Berlin Wall 1961-1989

Berlin Wall

The Berlin wall

The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier that existed from 1961 through 1989, constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until it was opened in 1989. 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. TheEastern 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 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 Protection Rampart" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by GDR authorities, implying that the NATO countries and West Germany in particular were "fascists." The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"a term coined by mayor Willy Brandtwhile 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 andWest Germany, it came to symbolize 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 where 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 of 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

public 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 Summer 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 fall of the Berlin wall is a signal of hope for countries such as Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, where freedoms are threatened or even trampled, "said german Chancellor Angela Merkel. "We can change things for the better-this is the message of the fall of the wall" on 9 November 1989, said Angela Merkel. "The fall of the Berlin wall has shown that dreams can come true," added the head of the german Government, who grew up in the GDR and currently have 35 years. "Walls can be destroyed, the walls of dictatorship, violence, hatred, ideologies," said Angela Merkel, who began his political career in the event is indeed from 9 November 1989. She recalled that the Communist East german regime was "a State of law," "a State which they oversee" citizens and violate "fundamental rights such as freedom of opinion and of the press". The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall is "a day of freedom," but also "a day to remember the victims," she added. conservative Chancellor recalled that 138 people have paid with their lives attempting to cross the wall, its construction, from 13 august 1961 until his fall, 28 years later. She evoked in particular destiny residents on Bernauer Strasse, a street in Berlin in half of the edifice concreting and where today lies the Memorial Wall. During its construction, some have not hesitated to jump from a height of several floors to the West. Germany, the first of Europe's economic power, is headed today by two personalities from the former East Germany. in addition to the federal Chancellor, the President, Joachim Gauck, lived in Eastern Germany where, as a pastor, he participated in the revolt against the Communist regime in the fall of 1989.

"A sign of hope," the fall of the Berlin wall is a signal of hope for countries such as Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, where freedoms are threatened or even trampled, "said german Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We can change things for the better-this is the message of the fall of the wall" on 9 November 1989, said Angela Merkel. "The fall of the Berlin wall has shown that dreams can come true," added the head of the german Government, who grew up in

the GDR and currently have 35 years. "Walls can be destroyed, the walls of dictatorship, violence, hatred, ideologies," said Angela Merkel, who began his political career in the event is indeed from 9 November 1989.

She recalled that the Communist East german regime was "a State of law," "a State which they oversee" citizens and violate "fundamental rights such as freedom of opinion and of the press".

The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall is "a day of freedom," but also "a day to remember the victims," she added. conservative Chancellor recalled that 138 people have paid with their lives attempting to cross the wall, its construction, from 13

august 1961 until his fall, 28 years later. She evoked in particular destiny residents on Bernauer Strasse, a street in Berlin in half of the edifice concreting and where today

lies the Memorial Wall. During its construction, some have not hesitated to jump from a height of several floors to the West. Germany, the first of Europe's economic power, is headed today by two personalities from the former East Germany. in addition to the federal Chancellor, the President, Joachim Gauck, lived in Eastern Germany where, as a pastor, he participated in the revolt against the Communist regime in the fall of 1989. Source: Jurnalul National

A moment of turning from history, the fall of the Berlin Wall, is the theme of the second edition of the event CINEPOLITICA Extra Time, which took place

between 17 and November 19, at Cinema Elvira Popescu from Bucharest.

CINEPOLITICA Extra Time / series of screenings and debates marks 25 years since the fall of the Wall and the symbolic Iron Curtain which divided

Europe into two Six films and two debates with historians, sociologists and political scientists will question the legacy of the Iron Curtain and high

walls in Europe last decennial.

In August 1961, the Government of the German Democratic Republic put the first stone in the foundation of "the ugliest monument in the world", a wall

of cement blocks. In shock, residents began to film the event. Bringing together over 250 hours of original recordings from private archives, the

film tells the incredible story moving about the Berlin Wall.

Source: Newspaper Metropolis

Source: This article was originally published in U.S. News & World Report on Nov. 13, 2008.

Big walls are back in the news. There's now one separating Israel from the Palestinian West Bank, justified as a way of excluding suicide bombers and terrorists from the Jewish state's threatened cities.

There's another being built to keep illegal immigrants from Mexico out of the United States. One thing is clear: Such controversial emergency

barriers signal problems that governments can't (or won't) solve by other means. The notorious Berlin Wall was no differentexcept it

was built not to shut people out but to keep them in. Shortly before midnight on Aug. 12, 1961, thousands of East German workers, guarded by troops, began to construct concrete-block and wood barriers and barbed wire fences blocking boulevards, parks, streets, and alleys in the heart of the city of Berlin, as well as the

perimeter adjoining the surrounding Communist state of East Germany.

By dawn on August 13, the labor gangs' work was done. Berlin had been physically divided into a western, capitalist part, connected to democratic West Germany by a handful of transit highways and air

routes, and an eastern, impoverished, Communist part whose citizens were now effectively imprisoned. This "Berlin Wall" survived for 28

years, 2 months, and 26 days. Of course, though it appeared overnight, the wall was no instant phenomenon.

the team who made that

Gtman Rzvan Cmru Mihaela Pdurariu Gabriel Ananii Andrei

Doroftei Andrei

uhan Raluca