The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall

There were once two parts of Germany, the East whp were the communists and the West. The Berlin Wall was built to stop people from East Germany, escaping. There were many protests about the wall being built it all just started to happen in the early hours of the 13th August 1961, there were no announcements, notices the German Government just decided that it should happen. The wall was up for at least 28 years during that time 5,000 people attempted to get across to the otherside, but many failed due to the amount 100 to 200 people died .

There was a failed event of Peter Fechter (aged 18), who tried to climb the wall. He was shot and bled to death. tHe last person to be shot and killed, while trying to cross the border was Chris Gueffroy on the 6th February 1989. In 1963, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan visited Berlin commerating the 750th Anniversary of Berlin. The two of them wrote speeches, trying to convince the German Government to take down the Berlin Wall.

The date on which the wall fell is considered to have been the 9th November 1989, but the wall wasn't torn down immediately. During the weeks that followed, people came to the wall with sledgehammers and chisels to chip off souveniers. These people were nicknamed 'Mauerspechte' ( wall woodpeckers).

On the 13th August 201, Germany marked the 50th Anniversary of the beginning the erection of the Berlin Wall