Mar 4, 2010 · Two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities begin building a wall—the Berlin Wall—to permanently close off access to the...
The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer, pronounced [bɛʁˌliːnɐ ˈmaʊ̯ɐ] ⓘ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; West Germany) from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany).
Nov 8, 2019 · As GDR soldiers patrolled the demarcation line and laborers began constructing a concrete wall, diplomatic officials and the militaries of both sides engaged in a series of tense standoffs. The...
For many years, the Berlin Wall separated East Germany from West Germany, acting as a physical barrier that symbolised the political divisions of the time. From a small structure of sandbags and barbed wire to a permanent concrete monolith with guard towers and patrolling soldiers, the Wall grew into one of the most prominent political symbols ...
Nov 1, 2019 · These existential deficiencies were why the Wall was built in the first place. With Gorbachev’s famous warning, both it and the state it had isolated were doomed. The fall of the Wall did not entirely end Germany’s division.
On 15 June, East German leader Walter Ulbricht declared that 'no one has the intention of building a wall', but on the night of 12-13 August a wire barrier was constructed around West Berlin. Established crossing points between the Western and Soviet sectors were closed, dividing neighbourhoods and separating families overnight.
The wall included a system of 302 guard towers and 55,000 landmines. A barbed-wire fence where the wall would be was installed overnight, surprising residents on both sides. The East German government claimed that it built the Berlin Wall to keep out Western ideas, spies, and fascists.