The fall of the Berlin Wall.....Part 1
Construction of the Berlin wall began on August 13th 1961. It effectively cut the city of Berlin in half and came to symbolize the divide between the Democratic West and the Communist East. For over 25 years, the residents of West Berlin were surrounded by walls but it was the citizens of East Berlin that were walled in and unable to enjoy the freedoms of the west. The wall started out as a wire fence and a simple concrete wall. Over the years the fence was improved and the wall was strengthened. Any homes or businesses along the path of the wall were demolished. In 1975, the wall was improved (or more to the point, hardened). The picture below shows this version of the wall....
...it consisted of a 12 foot high reinforced concrete wall, built to nearly impervious standards, topped with a smooth round cap intended to deter someone from scaling the wall. Behind the wall, in an area referred to as the "death strip", were anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire, a lighted service road, a raked sand or gravel road designed to easily show footprints and additional fencing and barbed wire. The open area between the fencing and the wall allowed a clean field of fire for posted guards who had orders to shoot to kill anyone attempting to escape. Research has confirmed 136 deaths but the numbers could be as high as 200. No one is really certain how many escapes were successful, some suggest over 5,000.
Over the years, the residents of West Berlin came to see the wall as a place to show their artistic outrage towards the wall. Some of the art was political...
...some was just artistic expression....
....but most was just a mishmash of graffiti that had a beauty all its own...
...either way, the people hated the wall.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan, a fierce opponent of communism, came to West Berlin and gave a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the city of Berlin and said some very famous words....
Powerful stuff. Little more than two years later, the wall would come down on one of the most dramatic nights of the Cold War.
Continued on Part 2.
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