The history of the Berlin Wall traces back to the period of formation of the East and West Berlin in the year 1961. Meant to curb the immigration of refugees from either sides of the newly formed territories, the Berlin Wall stood its ground for the next 28 years.
History of the Berlin Wall
After the second World War, the four allied powers, France, Britain, America and Soviet Union, overpowered the Nazi territories in Germany. The acquired territories, on the guidelines of the Potsdam Agreement, were divided amongst the four allied powers. But there was dissent between these powers regarding the fact Berlin was under the jurisdiction of the Soviet Union.
The growing tension between the four dominating powers- France, Britain, America and Soviet Union led to the bifurcation of Germany into West Berlin or Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic or the East Berlin. West Berlin comprised of territories that were dominated by America, France and Britain and East Berlin was solely dominated by the Soviet Union.
Initially in the year 1961, the East Germany army decided to separate the two territories with a barbed wire, which was ater replaced by the Berlin Wall, constructed by the Russians. lThe Russians with this final step succeeded in cutting off the two territories
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from each other. Out of the eighty crossings in the Berlin Wall, only twelve were left untouched.
An important feature of the Berlin Wall is the Checkpoint Charlie. This checkpoint served as the only transit area between the two territories of West and East Berlin. This is where the prisoners of war and the captured spies from both the sides of the wall were exchanged.
The main reason behind the fall of Berlin Wall was the increasing influx of refugees from either territories, irrespective of the checkpoints in the Berlin Wall. The refugees, with the hope of better prospects on the other side of the wall, chose to change their routes via the countries of the Eastern bloc. The Wall was finally dismantled on 9th November 1989 which marked a historic event in Germany.
Although the Berlin Wall has been completely dismantled, there are certain parts that have been preserved to commemorate the period when Berlin was divided into East and West blocs. The East Side Gallery, with a total length of 1316 meters, is one of the preserved sections of the Berlin Wall. It is situated between the Hauptbahnhof and the Warschauer Strasse and runs along the Mühlenstrasse. This part of the Berlin Wall is also famous for its 106 paintings inscribed on it. Some of the other sites that still has parts of the Berlin Wall are Invaliedenfriedhof, Reichstag, Bornholmer Strasse, Nieder-kirchner Strasse and Zimmerstrasse.
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