall of the Berlin Wall Twenty-five years after the fall of one of the world's most visible symbols of the Cold War, history is revealing some little-known facts about the events of Nov. 9, 1989. Post to Facebook Nine surprising facts about the fall of the Berlin Wall Twenty-five years after the fall of one of the world's most visible symbols of the Cold War, history is revealing some little-known facts about the events of Nov. 9, 1989. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: CancelSend A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. 16 To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Nine surprising facts about the fall of the Berlin Wall Melanie Eversley , USA TODAY 6:34 p.m.

EST November 9, 2014 Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Germans wave flags during the celebration of the country's reunification at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Oct. 3, 1990. Gilles Leimdorfer, AFP Germans wave flags as they celebrate the country's reunification on Oct. 3, 1990 Gilles Leimdorfer, AFP/Getty Images West Berliners crowd in front of the Berlin Wall Nov. 11, 1989, as they watch East German border guards demolish a section to open a crossing point. Gerard Malie, AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen Defecting East German soldier Hans Conrad Schumann leaps over a barbed-wire barricade at the Bernauer Street sector into West Berlin on Aug. 15, 1961. Schumann made his break for freedom to join his family, which had fled earlier to West Berlin. Peter Leibing, AP An East Berlin policeman adds bricks to heighten the Berlin Wall to 15 feet on Oct. 9, 1961. AP The first guardhouse at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.

AP Workers build up a section of the Berlin Wall in Bernauer Strasse as police from West Berlin look on. AFP The Brandenburg Gate is sealed off in the Soviet-occupied sector of East Berlin in 1961. At the center of the German capital, the gate stands behind part of the Berlin Wall that divides East and West Berlin. AP A dying Peter Fechter is carried away by East German border guards who shot him when he tried to flee to the west Aug 17, 1962. AP President Ronald Reagan acknowledges the crowd after his speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin on June 12, 1987, where he said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Ira Schwartz, AP Germans from east and west stand on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Nov. 10, 1989. AP People celebrate Nov. 10, 1989, in front of the Brandenburg Gate epa Two young Berliners chisel souvenir pieces of concrete from the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate on Nov. 11, 1989.

Lutz Schmidt, AP A man hammers away at the Berlin Wall Nov. 12, 1989, as the border barrier between East and West Germany was torn down after 28 years, symbolically ending the Cold War. John Gaps III, AP Berliners chisel away the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate on Nov. 15, 1989. GERARD MALIE, AFP/Getty Images Berliners celebrate on top of the Berlin Wall as East Germans flood through the dismantled wall into West Berlin at Potsdamer Platz on Nov. 12, 1989. Lionel Cironneau, AP West Berliners remove a piece of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 16, 1989. Patrick Hertzog, AFP/Getty Images People from East Germany greet citizens of West Germany at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Dec. 22, 1989. PATRICK HERTZOG, AFP/Getty Images The Brandenburg Gate on Dec. 21, 1989. Lutz Schmidt, AP Fullscreen People from East and West Germany gather for the opening of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Dec.

22, 1989. On Nov. 9, Gunter Schabowski, the East Berlin Communist Party boss, declared that starting from midnight, East Germans would be free to leave the country at any point along the border. PATRICK HERTZOG, AFP/Getty Images East German border guards shake hands with West German police at a hole in the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate on Dec. 22, 1989, after East Germany began removing concrete pieces. Arne Dedert, AP West Berliners wave to relatives in East Berlin on Aug. 13, 1962. Werner Kreusch, AP Berlin Mayor Richard von Weizsecker, President Ronald Reagan and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt visit Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin on June 11, 1982. Dieter Hespe, epa Boards that are 12 feet high hide the work as East German troops erect a concrete wall at the Brandenburg Gate on Nov. 20, 1961. AP From left, John F.

Kennedy, West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer ride in a car at the Brandenburg Gate June 26, 1963. Will McBride, AP President John Kennedy looks into East Berlin across the Berlin Wall on June 26, 1963. AP People, reflected in a puddle, walk along the painted East Side Gallery, a former part of the Berlin Wall, in Berlin on July 8, 2014. Paul Zinken, EPA A woman presses her hands onto a painting of the East Side Gallery on Oct. 30 in Berlin. It is the largest part of the Berlin Wall that still stands. Markus Schreiber, AP Like this topic? You may also like these photo galleries: Replay This image from en on December 22, 1989, shows people from East and West Germany gathering for the opening of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. (Photo: Patrick Hertzog, AFP/Getty Images) 5475 CONNECT TWEET 58 LINKEDIN 16 COMMENTEMAILMORE Corrections and clarifications: A previous version of this story misstated what part of Berlin the wall enclosed. Nov.

9 marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the iconic barrier that completely enclosed West Berlin from 1961 to 1989 and symbolized the height of Cold War tensions. Around the world, the international German community and others are marking the milestone with celebrations and shared memories. In Germany, artists have recreated the Wall with illuminated white balloons along the path that the structure once traced. The 8,000 balloons stretch more than nine miles across the city, according to the German embassy in London. With the anniversary putting the Cold War fresh in most people's minds, here are nine facts about the Berlin Wall that may be new to you: • A mistake helped lead to the fall of the Wall. The flood of East Germans and West Germans to the Wall, which led to its ultimate collapse, came after East German Politburo member Guenther Schabowski on Nov. 9, 1989, mistakenly announced that East Germans would be allowed to cross into West Germany effective immediately, according to National Public Radio.

• What the world saw as the Berlin Wall was actually two concrete barriers with a 160-yard "death strip" in between that included watchtowers, trenches, runs for guard dogs, flood lights and trip-wire machine guns, according to History.com. • Parts of the Wall are on display or in private safekeeping all over the world. One section of the Wall is in a men's room of the Main Street Casino in Las Vegas, History.com reports. Urinals are mounted on the graffiti-covered segment, which is protected by glass. Another section is in the gardens of the Vatican. If you don't feel like traveling to Italy or Vegas to see a part of the Wall, you can have your own little slice for as little as $10 on eBay. And you can consider that a steal; an 8,000-pound slab went for $23,500 at an Atlanta auction • A mass exodus of East Germans into West Germany began almost 15 years before the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. In fact, so many left that by the time the Wall went up, East Germany lost one-sixth of its population, according to the Berlin Wall Memorial website.

• The Wall and several U.S. presidents shared a relationship. President Kennedy visited in the summer of 1963, not long before his assassination that November. He said in a rousing speech that Berlin could help the world understand the divisions between the Communist and non-Communist world. In 1987, Reagan challenged Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall" during a June 1987 speech near the Wall. When Clinton visited in 1994, he told the crowd of Berliners, "You have proved that no Wall can forever contain the mighty power of freedom." Share Segments of the Berlin wall brought to America are falling into disrepair. During President Obama's June 2013 visit, he noted neither he nor German Chancellor Angela Merkel looked like their predecessors. "The fact that we can stand here today, along the fault line where a city was divided, speaks to an eternal truth: No wall can stand against the yearning of justice, the yearnings for freedom, the yearnings for peace that burns in the human heart," he said. • The formal reunification of East and West Germany did not happen until Oct.

3, 1990, almost a year after the fall of the Wall, according to History.com. • A July 1988 concert by Bruce Springsteen in East Berlin may have led to the growing sense of dissent in the walled city that contributed to the fall of the Wall, according to the CBC. "The Boss" told the crowd in German, "I've come to play rock 'n' roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down." Another in the U.S. music industry, conductor Leonard Bernstein, performed a series of concerts in venues on both sides of the barrier just weeks after the November 1989 fall of the Wall. Bernstein's international orchestra included musicians from the four countries that had occupied Berlin after World War II: the United States, the former Soviet Union, France and England. Bernstein led Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and altered its final movement, "Ode to Joy," to become "Ode to Freedom." • Some parts of the barrier became world famous. Checkpoint Charlie, formally known as Checkpoint C, was the nickname that Western Allies gave the best-known border crossing point between East and West Berlin.

Also, the Brandenburg Gate is an 18th-century arch that is built on the site of a former gate that marked the start of a road that led from Berlin to the town of Brandenburg. Because of its location, it was associated with the Berlin Wall for a time. • The physical demolition of the Berlin Wall was not complete until 1992, according to the BBC. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. The Brandenburg Gate stands illuminated during celebrations on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Sean Gallup, Getty Images Visitors listen during celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate. Adam Berry, Getty Images Fullscreen The Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of Daniel Barenboim performs in front of the Brandenburg Gate during celebrations on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The fall of the Wall on November 9, 1989, was among the most powerful symbols of the revolutions that swept through the communist countries of Eastern Europe and heralded the end of the Cold War.

Sean Gallup, Getty Images Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev attends the celebrations during the citizens' festival at Brandenburg Gate. Bernd Von Jutrczenka, epa Balloons from the installation 'Border of Lights' are released into the sky during the citizens' festival at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Bernd Von Jutrczenka, epa Fullscreen Visitors photograph graffiti by Dmitri Vrubel of Russian Leonid Brezhnev and German Erich Honecker kissing under the words, in Russian, "Pomogi mne vyzhit' sredi etoy smertnoy lyubvi," or "My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love," based on a photograph by Regis Bossu in East Berlin from Oct. 7, 1979. Berlin is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Adam Berry, Getty Images Spectators watch a performance in front of BrandenburgGate during the citizens' festival in Berlin.

Rainer Jensen, European Pressphoto Agency Fullscreen Communist Naydencho Naydenov holds a flag to set a sign against European policy during the commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial in the Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, on Nov. 9, 2014. Tobias Schwarz, AFP/Getty Images Historical photographs are projected onto Brandenburg Gate during the citizens' festival inBerlin. Rainer Jensen, epa Fullscreen Workers replace the glowing balloons of the 'Border Of Lights 2014' installation with helium-filled balloons, near the landmark Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. About 8,000 illuminated helium balloons, arranged along 15-kilometres that traced the path of the former Cold War barrier through the center of nation's capital, will be released into the night sky over Berlin. Kay Nietfeld, epa Pictures of people who died as they tried to escape East Berlin are displayed during a street party organized by the German government to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Odd Andersen, AFP/Getty Images People pass by balloons of the art project "Lichtgrenze 2014" in Berlin.

The light installation featuring 8,000 luminous white balloons commemorates the end of the division of Berlin. Steffi Loos, AP Crowds gather in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for celebrations on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Sean Gallup, Getty Images Fullscreen The first Trabant car (Trabi), which crossed the border 25 years ago, drives across the former border crossing-point Ullitz from Saxony into Bavaria, Germany. A caravan of around 100 historical cars drove from Plauen (Saxony) to Hof (Bavaria) to commemorate the border opening. Igor Pastierovic, epa Flowers are placed in a joint of concrete segments of a remaining part of the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial Bernauer Strasse during an official ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Kay Nietfeld, epa Visitors gather on the boulevard in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Michael Sohn, AP German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Director of the Berlin Wall Foundation Axel Klausmeier visit the new permanent exhibition in the Berlin Wall memorial at Bernauer Strasse in Berlin.

Bernd von Jutrczenka, dpa via AP A couple shares a tender moment during a street party during celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall in front of Brandenburger gate in Berlin on Nov. 9, 2014. Odd Andersen, AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen A man wearing a chapka with the emblem of the Soviet Union takes a picture during the commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial in the Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, on November 9, 2014. Tobias Schwarz, AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen A visitor looks through a preserved segment of the Berlin Wall during the commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial in the Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, on November 9, 2014. Tobias Schwarz, AFP/Getty Images A man poses at the "light border" installation along remains of the Berlin wall at East Side Gallery in Berlin. Odd Andersen, AFP/Getty Images Visitors peek into the former "death strip" between layers of the former Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial in Berlin, Germany.

Sean Gallup, Getty Images A boy plays on a swing next a graffiti-covered, still-standing portion of the original Berlin Wall the day before the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall in Berlin, Germany. Sean Gallup, Getty Images Fullscreen The city of Berlin is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall from November 7-9 with an installation of 6,800 lamps coupled with illuminated balloons along a 15km route where the Wall once ran and divided the city into capitalist West and communist East. Tobias Schwarz, AFP/Getty Images People look at the "light border" installation along remains of the Berlin wall. Odd Andersen, AFP/Getty Images Passersby look at commemorative crosses for those who died at the Berlin Wall along the Spree River in Berlin, Germany Kay Nietfeld, epa A young man spray-paints a graffiti-covered portion of the original Berlin Wall the day before the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. Sean Gallup, Getty Images Spectators walk between balloons of the art project and remains of the former Berlin Wall at the wall memorial Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, Germany. Markus Schreiber, AP Like this topic?

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Question: What was famously built in 1961 and demolished in 1989?
Answer: The Berlin Wall