My first visit to the Berlin Wall was in 1988. The imposing Wall surrounded Berlin’s western sectors. It was a rainy July, and the whole city seemed to be colored various shades of grey. Who knew that a year later, there would be color? The next time I saw Berlin was in 2018. The Wall had been down for nearly 30 years, longer than it stood. Coming up from the U Bahn stop in the former East was disorienting. I could see the other side of the Brandenburg Gate. Then I stood where the Wall once was. That imposing structure, designed to keep people in, was replaced by a line in the road.
It’s worth looking a little deeper at the Berlin Wall to try to understand why it existed and the scars it left behind.
Berlin Wall History
Let’s go back to the end of World War II. Germany ended up divided into sectors controlled by the victorious Allied Nations, the United States, England, France, and the Soviet Union. In addition to dividing the German nation, the Allies divided the city of Berlin into four sectors, each under a different nation’s control. What made this significant is that Berlin was deep in the Soviet sector, but as the former capital, the other countries wanted to keep some control. But, the lines weren’t always clear, and the confusion caused by different rules and restrictions in different neighborhoods, even neighboring buildings, made the city challenging to control.
(A great scene illustrates this in the movie “The Big Lift.” When the main characters are about to be arrested, a scuffle breaks out between officials to determine precisely what sector they are in. Who gets to bring them in? By the time the measuring tapes get pulled out… the hero escapes.)
Things got worse when East Germany officially became a communist state under the USSR in 1949. The state-planned economy and tight restrictions were unwelcome by many Germans. Still, at the time, leaving was as simple as stepping over into the West. (If you can call leaving your whole life behind “easy”). The GDR /DDR lost thousands of citizens this way; many were young, educated, or trained people who took their talents and skills along. It was a brain and muscle drain that the East couldn’t afford. The hemorrhaging needed to be stopped.
So, they built a wall. Officially, it was to keep the “fascist” Westerners out… but really, it was to keep the East Germans in.
Visit to the Berlin Wall
The Brandenburger Tor
This sign sent the message home to me.
Checkpoint Charlie
I did not cross… I was with my mother and her cousin, both German citizens.
Looking Over the Wall
I was shocked… they cut apartment buildings away from the wall… so no one could escape.
In the 1980s, the political climate began to change.
June 12, 1987, American President Ronald Reagan made his famous speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate where he declared “Mr Gorbatschov, tear down this wall!”
Series: Reagan White House Photographs, 1/20/1981 – 1/20/1989Collection: White House Photographic Collection, 1/20/1981 – 1/20/1989, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
And then, on November 9, 1989… The Wall Came Tumbling Down
And Germany Could Finally Healsn
Lear 21 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
October 3rd, 1990, was declared German Unity Day!
Why is German Unity Day celebrated on October 3, and not November 9? Find out here-> German Unity Day
Berlin NOW
Recently I visited Berlin, and tried to get some Photos from the same Spots
I could photograph the Brandenburg Gate without a sign and wall in the way. It’s funny, when we came out of the Underground, I realized we were on the EAST side, where I could not go before. We even walked through it, so I could get this photo.
Checkpoint Charlie is a touristy spot… have your photo taken with guards in Soviet uniforms (that didn’t appeal to me at all). We did go to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. (This one is more interesting for adults than kids… lots of reading).
Checkpoint Charlie
And the Berlin Wall… is reduced to souvenirs and novelty items
Now the Wall and it’s signs are just novelty items…
Original Piece of the Berlin Wall in Checkpoint Charlie Motive Souvenir 2 x 2 Checkpoint Charlie)
LoMall 12 x 16 Metal Sign – Checkpoint Charlie Berlin Wall – Vintage Wall Decor Art
The East Side Wall Gallery
You can still visit a section of the Wall… the East Side Wall Gallery is an open air museum worth visiting.
Learn more about it here–> East Side Wall Gallery
Visit to the Berlin Wall Today
You can see where the Berlin Wall stood, the pieces that are left, and both East and West Berlin. Take a tour with a knowledgeable Guide for a great experience.
My husband was in Berlin not long after this happened. We have a small chunk of the wall from that time. I thought the LichtGrenze was a beautiful tribute.
Happy Unification Day to all my friends and relatives in Germany…. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I wA IN bERLIN WHEN THE WALL WAS OPENED. a VERY EMOTIONAL DAY. AFDDRTER the unification many DDR residents were unhappy because living in the west oriented country was very expensive compared to East German prices, and all the wonderful things that were never available in the East w=ere still difficult to obtain.I had cousins in the East and some were unhappy for years. People from the East did not call it”Wiedervereinigung” sondern “Wende” meaning change or turn. Amazing that the unfree, deprived citizen had such reservations belonging to a free Germany.
I have a couple of pieces that I purchased at Checkpoint Charlie