The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall Why it was built

The stages of the wall Escape attempts The fall of the wall

Germany was split into 4 quarters

To be overseen by the four world powers

Great Britain

France

Soviet Union

United States

Controlled by German Democratic Republic (GDR)

East Germany Suffered from poor housing

Food Shortages Low Wages

Most of the industrial out put went to the Soviet Union.

Between 1949 -1961• 2.5 million Germans Left East Germany

• To go to the West to Share in The Growing prosperity

In 1952 East German Government

Built a fortified border

The only place East Germans could get through was in Berlin.

The Heart of East Germany

August 12 1961

4000 people left East Germany

August 13, 1961 Walter Ulbricht ordered

Workers to shut off the border

Tear up the streets Installed barbed wire entanglement fences Train services between the 2 sectors was

cut off Road traffic was stopped East Germans were not allowed to leave

without permission.

Many people tried to escape

1st Stage Barbed wire fence

6 feet high Replaced with concrete blocks 12 feet high and 66 miles long.

2nd stage of the Wall 1962- second fence was added Parallel to the first one 100 yards further in Area between the strips “Death Strip”

3rd stage of the Wall IN 1965-

Concrete slabs between steel girder Concrete Sewage pipe on top

4th Generation Wall 1975- new concrete segments More resistant to break 45,000 separate sections 11.8 feet high 4.9 feet wide Topped with a pipe

The final wall had 19 sections

The first section

The Wall

Followed by The Stripe’s & The barricade

Anti Vehicle Trench

• Light mast

Column Track

Patrols

Soldiers

300 Watch Tower Electrical Barbed wire

• 30 Bunkers

The final section The background wall

They also used Dogs, boobie traps

and alarm boxes

Ways to Escapes Climbing the wall August 17,1962 Peter

Fechter, 18

Was shot as he tried to escape.

5000 People tried to escape by climbing the wall

100 to 200 were killed.

Tunnels Dug by college students 1st successful one was at a graveyard

Creative Ways Hot Air Balloons Ultra lights

Fall of the Wall September 10, 1989 Hungarian government opens borders for

East German Refugees. A Flood of East Germans made their way

west.

November 9, 1989 Gunter Schabowski decides to open the

border.

Thousands of people gather at the Bratenburg Gate

They Climb the wall to see the people on the other side for the 1st time in 29 years

The Wall Today

Views from the East Side