In 1952, East Germany closed its border with West Germany and cleared a three-mile-wide strip along the 860-mile border. This area was fortified with barbed wire fences and landmines. Overnight, barbed wire fences up to six feet high were installed, and Berliners woke up to find their city divided.
On August 13, 1961, at 1:11 am, the East German government abruptly closed the border between East and West Berlin, halting cars and trams in their tracks. This marked the beginning of the Berlin Wall’s construction, a defining moment in the Cold War. The day the Wall's construction began became known as Barbed Wire Sunday. Agence France-Presse reported that overnight on August 12, tens of thousands of guards, soldiers, and police hastily erected checkpoints and barbed wire, effectively imprisoning their own people and solidifying the Cold War division of Europe.
Over the next thirty years, the Berlin Wall became an almost impenetrable barrier. It was fortified with minefields, automatic machine guns, and other security measures to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West. The Wall stood as a stark symbol of the ideological divide between the Eastern Bloc and the Western world.
The Berlin Wall's fall on November 9, 1989, marked the beginning of a new era in German and world history. This event signaled the end of the Cold War and paved the way for the reunification of Germany. The Wall’s dismantling was a powerful symbol of the triumph of freedom over oppression and the beginning of a more unified and peaceful Europe. The reunification of Germany was formally completed on October 3, 1990, solidifying a new chapter of democracy and cooperation in the region.
The Division and Reunification of Germany
