What year was the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Who and why was needed by the Berlin Wall? The fall of the Berlin Wall: how it was
Until now, it remains the event, all the circumstances of which are not clear. There is no unambiguous answer to the question: where did the idea of \u200b\u200bthe literal separation of Germany be born - in Moscow or in East Berlin? Martin Sabrow (Martin Sabrow), Director of the Center for Studying Modern History (Zentrum Für Zeithistorische Forschung) in Potsdam, in its own way evaluates the events of those years.
Deutsche Welle: Who is to blame for the fact that the German people were also divided by the Berlin Wall?
Martin Zabov: For historians there can be no one reason, as can not be one guilt. This is the sphere of morality. If we consider the situation from a historical point of view, then responsibility can be assigned to certain people, and on the system itself. In the end, the separation of Germany is a consequence of World War II and the struggle of two political forces: an attractive western and less attractive Eastern, communism. The confrontation led to the outflow of the population from the east to the west.
Of course, certain personalities affected the situation. First of all, the head of East German Walter Ulbricht (Walter Ulbricht), which was much stronger than Khrushchev interested in stopping the outflow of people. Khrushchev believed in utopia, believing that socialism would triumph in Berlin without any walls and borders. He really was convinced of the superiority of the Soviet system. Ulbricht understood that the situation worsens every day, and began to bombard the Soviet leadership of letters and conversations about the blockade. He considered the wall by the necessary measure towards the rescue of the GDR. The decision on the construction of the wall contributed to the second Berlin crisis.
- But, let's say, it is accepted responsibility to impose on the Soviet Union ...
There are different points of view, and there are still violent discussions, who are responsible for the beginning of the construction of the wall: the Soviet Union or the leadership of Eastern Germany. Of course, by and large both parties are responsible for this, but still the Ulbricht was the initiator. After the decision was made, the Soviet Union took everything into his own hands, organizing the construction itself. So the USSR lies its share of responsibility. But the driving force of this process was ulbricht. Our studies make it possible to make such a conclusion. Of course, many people look at the situation otherwise. I can not say that everything was exactly the case before the details. But this is my vision of events.
- Why do such differences in the interpretation of facts exist?
For different reasons. First, it all depends on what documents to take as a basis. There are, for example, the authors who believe that Kennedy played an important role, and literally just published such a study. If working with GDR sources, the USSR goes into the shadow. Soviet sources, and not all of them are available, to bring the Soviet Union to the fore. In addition, there are just different views of researchers on the situation.
Wall and her whole story - a storehouse for interpretations. Old politicians, in the past, members of the Socialist United Party of Germany adhere to the opinion that the Soviet Union is responsible. Thus, they seem to take guilt. People who look at all this from the point of view of Western Germany are called a faith with a liar. At the same time, they refer to his famous phrase that no one was going to erect the wall. I'm not at all sure that Ulbricht meant exactly what they attribute to him. Because the idea of \u200b\u200bthe wall as a long-term structure appeared only after months after August 1961. Initially, it was about the temporary separation of the city of barbed wire.
Context
Berlin Wall (Him. Berliner Mauer) - a protective structure, erected on August 13, 1961 at the initiative of the authorities of the German Democratic Republic and until November 9, 1989, who separated West Berlin from the eastern part of Berlin and the territory of the GDR. One of the most famous symbols of the Cold War. According to the GDR government, when trying to cross the Berlin wall 125 people were killed. According to other data, the number of those killed when trying to flee to the West amounted to at least 1245 people.
BBC on August 12, 2007 reported that documents were discovered in the archives of the Stati, which confirm that the GDR authorities ordered to destroy all fugitives, including children.
Berlin crisis of 1961
Before the construction of the wall, the border between the Western and eastern part of Berlin was opened. The dividing line with a length of 44.75 km (the total length of the boundary of Western Berlin and the GDR was 164 km) took place straight through the streets and houses, canals and waterways. Officially operated 81 street checkpoint, 13 transitions in the subway and on the city railway. In addition, there were hundreds of illegal paths. Daily, the border between both parts of the city was crossed for various reasons from 300 to 500 thousand people. The absence of a clear physical boundary between zones led to frequent conflicts and a mass leakage of specialists in Germany. Eastern Germans preferred to receive education in the GDR, where it was free, but to work in Germany.
The construction of the Berlin Wall preceded a serious exacerbation of the political situation around Berlin. Both Military Political Block - NATO and the organization of the Warsaw Agreement (ATS) confirmed the irreconcilability of their positions in the "German issue". The Government of Western Germany, headed by Conrad by Adenauer, was put into effect in 1957, the Doctrine of Halstein, which provided for the automatic gap of diplomatic relations with any country recognizing the GDR. It categorically rejected the proposals of the East German side to create a confederation of Germanic states, instead of holding the communal elections. In turn, the GDR authorities stated in 1958 about their claims on sovereignty over Western Berlin on the grounds that he is "in the territory of the GDR."
In November 1958, the head of the Soviet government Nikita Khrushchev accused Western powers in violation of Potsdam agreements 1945. He announced the abolition of the Soviet Union of the International Status of Berlin and described the entire city (including its Western sectors) as the "capital of the GDR". The Soviet government proposed to turn the Western Berlin to the "demilitarized free city" and in an ultimatimative tone demanded from the United States, Great Britain and France to negotiate on this topic within six months (Berlin Ultimatum (1958)). This requirement was rejected by Western powers. Negotiations of their foreign ministers with the head of the USSR Foreign Ministry in Geneva in the spring and in the summer of 1959 ended to no avail.
After N. Khrushchev's visit to the United States in September 1959, Soviet ultimatum was postponed. But the sides stubbornly adhered their previous positions. In August 1960, the Government of the GDR introduced restrictions on visiting citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany of East Berlin, referring to the need to stop the knowledge of the "revenge propaganda". In response, Western Germany refused to trade agreements between both parts of the country, which the GDR regarded as an "economic war". After long and difficult negotiations, the agreement was still put into effect from January 1, 1961. But the crisis was not resolved. ATS leaders continued to demand neutralization and demilitarization of Western Berlin. In turn, NATO foreign ministers confirmed in May 1961. The intention to guarantee the stay of the Armed Forces of Western powers in the western part of the city and its "viability". West leaders declared that they would protect the "freedom of Western Berlin."
Both blocks and both German states have increased their armed forces and activated propaganda against the enemy. The GDR authorities complained of Western threats and maneuvers, "provocative" violations of the country's border (137 for May - July 1961), the activities of anti-communist groups. They accused Agents of the Federal Republic of Germany in the organization of dozens of acts of sabotage and arson. The great discontent of the leadership and the police of East Germany caused the impossibility of controlling the flows of people moving across the border.
The situation was aggravated in the summer of 1961. The hard course of the Eastern Hermann Leader Walter Ulbricht, an economic policy aimed at "catching up and overtakening FRG", and a corresponding increase in production standards, economic difficulties, violent collectivization of 1957-60, foreign policy tension and higher The wage level in West Berlin encouraged thousands of GDR citizens to leave west. In just 1961, more than 207 thousand people left the country. Just for July 1961 more than 30 thousand Eastern Germans fled from the country. These were predominantly young and qualified specialists. The outrageous authorities of East Germany accused Western Berlin and Germany in "trafficking in persons", "luring" personnel and attempts to disrupt their economic plans. They assured that the economy of East Berlin annually loses 2.5 billion marks because of this.
In conditions of exacerbation of the situation around Berlin, the leaders of the OVD countries decided to close the border. Rumors about such plans were worn in the air in June 1961, but the leader of the GDR Walter Ulbricht then denied similar intentions. In fact, then they have not yet received the final consent from the USSR and other participants in the Eastern Block. From August 3 to 5, 1961, a meeting was held in Moscow the first secretaries of the ruling communist parties of the states of the ATS, at which Ulbricht insisted on the closure of the border in Berlin. This time he received support from the allies. On August 7, at a meeting of the Politburo of the Socialist United Party of Germany (SEPG - East German Communist Party, it was decided to close the border of the GDR with Western Berlin and Germany. On August 12, the corresponding decision was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the GDR. The Police of Eastern Berlin was presented in a state of complete readiness. At 1 o'clock in the morning, on August 13, 1961, the implementation of the Chinese Wall II project began. About 25 thousand members of militarized "combat groups" with GDR enterprises took the line of border with Western Berlin; Their actions covered parts of the Eastern Hermany army. The Soviet army was in a state of readiness.
Wall building
On August 13, 1961, construction of the wall began. In the first hour of the night to the area of \u200b\u200bthe border between Western and East Berlin, troops were tightened, which for several hours completely blocked all the boundaries in the city. By August 15, the entire western zone was charged with barbed wire, and the immediate construction of the wall began. On the same day, four lines of the Berlin metro - U-Bahn and S-Bahn were blocked (during the period when the city was not divided, any Berlinets could freely move around the city). 7 stations on the U6 line and 8 stations on the U8 line were closed. Due to the fact that these lines went from the western sector to Western through the eastern part, it was decided not to break the lines of the Western Metro, but only to close the stations in the eastern sector. Only FRIEDRICHSTRASSE station remained open, on which the checkpoint was organized. The U2 line was broken after Thälmann Platz station. Potsdamer Platz was also closed, as it was in the border zone.
Construction and re-equipment of the wall continued from 1962 to 1975. The most famous cases: a massive outcome on a tunnel of 145 meters long, flights on the deltaplane, on a balloon from nylon fragments, along the rope, perched between the windows of neighboring houses, on the machine with a folding riding, with a taran of the wall by a bulldozer.
To visit the West Berlin, the Citizens of the GDR required a special permission. Only pensioners possessed the right of free passage.
Victims of the wall
According to some estimates, when trying to overcome the Berlin Wall from August 13, 1961, 645 people died to 9 November 1989. However, as of 2006, a violent death was documented as a result of an attempt to overcome the walls for only 125 people.
The first when attempting to escape from East Berlin was shot by the 24-year-old Günther Liftin (August 24, 1961). On August 17, 1962 Peter Perez Feheter died on the border crossing from blood loss, after the fire guards GDR opened on it. In 1966, GDR border guards shot 40 shots 2 children (10 and 13 years old). Chris Jeffra, who was shot on February 6, 1989, became the last victim of the communist regime.
According to historians' estimates, a total of 75,000 people were sentenced to escape from the GDR. Escape from the GDR caught in accordance with paragraph 213 of the criminal law of the GDR imprisonment for up to 8 years. Those who were armed tried to destroy border facilities or was at the time of catching with a soldier or an employee of the special services, they were sentenceded at least as five years of conclusion. Assist to escape from the "zone" (it. "Die Zone" - this is exactly the name of the state of the GDR among the Germans) was the most dangerous - such crosses threatened life imprisonment.
Fall of the Wall
When in May 1989, under the influence of restructuring in the Soviet Union, the partner of the GDR in the Warsaw Agreement - Hungary destroyed the strengthening on the border with its Western neighbor Austria, the GDR leadership was not going to follow her. But soon it lost control over rapidly unfolding events. Thousands of GDR citizens reached out to other Eastern European countries in the hope of getting from there to West Germany. Already in August 1989, FRG diplomatic missions in Berlin, Budapest and Prague were forced to stop receiving visitors due to the influx of GDR inhabitants who achieved entry into the West German state. Hundreds of Eastern Germans fled to the West through Hungary. When September 11, 1989, the Hungarian government announced the opening of the borders, the Berlin Wall lost its meaning: during three days, the GDR left 15 thousand citizens through the territory of Hungary. The country began mass demonstrations with the requirement of civil rights and freedoms.
November 9, 1989 at 19 o'clock 34 minutes, speaking at a press conference, which was broadcast on television, the government representative GTR Güntter Shabovski announced new rules of departure and entry from the country. According to the decisions made, from the next day, the GDR citizens could receive visas for immediate visiting West Berlin and Germany. Hundreds of thousands of Eastern Germans, without waiting for the appointed period, rushed in the evening on November 9 to the border. Border guards who did not receive orders tried to first push the crowd, used water, but then, yielding to mass pressure, were forced to open the border. Thousands of inhabitants of West Berlin came out from the east. What is happening resembled a people's holiday. The feeling of happiness and fraternity was washed away all state barriers and obstacles. Westernoberlins, in turn, began to move the border, breaking into the eastern part of the city.
If with the "eastern" side of the wall to the very end remained an ugly symbol of alienation, then in the West, it became the platform for creativity of numerous artists - both professional and lovers. By 1989, it turned into a multi-kilometer exhibition of graffiti, including very highly artistic. After the destruction of the wall, its fragments quickly turned into trading objects. Many fragments of the walls were in the United States, for example, in the office of Microsoft, CIA headquarters in Langley, Ronald Reagan Museum, etc.
The "Cold War", which began after the end of the bloodshed in the history of World War II, was a long conflict between the USSR on the one hand and Europe and the United States on the other. Western politicians considered the communist system the most dangerous of possible opponents, and the presence of nuclear weapons in both sides only strengthened tensions.
After graduation, the second world winners were divided among themselves the territory of Germany. The Soviet Union got five provinces, of which in 1949 the German Democratic Republic was formed. Eastern Berlin became the capital of the new state, according to the terms of the Yalta treaty, also in the zone of influence of the USSR. The conflict between East and West, as well as the uncontrolled migration of residents in Western Berlin, led to the fact that in 1961 the countries of the Warsaw Agreement (NATO Socialist Alternative) came to a decision about the need to build a concrete structure, distinguishing the western and eastern part of the city.
Border in the center of Berlin
In the shortest possible time after deciding on the closure of the border, the construction project was carried out. The total length of the Berlin Wall was over 150 kilometers, although in Berlin itself there were only about 40 kilometers. To protect the border, in addition to the directly three-meter wall, wire fences, electric current, earthy rally, anti-tank strengthening, guarding rods, and even track trail strips were used. All these security measures were used only on the eastern side of the wall - in Western Berlin, any resident of the city could approach her.
The redemption of the Eastern Germans cost the Government of Germany a total of almost three billion US dollars.
The wall not only divided the city into two parts, and quite ridiculous (the metro station was closed, in the houses had toasting windows that were western side), but also became a symbol of the confrontation of NATO and the countries of the Warsaw Treaty. Until the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1990, many attempts were made to an illegal crossing of the border, including with the help of a downtrod, bulldozer, deltaplan and a balloon. A total of five thousand successful shoots were made from the GDR in Germany. In addition, about two hundred and fifty thousand people were released for money.
According to the official point of view, the GDR, for all the years of the walls of the wall, 125 people were killed, trying to cross the border.
In 1989, the beginning of the restructuring was announced in the USSR, which prompted the neighboring GDR Hungary to open the border with Austria. The existence of the Berlin Wall was meaningless, since everyone who wishes to get to the West could do it through Hungary. After some time, the Government of the GDR under pressure from the public was forced to provide its citizens with free access abroad, and in 1990, the useless Berlin Wall was already demolished. However, several of her fragments remained as a memorial complex.
Fragment of the Berlin WallThe non-destructive portion of the Berlin Wall is located on Bernauer Strasse (Bernauer Straße) - the street that divided the life of the Berliners in half. In one time, this equipped and strengthened engineering border was running and strengthened. In the German Democratic Republic, it was officially called the "anti-fascist defensive shaft". In the west, with the easy hand of the then Chancellor of Germany Willie Brandt, it was not called anything other than the "shameful wall", and also quite officially. Today it is not even believed that the Cordon between the two states could be exactly the same - as living: at home on Bernauer-Strasse, they were treated to the GDR, and the pavement in front of them to West Berlin.
The Berlin Wall around the world was perceived and perceived as the most ugly manifestation of the "Cold War". The Germans themselves associate not only with the division, but also by the union of Germany. In the preserved section of this ominous border, the unique East Side Gallery appeared, which attracts attention not only to the arts of art, but also of all freedom-loving citizens, for whom democratic values \u200b\u200bare not just beautiful words, but the state of the soul. A separate landmark on the former border is Chackpoint Charlie - the most famous of the three checkpoints on Friedrichstrasse Street, who now has a Museum of the Berlin Wall.
In the world, probably not so many places where you can touch the story with literally with your own hands, and the Berlin Wall is one of them. This ex-border for many years literally cut a million megalopolis in the streets not only along the streets and river Sprey, but also by residential quarters. Not to mention the divided families, broken human destinies and taken away from the lives of innocent people, in despair daring it illegally cross it. So this place in the German capital is more than unique and worth seeing him with his own eyes at least once.
That preceded construction
At the time of the appearance of the wall, two Germany, Germany and the GDR, were still very young formations and a clearly designated border between them was absent. The same was observed in Berlin, the separation of which on the eastern and western part was the fact more legal than the real. Such transparency led to conflicts at the political level and mass leakage of specialists from the Soviet area of \u200b\u200boccupation to the West. And this is not surprising: after all, they paid more in the federal republic, so the Eastern Germans (OSKI) preferred to work there and simply ran out of the "Socialist Paradise". At the same time, both states arising in the territory of the former Reich after World War II, to put it mildly, among themselves did not be friends, which led to a serious exacerbation of the situation around the once common capital - Berlin.
In total, during the existence of both Germany, there were several so-called Berlin crises. The first two happened in 1948-1949 and 1953. The third broke out in 1958 and lasted three years: he was particularly tense. At this point, the eastern districts of Berlin, legally remaining under the Soviet occupation, were actually controlled by the GDR. The rest of the city and de-Yura, and de facto was under the authority of the Americans, the British and French. The Soviet Union demanded the status of a free city for Western Berlin. Allies on the anti-Hitler coalition These requirements rejected, fearing that the enclave may later be attached to the GDR, and they will not be able to do anything.
The situation has adversely affected the situation in economic politics conducted by the Government of the German Democratic Republic led by Walter Ulbricht. It sought to "catch up and overtake" the Federal Republic of Germany and, it seems that it was ready for achieving the goal to sacrifice anything. According to the example of the USSR, collective farms forced in the agrarian sector, and for workers in cities raised labor standards. However, the small salary and in general the low standard of living forced the eastern Germans to seek the best share in the West, and people massively fled. In 1960 alone, about 400 thousand people threw his homeland. The manual understood well: if you do not stop this process, then the young state will order long live.
What to do in such a difficult situation? On this, they broke their head at the highest level: on August 3, 1961, the first persons in the Warsaw Agreement were gathered at the emergency meeting in Moscow. President Ulbricht believed that the closure of the border with Western Berlin is the only way out. The allies did not object, but poorly represented how to implement it in practice. Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, proposed two options. The first - an air barrier - negotiators ultimately rejected because it was fraught with problems in the international arena, and above all complications with the United States. The second is a wall that would divide Berlin in two. On him and decided to stop.
Construction of the Berlin Wall
The appearance of the physical border between both parts of Berlin was a complete surprise for the population. It all started at night on August 13, 1961, when the GDR troops were trooped to the conditioned division line. They are quickly, with the help of barbed wire, closed all areas of the border within the city feature. Berliners who gathered the next morning on both parties, the military ordered to dispay, only people did not obey them. It is unknown, in order to convey this spontaneous rally, if the water fell by the authorities, which they hit the crowd, breaking it in less than an hour.
Within two days, military personnel along with work squads and the police brought prickly wire all the western zone. About 200 streets were bombarded, with a dozen tram and several lines of the Berlin Metro. In places that lay for a new border, collaborated telecommunications and power lines. At the same time, plug-in and sewer pipes drove here. Then began the construction of the Berlin Wall, which lasted up to the first half of the 70s. During this time, the concrete border gained its ominous appearance. It was adjacent to the high-rise buildings, where to live, it was already impossible, so the owners of the apartments moved, and the windows that were eaten by the opponent were laid by bricks. Potsdamskaya Square was closed to visit, in one moment it became cross-border.
Interestingly, the Brandenburg Gate turned out to be on the way of odious structures - the Berlin's business card and one of the symbols of all Germany. But she could not become an obstacle construction. The authorities thought for a short time and decided ... Emban them with a wall, and from all sides. It was said - Made: As a result, the inhabitants of not only the western part of the city, but also the capital of the GDR could not even approach the goal - not what to pass through them. So the famous tourist attraction was sacrificed to the political confrontation and closed to the public until 1990.
How did the odious border looked
The border that could be compared is unless with the fortress gate, was more than just a wall. It was a complex structure consisting of a concrete structure itself (length - 106 km, an average of 3.6 m), as well as two types of fences. The first is made of metal mesh (66.5 km), the second is from barbed wire (127.5 km), stretched over the wall through which the voltage was lettered. When trying to penetrate it, signal rockets were triggered, and the border guards were immediately directed towards the place of illegal transition of the Berlin Wall. Meeting with them, as you understand, turned around for violators with big trouble.
The "shameful wall" stretches for as much as 155 km, of which 43.1 km accounted for an urban trait. The border was also strengthened by a system of earthlings, stretching by 105.5 km. In some sections there were anti-tank fortifications and stripped stripped with metal spikes, which were called "Stalin lawns". In addition, around the perimeter of ominous cordon were 302 watchtowers and other border structures (there were no fences. Unless in places where the cordon ran through the spree). Along it, the authorities equipped the special zone with warning signs, which were categorically prohibited.
Fall and destruction of the wall
In June 1987, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, took part in celebrations in honor of the 750th anniversary of Berlin. It is from the Brandenburg gate that he uttered his famous speech with words addressed to the Secretary-General of the CPSU Central Committee: "Mr. Gorbachev, open these gates! Mr. Gorbachev, destroy this wall! " It is difficult to say whether the American leader believed that the Soviet colleague listens to his call - most likely not. Obviously, the other: neither the head of the White House, nor the master of the Kremlin at that time did not even assume that the sinister border stands at all unforgettable ...
In the fall of the Berlin Wall, which the other American president, John Kennedy, called "a slap in all of humanity", played an unexpected role ... Hungary. In May 1989, the authorities of this country, thanks to the restructuring in the USSR, no longer afraid of the "older brother", they decided to raise the "iron curtain" on Cordon with Austria. The citizens of Eastern Germany only had it, and they massively rushed to neighboring Czechoslovakia and Poland. The goal is to get from these countries first in Hungary, and from there, transit through Austria, get to Germany. As in the early 60s, the GDR management could not hold back this stream and no longer controlled the situation. In addition, mass demonstrations began in the republic: people demanded a better life and civil liberties.
After the resignation of the long-term leader of Erich Honecker and the outflow of people close to him, the outflow of people began to be more larger, and this circumstance only emphasized the meaninglessness of the existence of the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989, television was announced that the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SEPG decided to remove restrictions on the crossing of the border with Western Berlin and Germany. OSKI did not wait for the new rules to take effect, and in the evening the same day rushed to an ominous construction. Border guards tried to push the crowd with the help of an already tested tool - waterballs, but ultimately gave way to pressure and opened the border. At that side, people who rushed into East Berlin also gathered. Residents of the divided city hugged each other, laughed and cried from happiness - for the first time in thirty years!
The sign was the date on December 22, 1989: the Brandenburg Gate was discovered on that memorable day. As for the Berlin Wall itself, she still smashed at the same place, but little from the previous frightening appearance remains. It has already been broken by places, places are painted by many graffiti. People applied pictures on her and left inscriptions. Not only tourists, but also the townspeople themselves could not refuse themselves in a desire to break from the wall at least one piece - for memory, realizing that this is not just a souvenir, but an invaluable historical artifact. Moreover, soon the wall was demolished soon, it happened a few months after the unification of the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR into a single state held on the night of October 3, 1990.
Berlin Wall today
Such an object, like the Berlin Wall, having ceased to exist physically, still could not disappear without a trace. After it, there was a unlimited memory, which is unlikely to erase from the public consciousness. Yes, it is hardly worth forgetting such sad stories of stories that are needed in order to prevent this in the future. This boundary did not just divide the whole city for a living city - it became a place, sprinkled in the blood of any no obey people who desperately trying to escape from the totalitarian state, but those who died during its intersection. The exact number of victims is unknown so far. According to official statistics of the former GDR, there were 125 people. A number of other sources leads such a figure: 192 people. However, there is every reason to believe that these data are clearly understated. If you believe in some media referring to the archives of the Staja (the Secret Police of East Germany), the number of dead is 1245 people.
Invinquent victims of the political confrontation devoted most of the memorial complex "Berlin Wall", open on 21 May 2010, which was called - "Memory Window". Made of the rusted steel monument weigh about a ton. On it in several rows, black and white pictures of the dead are installed. Some found their death, jumping out of the windows of houses on Bernauer-Strasse - those most, which were subsequently laid by brick. Others died while trying to move from East Berlin to the western part of the city. A fully memorial, located on Bernauer Straße, was completed in 2012, it covers a territory of 4 hectares. It was the part of the reconciliation chapel, erected in the place of the same name of the same name, blown up in 1985. The construction of the complex - his initiator was the pastor of the Gospel Church of Manfred Fisher - cost a city treasury at 28 million euros. But can the historical memory be measured with money? Memorial plate on the site of the Berlin Wall
The preserved fragment of the Berlin Wall with a length of 1316 meters all these years remains a "alive" reminder of full tragedy of the times of separation and confrontation. When the border was embodied in the concrete, artists from all over the world were rushed here, inspired by the spirit of freedom. The remaining segment of the wall they painted with their paintings. So unexpectedly, the whole art gallery under the open sky, called East Side Gallery (East Side), appeared, which is translated as the "East Gallery". The result of the elemental creativity was the appearance of 106 paintings, united by the theme of political discharge 1989-1990 in East Germany. The most famous and recognizable work was the fresco, made by our compatriot Dmitry Vrubel. The artist captured in the form of a graffiti famous kiss of the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and the first secretary of the Central Committee of Segg Erich Honecker.
Separately, it should be said about the former checkpoint checkpoint Charlie (Charlie) on Friedrichstrasse Street, the most famous of the three checkpoints under the control of the Americans. Only high-ranking faces could cross the border through Charlie Charged. Attempts by the same Germans to illegally penetrate from here to the West Berlin brutally precurated with GDR border guards, without warning to defeat in each intruder.
The above-mentioned border point is now the Museum of the Berlin Wall, among the exhibits of which various techniques and adaptations are represented, with the help of which residents of the "Socialist Paradise" tried to escape into "platituent capitalism". It is parachutes, paraglongs, and small submarines and even armored cars and balloons. There are many pictures in the collection, captured guard towers, bunkers, technical means alerts and much more than the Berlin Wall to the entire civilized world was inflamed. Frequently coming relatives of the Berliners who died when trying to cross the wall.
One of the most popular expositions is the Soviet and American soldiers who look at each other, whose portraits are placed in light curr (the author is the artist Frank Til). Another famous exposition - "from Gandhi to Valenses" - is devoted to the topic of human struggle for their civil rights, but only by peaceful means, without violence and bloodshed. About the Stories Actually PPC, Charlie Chekpoint tells the exposition right under the open sky: comments to the photographic materials are available both in German and in Russian. The museum tourists will also show a documentary, telling about the stages of destruction by this terrible border, which seemed to exist forever.
How to get
Considering that the Berlin Wall stretched out within a few tens of kilometers, the addresses in the usual understanding does not have.
The surviving fragments of this engineering and concrete facilities are scattered in different areas throughout its perimeter. You can get to the most preserved and significant areas of the legendary border on the subway, reaching the Niederkirchenstracce and Warschauer Straße stations.
The official website of the Memorial Complex "Berlin Wall": www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de. Materials are duplicated in three languages: German, English and French.
The capital of Germany Berlin arose in the first half of the XIII century. Since 1486, the city was the capital of Brandenburg (then Prussia), since 1871 - Germany. From May 1943 to May 1945, Berlin was subjected to one of the most destructive bombing in world history. At the final stage of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), in Europe, Soviet troops on May 2, 1945 were fully mastered the city. After the defeat of fascist Germany, the territory of Berlin was divided into occupation zones: East - USSR and three Western United States, Great Britain and France. On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Property began the blockade of Western Berlin.
In 1948, Western powers were authorized by the heads of land governments in their occupation zones to convene a parliamentary council to develop a constitution and preparation of the creation of the West German state. His first meeting was held in Bonn on September 1, 1948. The Constitution was adopted by the Council on May 8, 1949, and on May 23, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was proclaimed. In response to the eastern part of the USSR controlled, on October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Berlin was declared its capital.
East Berlin occupied an area of \u200b\u200b403 square kilometers and was the largest population by the city of East Germany.
West Berlin occupied an area of \u200b\u200b480 square kilometers.
At first, the border between the Western and eastern part of Berlin was opened. The separation line with a length of 44.8 kilometers (the total length of the boundary of Western Berlin with GDR was 164 kilometers) took place straight through the streets and houses, the River Spree, Channels. Officially operated 81 street checkpoint, 13 transitions in the subway and on the city railway.
In 1957, the Government of Western Germany, headed by Conrad by Adenauer, was put into effect the Doctrine of Halstein, which provided for the automatic gap of diplomatic relations with any country recognizing the GDR.
In November 1958, the head of the Soviet government Nikita Khrushchev accused Western powers in violation of Potsdam agreements of 1945 and announced the abolition of the Soviet Union of the International Status of Berlin. The Soviet government proposed to turn the Western Berlin in the "demilitarized free city" and demanded from the United States, Great Britain and France to negotiate on this topic within six months ("Ultimatum Khrushchev"). Western powers of ultimatum rejected.
In August 1960, the GDR government introduced restrictions on visiting by citizens of the FRG East Berlin. In response, Western Germany refused to trade agreements between both parts of the country, which the GDR regarded as a "economic war".
After long and difficult negotiations from January 1, 1961, an agreement was introduced.
The situation was aggravated in the summer of 1961. The economic policy of the GDR, aimed at "catching up and overtakening the FRG", and the corresponding increase in production standards, economic difficulties, the violent collectivization of 1957-1960, a higher level of wages in Western Berlin encouraged thousands of GDR citizens to leave west.
In 1949-1961, GDR and East Berlin left almost 2.7 million people. The flow of refugees was almost half consisted of young people under the age of 25. Daily borders of the Berlin sectors crossed in both directions about half a million people who could compare the living conditions here and there. Only in one 1960 about 200 thousand people moved to the West.
At the meeting of general secretaries, Commutran Communion on August 5, 1961, GDR received the necessary consent of the Eastern European countries, and on August 7 at a meeting of the Politburo of the Socialist Unified Party of Germany (SEPG - East German Communist Party) on the closure of the GDR border with Western Berlin and Germany. On August 12, the corresponding ruling was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the GDR.
Early in the morning of August 13, 1961, temporary barriers were installed on the border with Western Berlin, and on the streets connecting East Berlin with Western, the cobblestone bridge is bursting. Forces of the divisions of the People's and Transport Police, as well as combat workers, a friend was interrupted by all transport links on the borders between sectors. Under the strict security of the border guards, the Eastern Berlinie builders began to replace the border guard from barbed wire with concrete slabs and hollow bricks. Bernauer Strasse (Bernauer Strasse) were also included in the Bernauer Strasse (Bernauer Strasse), where the sidewalks began to treat West Kerlin District Vedding (Wedding), and at home on the south side of the street - to the East Berlinsky district MITTE (Mitte). Then the Government of the GDR told to climb the doors of the houses and the windows of the lower floors - the tenants could enter their apartments only through the entrance from the courtyard, which belonged to East Berlin. A wave of forced evictions of people from the apartments began not only on Bernauer-Strasse Street, but also in other border zones.
From 1961 to 1989, in many segments of the border, the Berlin Wall was repeated several times. At first it was built by stone, and then it was replaced by reinforced concrete. In 1975, the last reconstruction of the wall began. The wall was built from 45,000 concrete blocks of 3.6 sizes 1.5 meters, which were rounded from above to make it difficult to shoot. Outside the city, this front harness included also metal grilles.
By 1989, the total length of the Berlin Wall was 155 kilometers, the intracity border between East and Western Berlin - 43 kilometers, the border between Western Berlin and the GDR (external ring) - 112 kilometers. Middle to Western Berlin, the front concrete barrage wall reached a height of 3.6 meters. She glanced all the western sector of Berlin.
Concrete fencing stretched 106 kilometers, metallic - by 66.5 kilometers, Earthy Rips had a length of 105.5 kilometers, there were 127.5 kilometers under the voltage. Near the wall, as on the border, a monitoring bar was made.
Despite tough measures against the attempts of "illegal border crossing", people continued to run "through the wall" using sewer pipes, technical means, building subpopters. Over the years of existence, the walls died about 100 people who tried to overcome it.
The democratic change in the life of the GDR and other countries of the Socialist Commonwealth, which began in the late 1980s, predicted the fate of the wall. November 9, 1989 The New Government of the GDR announced a unhindered transition from East Berlin to Western and free return back. About 2 million inhabitants of the GDR visited 10-12 November in West Berlin. Immediately began a spontaneous disassembly of the wall. The official dismantling was produced in January 1990, part of the wall was left as a monument of history.
On October 3, 1990, after joining the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany, the status of the federal capital in United Germans moved from Bonn to Berlin. In 2000, Government moved from Bonna to Berlin.
Material prepared on the basis of open sources information
