What was the Berlin Wall?

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Berlin is the capital of Germany. Though, after World War II and up until 1990, there was not just one Germany and there was not just one Berlin. Both were divided into East and West parts. West Germany consisted of the areas of Germany occupied by the U.S., France, and the United Kingdom. The government that those countries set up was based on democracy and capitalism. East Germany was held by the Soviet Union and a communist government was set up there. For much of the Twentieth Century, there was a lot of tension between those two government types around the world.

Berlin is a city in that fell within the borders of East Germany, but the city itself was split between east and west. The result was West Berlin being an isolated “Western” zone all by itself in East Germany. Life on opposite sides of the wall was very different because of the different governments. West Germany had democracy. The people had a say in how their government (their cities, their country, and how it affected their lives) would be run. Under communism, people did not have those freedoms. Many people from East Germany wanted to escape to West Germany, where there were better living conditions and opportunities. East Germany did not want to lose citizens or workers so it built a huge wall around West Berlin to keep the East Germans out – the Berlin Wall.

The wall was over 100 miles long. Originally it was made from barbed wire, but over the decades it grew to include large concrete sections over twelve-feet high. That did not stop people from trying to cross it though. Thousands of people were successful at sneaking through or climbing over, but many people were not. Some were captured. Some lost their lives.

Like Berlin, all of East and West Germany was divided. The border was closed and people were not allowed to cross.

The Fall of the Wall

In 1989, communism in Eastern Europe began to fall, and it fell quickly. For 28 years, people in Berlin had grown tired of being separated from the rest of the world. On November 9^th the wall fell. People were allowed to cross the East and West German borders, and the wall itself was physically knocked down. It became perhaps the largest symbol of the fall of communism in that part of the world.

The people in East Germany and the other communist countries stood up for what they believed in and fought for freedom and democracy. It took years of struggle, but the people came together and eventually got what they wanted.

Map Exploration!

Can you find German on a map? It’s a country on the continent of Europe. Using a map or Europe might be easier than a world map. Imagine that the country was split into two halves. The left half would have been West Germany, and the right half would have been East Germany. The actual split wasn’t right down the middle, but it was not too far away.

Now find the city of Berlin. Which half is it in? Imagine a wall built around its West half. What do you think it would be like for the people living in West Berlin, inside a giant wall? Keep in mind that even though there was a wall around it, people still wanted to get inside.