Introduction

Welcome to our beginners guide on Berlin walls. We’ll explain its historical significance, construction, purpose and eventual fall in this article. The common ancestor of all life aside, by the end you’ll know this monstrous relevant piece of world history like the back of your hand.

What was the Berlin Wall?

The Berlin Wall was a concrete, barbed and electrocuted fence which divided Berlin Germany from 1961 until 1989. The project was built by East Germany to keep its citizens from escaping to West Berlin, ruled by the Western Allies during the Cold War.

Concrete walls, barbed wire, and guard towers made up mile long stretches of wall that were 155 kilometers (96 miles)long. It duly separated families, friends and communities and was even the representation of the ideological division between the East and the West during Cold War.

Construction

On August 13th 1961 the construction of the Berlin Wall began. This was an incredibly quick and knee jerk response by East Germany to the overwhelming number of people wanting to escape into the throng and prosperity of West Germany. East Germans fled to the West, but the wall was built almost instantly, practically overnight.

A barbed wired fence was first up and then replaced with concrete walls. Guard towers were built up the walls of the area, along with tripwires, floodlights and alarm systems.

Purpose

The main reason for the Berlin Wall was to stop the flood of East German migration to West Germany. The population of East Germany, under communist control, was dwindling as more people moved to the west to seek better living conditions, political freedom and economic opportunity. This emigration was to be stemmed by the wall and kept East German regime intact.

Life During the Wall

The building of the Berlin Wall obviously had a big impact on the lives of both sides. People from East Berlin were allowed to move almost nowhere, and families were separated. Controls were strict at the border, and getting out of there was a dangerous proposition with imprisonment or death possible as a result.

The wall was a bitter symbol of a bitter city, in West Berlin, for people who lived there: of the division, of the ongoing conflict between ideologies that were tangible to them only through that wall.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Looming just above, the Berlin Wall was nearing the end of life as the Cold War came to an end and the winds of change hit Eastern Europe. After all the peaceful protests in East Germany for freedom and political reform the wall began to fall.

The German government announced, on November 9, 1989, that citizens would be able to freely cross the border. East and West Germans embraced tens of thousands and destroyed parts of the wall with hammers and chisels. But it was another symbol of the Iron Curtain’s end and of the reunification of Germany.

Legacy

The reunification Germany, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a milestone in history; the Cold war has come to an end and the end of the cold war…. Like many symbols of the Cold War, it became a potent symbol of freedom to the detriment of and the victory against communism.

Today, there are fragments of the wall preserved as memorials and monuments around the world, keeping us all in remembrance of division — and unity and freedom.

Conclusion

We wish this article has given you a lucid and pleasing understanding of the Berlin Wall. The construction, purpose, and eventual fall of it were all part of world history, and in the lives of those who suffered its consequences.

The Berlin Wall is a costly reminder of the human need for freedom and stands as a testament to hope, unity and persistence.