FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL --------------------------- 30th anniversary On November 9, 1989, the wall that symbolized the Iron Curtain between the communist east and the capitalist west during the Cold War was torn down. Erected in 1961 on the orders of East Germany’s former leader, Walter Ulbricht, to stop people leaving for West Germany, the fall of the Wall nearly three decades later paved the way for Germany’s reunification in 1990 --------------------------- NORTH SEA WEST GERMANY EAST GERMANY Hamburg Bonn Frankfurt Berlin Dresden Munich 200km 125 miles --------------------------- BERLIN (1961-1989) FRENCH SECTOR Tegel WEST BERLIN BRITISH SECTOR Gatow AMERICAN SECTOR Tempelhof Checkpoint Bravo Schönefeld EAST BERLIN SOVIET SECTOR Checkpoint Charlie EAST GERMANY Berlin Wall Length: 43.1km “Country” wall 111.9km Checkpoints: Only Bravo and Charlie were open to non- Germans 5km 3 miles --------------------------- KEY EVENTS – 1945-89 --------------------------- May 1945: World War II ends. Berlin divided into Soviet sector in east, and U.S., British and French sectors in west --------------------------- 1948-1949: Soviet forces blockade West Berlin, an island in communist- controlled East Germany. Allies airlift in supplies for 15 months --------------------------- 1949: Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) founded May 23. German Democratic Republic (East Germany) founded Oct 7 --------------------------- 1953: Uprising against working conditions by East Berlin building workers suppressed by Red Army --------------------------- Aug 13, 1961: Border between East and West Berlin closed. Soldiers begin constructing wall --------------------------- 1963: U.S. President John F. Kennedy visits wall, declaring himself a Berliner and vowing to protect people of West Berlin --------------------------- 1973: East and West Germany establish formal diplomatic ties --------------------------- 1987: President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin and urges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down wall --------------------------- Sep 1989: Hungary opens its border with Austria – thousands of East Germans flee to West --------------------------- Oct: Gorbachev visits East Berlin and warns East German authorities not to delay reform --------------------------- Nov 4: One million people attend pro-democracy demonstration in East Berlin, prompting East German government to resign three days later --------------------------- Nov 9: Thousands of East Germans go to border crossings demanding they be let through. Border guards stand back as wall is breached and people begin to pull it down in celebration --------------------------- ANATOMY OF THE WALL Started as barbed wire and light fencing. Built up over years into complex series of walls, heavily guarded fortified fences, and watchtowers --------------------------- PATROLLING Grenztruppen: Up to 50,000 border guards were given full authority to fire on fleeing individuals if order to halt was ignored Hinterland wall 3-4m-high concrete wall, topped with barbed wire Alarm equipment Acoustic and optical alarms linked to 3m-high electric fence Dogs Running along rail Floodlights Illuminate control strip and wall’s interior side Hedgehog anti-vehicle obstacles BT-11 Watchtower: 302 towers guarded wall Trip flare Asphalt patrol road CROSS-SECTION OF BERLIN WALL (1980s) Trabant 601 Kubel patrol vehicle Control strip 6m-wide area of sandy soil shaped to reveal footprints Anti-vehicle ditch EAST BERLIN WEST BERLIN Boundary wall: 3-4m-high, L-shaped wall, made of reinforced concrete and topped with cement tube to prevent escapees from getting any grip --------------------------- MPiKM assault rifle Radio Binoculars 35mm camera Ammunition pouch --------------------------- HUMAN TOLL --------------------------- During the Wall’s existence, about 5,000 people are estimated to have successfully escaped to West Berlin. Somewhere between 100 and 200 East Germans died attempting to cross the Wall --------------------------- Seventeen- year-old Peter Fechter was shot while attempting to cross the Wall on Aug 17, 1962 --------------------------- Source: The Berlin Wall and the Intra-German Border 1961-89 By Gordon L. Rottman, Chris Taylor Pictures: Getty Images, Associated Press © GRAPHIC NEWS