Ten Facts About The Berlin Wall
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Ten Facts About The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a wall separating the Eastern side  of Berlin from the Western side. It was a symbol of The Cold War until it fell  in 1989. Here are ten facts about the Berlin Wall.
Fact One
Construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13 1961 as a  way of separating the three zones controlled by France, Britain and America from  the zone controlled by the Soviet Union.
After World War Two, Germany was  split into four zones, each occupied by one of the four Allied powers that defeated  the Nazis. The zones controlled by France, Great Britain and America became West  Germany, or Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany). The Soviet-controlled  zone became East Germany, or Deutsche Demokratische Republik  (Germany Democratic Republic). Germany's capital, Berlin, was situated in Soviet-controlled  East Germany , but as this city was the administrative area for the Allied forces, it  too was split into four. This meant that France, Great Britain and America controlled  West Berlin, whereas the Soviet Union controlled the East. Relations between America  and the Soviet Union soured considerably during much of the second half of the Twentieth  Century. The Berlin Wall was a symbol of this hostility, a physical representation of  what was called the Iron Curtain.
Fact Two
The Berlin Wall was constructed as a way of preventing East Germans  from entering West Germany. It was not so much a boundary for West Germans wanting to  enter the East, who were able to do so by obtaining a permit several weeks in advance.  It didn't face much opposition by the western powers as its construction confirmed that  the Soviet Union were not planning to take over West Berlin.
Fact Three
Official figures show that at least 136 people died trying to  cross the border. People attempting to get from East to West were regarded as traitors  and guards were instructed to shoot at them if they attempted to cross, although not to  kill them.
Fact Four
The west side of the Berlin wall was covered in graffiti. The East side was not.
Fact Five
The Berlin Wall was something of a propaganda disaster for the Soviet  Union and East Germany. It showed the communists to be tyrannical in the way they controlled  the movement of their people and their willingness to shoot at people they considered to be  traitors.
Fact Six
West Berliners used the Berlin Wall as an ideal way of getting rid of  rubbish. If they had anything that needed throwing away, they threw it over the wall. After  all, it wasn't as if they would be made to go over it to fetch it back.
Fact Seven
Michael Knight himself, David Hassellhoff, is huge in Germany. The  Hoff performed his hit "Looking For Freedom" while standing on the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Fact Eight
Despite there being a wall separating East from West, there were a  number of checkpoints that allowed passage to and from the two sides. The most famous of  these was Checkpoint Charlie, a checkpoint separating the American-controlled zone of West  Berlin from the Soviet-controlled East Berlin. The guard house for Checkpoint Charlie was  removed in October 1990 and is now situated in the Allied Museum in Berlin-Zehlendorf. The  last remnant of Checkpoint Charlie, an East German watchtower, was demolished in 2000.
Fact Nine
Although November 9th 1989 is recognised as the date of the fall of the  Berlin Wall, official demolition of it didn't start until June 13th 1990. Between November 9th  and June 13th, border controls still existed, although were less strict that previously.  Parts of the wall was chipped away by Germans to keep as souvenirs/sell on eBay. People  who did this were known as "wall woodpeckers" (Mauerspechte) Some parts of the wall had been  taken down but only to make way for more crossing points. All border controls ended on  July 1st 1990 and Germany was recognised as one country again from October 3rd 1990.
President Ronald Reagan making a speech at the Berlin Wall at  a checkpoint near the famous Brandenburg gate
Fact Ten
The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier above the ground, but what  about under the ground? Berlin, like many major cities, has an underground or subway  system. After construction of the Berlin Wall, trains  could only operate on the side in which they were based. Some trains either ran purely  on the west side or the east side. Trains which previously crossed the border would now  go no further than its respective border and then turn back. This was apart from three  lines that were used by West Berliners but which went through East Berlin for a small  part of their journeys. They travelled through several stations which became known as  Ghost Stations (GeisterbahnhÃ¶fe), dimly lit and heavily-guarded stations that the trains  were unable to stop at. This was apart from certain exceptions: Friedrichstasse Station  was situated in East Berlin, but was used a transfer station for passengers to get onto  other trains travelling to locations in West Berlin. Passengers could also enter East  Berlin at this station if they had the relevant permits (also needed for crossing the  Berlin Wall). Bornholmer Strasse Station was a station that both West and East Berlin  trains passed through, but not on the same lines. Neither side's trains stopped at the  station, and the two lines through it were separated by a tall fence. Finally, Wallankstrasse  Station was another station situated right on the border. There were exits in the station,  some leading the West Berlin, some leading to East Berlin. The exits to West Berlin were open  and allowed people to pass through it freely. The exits to streets in East Berlin were locked.  When the Ghost Stations were reopened after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first people using  them found them preserved as they were when they closed in 1961 with the same signage and  advertisements on the walls.