The Berlin Wall - Lessons Learned

A short video by Carsten Cumbrowski about the history of the Berlin Wall that physically and spiritually separated an entire city and its people for 28 years; caused hundreds of deaths and inflicted pain in millions of Germans of two generations.

This version of the video consists of 21 individual video and audio sources, 54 individual images and 470 words of text for caption, labels and informational messages blended in and out throughout the whole video.

Background music by X-Ray Dog (a few seconds of song "The Journey" used for the intro), John F. & die Gropiuslerchen: "Berlin, Berlin (...Dein Herz Kennt Keine Mauern)" from 1987 and Die Skeptiker: "Berlin" from 1995. Idea, concept, script and editing by Carsten Cumbrowski.

Copyleft 2008. Feel free to copy, distribute and share this video with friends, family or strangers.

Cheers!
Carsten Cumbrowski

See my article of the historic time line of the events related and surrounding the Berlin Wall at http://www.roysac.com/blog/2009/10/berlin-wall-history-timeline-from-may.html

Also see my blog post at http://www.roysac.com/blog/2008/08/berlin-wall-and-walls-between-us.html for more facts and information about the Berlin Wall and an extended version of the video (too long for YouTube).

Fast Facts
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International Press-Conference in East-Berlin on 15 June 1961
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A journalist from the West German newspaper "Frankfurter Rundschau" asked the question, if the creation of a "Free East Berlin" means that a border will be erected at the Brandenburg Gate.
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The East German Head of State "Walter Ulbricht" responded to this question with the following...
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"I understand your question like that there are people in West Germany who wish that we mobilize the construction workers of the capital of the GDR to erect a wall, yes?
I am not aware of such intention, but that the construction workers of the capital are mainly busy with the construction of homes and that the available man power is used entirely
Nobody has the intention to build a wall."
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During the night of 12-13 August 1961, a barbed-wire entanglement was hastily constructed through the heart of Berlin.

Just two days before the barrier was erected 1,500 refugees had moved to West Berlin.
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Watchtowers punctuated the city limits and the temporary barbed-wire constructions were soon replaced with concrete.

Within a year the Wall was seven and half miles long and fences stretched the remaining 91.7 miles around the city.
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Border Guards had the order to shoot anybody who attempted to cross the border and ignored the guards order to stop.
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Over 200 people who tried it died.
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The wire fence and small brick wall segments were replaced in 1965 with a concrete wall.
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Between 1975 and 1980 the final and most sophisticated version of the concrete wall was built.

It was made up of 12ft tall and 4ft wide reinforced concrete segments and the top lined with smooth pipe made of concrete to make it harder to climb.
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The wall fell on November, 9th 1989 without a single shot being fired or anybody getting injured.
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The first segments of the wall were demolished within the first few weeks.
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Within a few years only very little remains of the Wall were left and had to be preserved be declaring them a historic monument that is not to be demolished.
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The largest remaining segment of the Wall is the "East Side Gallery" near the Oberbaumbruecke along the Spree River.
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Another segment can be found north of Bernauer Strasse.

The third and last segment still in existence is located at the location of the former Gestapo head quarters between "Checkpoint Charlie" and "Potsdamer Platz".

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Berlin
• Wall
• Germany
• Cold
• War
• East
• GDR
• DDR
• Mauer
• Iron
• Curtain
• Divided
• City

[sayhotdog]

Can anyone tell me why was Berlin wall made?

[turnbeutelvergesserB]

I added a link to the article of mine with the historic time line of the events related and surrounding the Berlin Wall. But the short answer to your question is: East Germany was "bleeding out". Mostly the young and skilled people used the open border between East Berlin and West Berlin to flee to the west. The Border between East Germany and West Germany was already shut. That had catastrophic consequences for the East German economy. Ulbricht had to stop that.

[coldplasma1]

what the sign say in german at 6:45 mins i got this :

bleibt die mauer gehn die leute fdilt die mauer ist sie pleite ja sie hat es wirklich schwer unsre arme DDR

remains the wall fdilt people go to the wall she is so broke she has it really hard our poor DDR

[turnbeutelvergesserB]

Roughly translated:

If the wall stays, the people will leave

if the wall falls, "she" will go bust/broke

yes, she has it tough our poor GDR

Cheers!

[MercedesStarcruiser]

The saddest thing is that nobody of those people that stands behind that system and installed that dictatorship was jailed or stopped the payment their pensions and even their monitoring agency, their secret service was integrated into the west germen secret service.

but none of the victims of that cruel system was recompensed or had their reputation reconstructed each of them must fight on their own in a long lawsuit.

[turnbeutelvergesserB]

That's actually not true. Egon Krenz and several other Politbuero members went to prison for several years. But I hear you. Too many were simply absorbed by the West German system without retributions,

[hanzadude]

GO FREEDOM!

[NeoFalcon69]

You can divide a country but you cannot divide blood.

[heathirving]

@turnbeutelvergesserB

not to mention the hypocritical attitude west berliners had,where they would enjoy the free education,free health care,and dirt cheap prices in east berlin,then at the end of the day bog off back to the west

[aguyfromsweden]

@sayhotdog becuse the comunistic eastgermany under the controll of the sovietunion didnt want any one to escape from their nation.. and that I may tell you was sick as hell!

[rezek71]

You cannot say be active and not allow new walls. America (as most 1st world countries) is being overrun by illegal aliens. 1st world values will be destroyed and all western countries will resemble mexico city.

[DrMotorDude]

@Allexmax Because the walls that keep good people in (Berlin) do not stand - but the walls that keep bad people out do (Palestine.)

[DrMotorDude]

@sayhotdog The REAL reason was the communists wanted to have a contained and controlled population. Eliminating freedom of movement was the biggest obstacle in their 'plan.' I lived in Germany in the late 1980s and saw it myself - you could ONLY approach the wall from the west - think about it. Truth is the whole state of DDR was a prison.

[pimpout46]

@turnbeutelvergesserB , the berlin wall was made because dat kept the communist the and the capotalist apart if im correct

[kazpmk]

Yes but at least you know what you are paying for. Now we pay a lot of taxes but we don't get anything in return.

[dadecountyhustler305]

@xxironballzxx

SHure who wouldn't but tax increases is something we wouldn't

[xxironballzxx]

most of us americans would welcome universal medicare for 64 and younger.

[Tonza]

What has happened after ddr?

Well educated women are moving elsewhere after better jobs and poorly educated men are just left in east-germany.

Men in todays east-germany have no job or gf/wife and neo-nazism is rising among these men.