The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the “death strip”) that contained anti-vehicle trenches, “fakir beds” and other defenses. The Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc officially claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the “will of the people” in building a socialist state in East Germany. However, in practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the “Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart” by GDR authorities, implying that neighbouring West Germany had not been fully de-Nazified. The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the “Wall of Shame” – a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt – while condemning the Wall’s restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB) that demarcated the border between East and West Germany, both borders came to symbolize the “Iron Curtain” that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.
Bernauer Straße is a street of Berlin situated between the localities of Gesundbrunnen and Mitte, today both belonging to the Mitte borough. It runs from the Mauerpark at the corner of Prenzlauer Berg to the Nordbahnhof. The street’s name refers to the town of Bernau bei Berlin, situated in Brandenburg. When Berlin was a divided city, the Berlin Wall erected in 1961 ran along this street. Bernauer Straße became famous for escapes from windows of apartment blocks in the eastern part of the city, down to the street which was in the West.
After the Wall came down, Bernauer Straße was the location of one of its longest preserved sections, which was turned into a memorial in 1999. The street was also the first location of Rainer Hildebrandt’s mauermuseum, before moving to Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. Meanwhile the street has been rebuilt as a main road including a tramway line. However few of the cleared plots at the southside have again been built-up.
The East Side Gallery is an international memorial for freedom. It was created in Spring 1990 by 118 artists from 21 countries. It is a 1.3 km long section of the Berlin Wall located near the centre of Berlin on Mühlenstraße in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and the longest permanent Open Air Gallery in the world. The artists commented in over one hundred paintings with a variety of artistic media, the political changes of 1989/90.
