Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall

(Berlin Wall in 1986)

The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer and Russian: Берлинская стена) was created 65 years ago today (August 13, 1961.)

After the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 Germany was split into 4 Occupation Zones: the British, the French, the American and the Soviet.

Berlin, laying 100 miles inside the Soviet Occupation Zone, was also split between the British, the French, the Americans and the Soviets.

(East Berlin and West Berlin and East Germany and West Germany)

In 1948 the British, the French and the American Occupation Zones of Germany became the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) also called West Germany (German: West Deutschland.)

In 1948 the British, the French and the American of Berlin became West Berlin (German: West Berlin.)

In 1949 the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany became the German Democratic Republic (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik) also called East Germany (German: Ost Deutschland.)

In 1949 the Soviet Occupation Zone of Berlin became East Berlin (German: Ost Berlin.)

In 1949 the Inner-German Border (German: innerdeutsche Grenze) separating West Germany with East Germany was closed.

858 Miles of Border Fortifications were built by the East German and Soviet Communists to stop East Germans from fleeing to the West and Freedom.

The Inner-German Border was a continuous line of high metal fences and walls, barbed wire, alarms, anti-vehicle ditches, watchtowers, automatic booby traps and minefields.

The Communists moved People away from the Border Zone and even destroyed whole Villages to make a Buffer Zone (it was 6% of East Germany’s total area.)

50,000 East German Border Guards along with hundreds of Soviet Troops guarded the Inner-German Border and had orders to shoot and kill any person fleeing East Germany (German: Republikflucht or Republic Flight.)

20,000 West German Border Guards and hundreds of British and American Troops guarded the Inner-German Border to make sure the East Germans and the Soviets didn’t try to invade.

40,000 Men, Women and Children successfully fled East Germany into West Germany through the Inner-German Border from 1949-1989.

371 Men and Women were murdered by the Communists trying to flee East Germany into West Germany through the Inner-German Border from 1949-1989.

Thousands more were arrested and imprisoned by the Communists.

From 1949-1961 Berlin was a Loop-Hole between Communism/Dictatorship and Capitalism/Freedom.

East Germans could go to East Berlin and then just walk across into West Berlin.

3.5 Million East Germans did just that from 1945-1961.

From August 1-11, 1961 16,000 East Germans fled into West Berlin.

On August 12, 1961 2,400 East Germans fled into West Berlin.

These Men, Women and Children were: Doctors, Teachers, Engineers, etc. and caused a major Brain Drain and costing East Germany $9 Billion US Dollars.

(Building the Berlin Wall in 1961)

On August 13, 1961 the East German and Soviet Communists decided to close the Berlin Loop-Hole and built the Berlin Wall.

Without any warning and done overnight on a Sunday the Communists closed the Border between East Berlin and West Berlin.

The initial Barbed Wire Barrier was built up into the Wall proper, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on August 17, 1961.

Immediate effects of the Wall included the separation of Families (some never seeing their Relatives ever again) and the loss of jobs by East Berliners who worked in West Berlin.

While publicly the British, the French and the Americans acted surprised by the building of the Berlin Wall in private they were glad that there would no longer be any more Military Confrontations with the Soviets.

US President John F. Kennedy replied: "A wall is damn better than a War."

British Prime Minister Harold Macmillian said: "The East Germans are holding up the flow of refugees and entrenching themselves behind an even tighter Iron Curtain. There is nothing illegal about this in itself."

On August 19, 1961, the Kennedy sent1,500 American Troops from the 8^th US Infantry Division in Mannheim through the Transit Route in East Germany and to West Berlin to show America’s commitment to protect the West Berliners (but not to help the East Berliners.)

The Communists officially called the Berlin Wall the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall.)

The Berlin Wall was 96 miles long and included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area (later known as the "Death Strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, beds of nails and other defenses.

From 1961-1989 100,000 Men, Women and Children tried to flee over, through or under the Berlin Wall.

5,000 succeeded in fleeing to West Berlin.

239 were murdered by the Communists while trying to flee.

Ida Siekmann, 58 was the first person who died trying to flee her apartment in East Berlin on August 22, 1961  when she jumped out of her window and died on the way to the Hospital in West Berlin.

(Peter Fechter)

On August 17, 1962 Peter Fechter, 18, was shot by the East German Border Guards while trying to flee into West Berlin.

His murder was witnessed by hundreds of West Berliners who saw him shot, fall back to the East German Death Strip where he cried out for help for an hour before he bled to death.

Winfried Freudenberg, 32, was the last person who died while trying to fly a Hot Air Balloon over the Berlin Wall on March 8, 1989.

94,761 People were arrested by the Communists and sent to Prison for trying to flee.

(Checkpoints between East Berlin and West Berlin)

From 1961 until 1964 no West German or West Berliner was allowed to visit East Germany or East Berlin.

From 1961 until 1964 no East German or East Berliner was allowed to leave East Berling or East Germany to go to West Berlin or West Germany.

In November 1964 the East German Government allowed East German Pensioners to visit West Berlin and West Germany.

Starting in 1972 the East German Government officially allowed the rest of the East Germans to apply for permission to leave East Germany to visit West Berlin and West Germany.

Very few East Germans were given official permission to travel to West Berlin and West Germany from 1972-1989.

Those who were allowed were Members of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands) the Communist Party that ran East Germany and they had to have an Immediate Member of their Family stay behind as a Hostage.

An average of 100,000 applications to temporary leave East Germany to visit West Berlin and West Germany were submitted every year from 1972-1989 with 1% of the applications being approved by the Communists.

Those East Germans who were allowed by the East German Government to visit West Germany or West Berlin could not bring out any Non-East German Marks so the West German Government created the Begrüßungsgeld (Welcome Money) Program  in which from 1970 until December 1989.

Initially every East German was given 30 West German Marks twice a year.

In 1988 it was changed to 100 West German Marks a year.

From 1970-1988 260 Million West German Marks were paid to visiting East Germans.

From November to December 1989 4 Billion West German Marks were paid to visiting East Germans.

West Germans entering East Germany had to exchange a Minimum of 25 West German Marks into the worthless East German Marks per day they stayed.

They weren’t allowed to exchange the East German Marks back into West German Marks when they left East Germany.

There were 9 Border Crossings between East and West Berlin.

These allowed visits by West Berliners, other West Germans, Western Foreigners and Allied Personnel into East Berlin, as well as visits by East German Citizens and Citizens of other Communist Countries into West Berlin, provided that they held the necessary permits.

(Checkpoint Charlie in 1963)

The most famous was Checkpoint Charlie), which was restricted to Allied Personnel and Foreigners.

Another way to officially leave East Germany was to be “bought” by the West German Government.

This was called the Freikauf (literally the Buying of Freedom.)

Between 1964 and 1989, 33,755 East German Political Prisoners were ransomed.

 A further 2,087 East German Prisoners were released to the West under an amnesty in 1972.

Another 215,000 East Germans including 2,000 Children cut off from their Parents, were allowed to leave East Germany to rejoin their Families.

 In exchange, West Germany paid over 3.4 Billion DM – nearly $2.3 billion at 1990 prices – in goods and Hard Currency to the broke East German Communist Government.

West Germany paid 1,875 DM for an East German Worker and  11,250 DM for an East German Doctor.

(November 1989)

On November 9, 1989 an unplanned announcement at an East Berlin Conference live on East German Television said that East Germans could immediately travel freely into West Berlin with no restrictions.

Thousands of East Berliners went to the Border Checkpoints where the East German Border Guards had not received any orders (except to shot to kill.)

Eventually, the East German Border Guards opened the Borders and the East Berliners fled into West Berlin.

East Germans started going into West Germany through the Inner-German Border in November 1989 too.

1 Million East Germans went into West Berlin or West Germany in the first few days after November 9, 1989

On December 24, 1989 West Berliners and West Germans were officially allowed, by the East German Government, to visit East Germany without needing a Visa first.

On July 1, 1990 East Germany officially stopped using the East German Mark and started using the West German Mark.

(Memorial of where the Berlin Wall used to be)

All Border Controls between East Berlin and West Berlin and East Germany and West Germany ended that day too.

East Berlin and East Germany ceased to exist on October 3, 1990 when they became part of West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany.)