30 years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Cover Image Courtesy of Raphaël Thiémard from Belgique on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berlin_1989,_Fall_der_Mauer,_Chute_du_mur_01.jpg

It is hard to believe that it has only been 30 years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall – where, before the dramatic evening of 9 November 1989, the citizens of Berlin were effectively barred from half of their own city as a Soviet controlled barrier was erected almost overnight, separating families and friends in the name of ‘protection’ from capitalism. How is this concrete structure that separated West and East Berlin for 28 years remembered now, 30 years later? 

Walking around Germany’s capital city today, the divisions created by the Wall are not always physically obvious and it requires some imagination to understand how the city would have felt encased by 155km (91 miles) of concrete wall lined with barbed wire, standing 3.6m (11.8ft) high. The 27-mile portion of the barrier separating Berlin into East and West consisted of two concrete walls between which a ‘death-strip’ up to 160 yards wide, complete with watchtowers, anti-vehicle trenches, guard dog runs, floodlights and trip-wire machine guns prevented any movement from East to West. The Wall, known as the Antifaschistischer Schutzwall (anti-fascist protection barrier) by the authorities of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was responsible for either 192 or 239 deaths, according to reports, with many more injuries between the years 1961 and 1989.

Image Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Bethanien06.jpg

With construction first beginning on 13 August 1961, the GDR began fencing off the border between Berlin’s East and West sections in an attempt to stem the ‘brain drain’ of skilled workers and professionals looking for more freedom and a more comfortable life in West Germany and beyond. Despite East Germany being one of the richest and most advanced countries in the Eastern Bloc at the time, it saw increasingly large numbers of its citizens fleeing to the West towards a democratic parliamentary government and a social market economy. The closure of the frontier in 1958 had caused an acceleration of this movement, with 30,000 East Germans fleeing each month by July 1961, thus the Wall was the solution found by the GDR authorities. Effectively overnight, the city of Berlin was split in half and families were kept apart by barbed wire fencing which was quickly fortified by concrete and armed guards.

During the next 28 years, it is estimated that there were around 5000 successful escapes into West Berlin and the early successful attempts involved people jumping over the barbed wire fences or leaping from windows of apartments that lined the Wall. These buildings were quickly boarded up and later demolished. East Berliners became more and more ingenious in their attempts to flee to the West with attempts including long tunnels, sliding along aerial wires and using low sports cars to race under checkpoint barriers. Sadly, many of these attempts ended in tragedy with various named victims being shot by guards at the Wall. One of the most notorious is the attempt of Peter Fechter in August 1962. The 18-year old was shot and left to die in full view of the western media after he attempted to flee to the West to see his sister. The last person killed whilst trying to flee was Chris Gueffroy on 6 February 1989 just nine months before the Wall came down. 

The tragic and brutal nature of the 28 years blighted by the Wall raises the question of how it should be remembered 30 years on. The Wall itself has mostly been demolished and much of it was chipped away and taken home as souvenirs on the night of the Mauerfall (fall of the Wall). Today a lot of Berliners have a piece of the concrete displayed in their homes or offices. The decision to open the borders and take down the wall came after a series of revolutions as well as peaceful protests in other Eastern Bloc countries such as Poland and Hungary that worked as a catalyst and put pressure on the GDR authorities. There were weeks of civil unrest before the East German government made the announcement that all GDR citizens could visit West Berlin. The events of this press conference, on the evening of 9 November 1989, have become very famous as the party boss in East Berlin, Günter Schabowski’s response to a question from the media, that the Wall should be opened ‘immediately, without delay’ was allegedly a misinformed, panicked reaction and the government had not actually planned for the borders to be opened until the following day. His words were taken up by the local news channels which had serviced East Germany since the late 1950s and those watching trusted the reports, which galvanised over 30,000 citizens to flock to the Wall that night, who, along with West Germans on the other side, then scaled the wall in celebration as the helpless border guards were overwhelmed by the masses and simply opened the frontier. 

Today, where it does remain, the structure that was used to oppress and prevent freedom is now being reclaimed by artists, such as at the famous East Side Gallery, to highlight new social campaigns such as climate change and togetherness. Here, somewhat ironically, considering its intended use as a ‘protection’ against capitalism, the Berlin Wall serves as a large tourist attraction for Germany and its capital city, with thousands of tourists crowding along the remaining Wall to take photos. Sections of the Wall have also been carefully preserved, such as at the Topography of Terror: a museum focusing on the tragic reality of living in divided Germany where the Wall is used as an educational tool for those learning about the history of Germany and the Berlin Wall Trail which runs the whole length of the swathe of the Wall is also popular with tourists and locals keen to explore the 180-kilometre-long section of cycleway and footpath. The trail leads predominantly over former but still existing customs and patrol routes and over routes in the border strip where just over 30 years ago those trespassing in these death strips would have been shot.  

There are numerous ways in which Berlin has also chosen to remember the Wall, after its demolition, including the powerful device of cobble stones incorporated into the pavement of the city. At the site of the Brandenburg Gate, for example, the stones delineate the path the Wall formerly took to prompt imagination or remembrance of where the Wall stood. There are also artistic attempts to recreate the effects of the border, such as the installation, on Bernauer Straße, of tall metal rods with enough spacing for one to look through but still narrow enough to prevent access to the other side suggesting the feelings of longing to escape felt by those in East Germany. These rods can also create the illusion of a complete structure when looked at from certain angles to imitate the effect of the Wall. 

Even if the wall was demolished completely and the artistic installations did not exist, the experiences of those who lived with the wall would not be forgotten. For many years after the reunification of Germany, there was conversation about the cultural differences between Ossis and Wessis (colloquial terms for Germans from the East or West) and how they have different outlooks on certain aspects in life, sometimes described as Mauer im Kopf (the wall in the head). This idea clearly highlights the lasting legacy of the division of Germany and Berlin in those years, suggesting that despite the removal of the physical barrier almost overnight on 9 November as the border was opened, the effects of 28 years of living under such different governments could not be overcome so quickly. Although differences are still perceived between those from the East and those from the West, Germans also make similar distinctions between North and South, just like other nations. Living here, the cultural differences between East and West, however, are more notably discussed perhaps due to the fact that it has only been 30 years since the Wall fell and there are plenty of people still alive in Germany who lived with the Wall. 

Any left-over cultural differences are no cause for concern, they are cherished with a sense of nostalgia – with the word Ostalgie (nostalgia for the East) coined to describe the sentiments of, most often, the older generations who found the Communist way of life in East Germany satisfactory and less competitive than the Capitalist western society they were brought into overnight on 9 November 1989. 

Nowadays Berlin is recognised as a liberal and thriving capital city where its inhabitants live alongside the memory of the separation as they cycle along the Wall Trail or walk over the cobble stones incorporated into the pavement. It is important that the Wall is remembered to honour those who died trying to escape East Germany and to serve as a reminder that this is a city which will not be divided again.