East Berlin is one of the greatest Historical places in the world famously known for the civil war during the Cold war period. To provide you some background information and help you grasp the relevance of East Berlin we will detail the place and background of East Berlin in this blog post.
The division of Berlin
During 1945, Germany was being administered in four occupation zones which included the American, Soviet, British and the French zones. The city too was divided into four sectors and was under the control of the allied forces were soviet zone or the Sovietunion.
Post WWII the separation of Berlin into East and West Berlin was mainly caused by threat posing from Soviet Union to western allies. While the eastern part of Berlin was occupied by the Soviet Union it became the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), more familiarly known as East Germany.
Location of East Berlin
East Berlin is situated in northeastern of Germany. It is located wholly in the federal state of Brandenburg and touches the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the north, Saxony-Anhalt in the west, and Saxony in the south.
Significance of East Berlin
Thus, in the process of the division of Berlin East Berlin was a capital of the GDR – it was the political and economical center of the GDR. Famous city sights, historical buildings, colorful culture, and distinct socialist structures turned this city into the embodiment of the socialist country.
Sights and sites in Eastern part of Berlin
The attraction sites and buildings in East Berlin carry history around them and therefore worth a visit. Some notable ones include:
Alexanderplatz: Major traffic intersection known for the Fernseschturm (TV Tower) and a wooden construction in the form of a sundial the World Time Clock.
Brandenburg Gate: Former border between East and West Berlin and a neoclassical structure with historical value.
Museum Island: A World Heritage site that hosts numerous museums and culture related centres.
Karl-Marx-Allee: A great avenue of socialist architecture, that gives an idea of how Socialistic Berlin used to look like.
East Side Gallery: Part of the Wall survivors which has been repurposed into a museum for mural art with artists from different global regions painting murals.
Reunification of Berlin
The division of Berlin took a brief break at the end of the Second World War but did not last for longer than a generation, and the increased integration of the two sides was short-lived because the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. In fact, with the sacking of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the East and West Berlin joined together showing history that anything can happen.
Currently, the preliminaries that used to keep the East and West Berlin apart seem like a mere blur in the horizon. Since the fall of the wall, the city has been rapidly undergoing development and has transformed from its pre-GDR state to today’s Germany’s capital city.
In conclusion
What was once the capital of the GDR was East Berlin, which had a great historical importance during the Cold War period. The city is located in the northern part of Germany in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and it has contributed significantly to the country’s evolution of political, economic and culture. Today Berlin is a united city which offers numerous opportunities to get acquainted with the history and interesting legends of the Capital.