On August 13th, 1961, Eastern Germany began to build a barbed wire and concrete wall between east and west Berlin. The official purpose of this wall was to keep the western "fascists" from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state. The wall stood until from November 9th, 1989 where the head of the East German Communist Party announced that the citizens of Berlin could cross whenever they pleased.
After the Berlin Wall was erected, the German officials started to notice that the wall wasn't exactly doing the job it was intended. People would leap from their windows and hopped the wall. They also noticed that people would dig under the wall and get under, they would put ladders on the wall and so on and so forth.
Because of this, officials obviously had to beef up security. More guards were assigned to patrol the area. The walls were fitted with razor wire and a minefield was installed. This wasn't enough to stop the people from hopping the wall. Officials realized what they had to do. They closed the wall and let the citizens chip away at it with anything they had. Shovels, pickaxes, picks, anything. This was definitely a triumphant event in German history.
Picture of the Berlin Wall - Modern Times
Fun Facts:
- The fall of the Berlin wall happened on accident.
- The Berlin wall was actually two walls.
- More than 5,000 people escaped by going over the Berlin Wall.
I remember people buying little pieces of the Berlin wall after it was destroyed. I wonder if they were real???
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