155772

The exact location of the Berlin Wall ruins

The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer English: Berlin Wall) was a fully enclosed border defense system built by the GDR government around the West Berlin border during the Cold War to separate it from the West Berlin city under the jurisdiction of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was built on August 13, 1961, with a total length of 167.8 kilometers. It was initially made of barbed wire and masonry, and later reinforced as a border defense facility consisting of watchtowers, concrete walls, open areas and anti-vehicle trenches.

The GDR government called the wall the “Anti-Fascist Defense Wall” (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall), and its purpose was to prevent the GDR residents from fleeing to West Berlin. The Berlin Wall is also known as the “Showcase of the Free World” (German: Schaufenster der freien Welt). It was an important landmark of the division of Germany and the Cold War after World War II, and it became a symbol of the Iron Curtain that divided Eastern and Western Europe.

Original site

Only a small part of the original site of the Berlin Wall remains, and the rest have been almost completely demolished. There are three longer ones: one on Niederkersina Strasse, between Potsdamer Platz and Checkpoint Charlie, about 80 meters long. Another longer deposit is near the Oberbaum Bridge along the Spree River, where there is a large amount of graffiti, often referred to as the East Side Gallery. The third, north of the Bernauer Street, is a partially reconstructed enclosure that was converted into a memorial in 1999.

Some of the Berlin Wall monoliths and watchtowers are also scattered around the city. There is no longer a place to reflect the original appearance of the Berlin Wall. Fragments of the Berlin Wall are seen by many as souvenirs, some of which are taken to souvenir shops in Germany and sold online.

Today, the east side of the Berlin Wall is also covered with graffiti. In reality, the east side is guarded by the East German border guards, and there is only graffiti on the west side. In the more touristy areas of central Berlin, the city government has used cobblestones to mark the site of the Berlin Wall on the street floor.

In most cases, only the first fence is marked. Both walls are marked at Potsdamer Platz to give visitors a sense of the scale of the Berlin Wall border system. A private museum in Berlin has rebuilt the wall, about 200 meters, as it was, very close to Checkpoint Charlie, and is treated as a relic as Memorials and historical witnesses continue to attract a large number of tourists to visit.

On March 2, 2013, “Berlin Wall Gallery threatened by construction planners,” said the BBC when reporting on the demolition of Berlin’s “Gallery East”. The Washington Post wrote: “A section of the Berlin Wall will be demolished to build high-end apartments.” The demolition, which was interrupted by the protests, has attracted media attention around the world. The “Gallery East” in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district of Berlin is protected as a historical object. On the afternoon of March 4, 2013, 3,000 protesters held a demonstration in the “East Gallery”.

A 45-meter-long wall has been demolished in the past, and about 20 meters of the Berlin Wall will be pulled down to build a new bridge and a 63-meter-tall building. And this cultural relic may continue to be opened: an office and the commercial street is also planned to be built. The city of Berlin stated that the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district must do everything possible to ensure that there will be no further demolitions in the future and to preserve the integrity of this section of the Berlin Wall, which is of great historical importance to Berliners and tourists. .

Berlin Tourism Director Burkhard Kieck has just wrapped up a promotion in Los Angeles. “I also showed pictures of the ‘Eastern Gallery’ in the US,” he said, with the artist’s re-creation of the Berlin Wall appearing in travel brochures about Berlin around the world. It represents the spirit of Berlin and the colorful life experience, so it is very popular with tourists.