Information about the Berlin Wall. The fall of the Berlin Wall with the non-intervention of the authorities of the GDR and the USSR is the beginning of the collapse of the socialist camp

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state Completely dismantled, only some fragments remain. Openness to
public No. Crossing only with permission. In management GDR
East Berlin. Battles/wars Berlin crisis of 1961 Events Quadrilateral status of Berlin
Treaty of the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany Media files on Wikimedia Commons

The location of the wall is plotted on a modern satellite image

Story

General information

The construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13, 1961, on the recommendation of a meeting of secretaries of communist and workers' parties of the Warsaw Pact countries (August 3-5, 1961) and on the basis of a decision of the People's Chamber of the GDR of August 11, 1961. During its existence, it was rebuilt and improved several times. The last major reconstruction was carried out in 1975.

By 1989, it was a complex complex consisting of:

• concrete fencing with a total length of 106 km and an average height of 3.6 meters;
• metal mesh fencing with a length of 66.5 km;
• electric signal fence with a length of 127.5 km;
• earthen ditches with a length of 105.5 km;
• anti-tank fortifications in certain areas;
• 302 guard towers and other border structures;
• strips 14 km long of sharp spikes and a control strip with constantly leveled sand.

There were no fences where the border passed along rivers and reservoirs. There were initially 13 border checkpoints, but by 1989 the number had been reduced to three.

On November 9, 1989, under the influence of mass popular uprisings, the Government of the GDR lifted restrictions on communication with West Berlin, and from June 1, 1990, completely abolished border controls. During January - November 1990, all border structures were demolished, with the exception of a 1.3 km section left as a monument to one of the most famous symbols of the Cold War (see Berlin Crisis of 1961).

Prerequisites

Before the construction of the wall, the border between the western and eastern parts of Berlin was relatively open. The dividing line, 44.75 km long (the total length of West Berlin's border with the GDR was 164 km), ran right through streets and houses, canals and waterways. There were officially 81 street checkpoints, 13 crossings in the metro and on the city railway. In addition, there were hundreds of illegal routes. Every day, from 300 to 500 thousand people crossed the border between both parts of the city for various reasons.

The lack of a clear physical boundary between the zones led to frequent conflicts and a massive outflow of specialists to West Berlin. Many East Germans preferred to work in West Berlin, where wages were significantly higher.

The construction of the Berlin Wall was preceded by a serious aggravation of the political situation around Berlin. Both military-political blocs - NATO and the Warsaw Pact Organization (WTO) confirmed the irreconcilability of their positions on the “German Question”. The West German government, led by Konrad Adenauer, introduced the Hallstein Doctrine in 1957, which provided for the automatic severance of diplomatic relations with any country that recognized the GDR. It categorically rejected proposals from the East German side to create a confederation of German states, insisting instead on holding all-German elections. In turn, the GDR authorities declared in 1958 their claims to sovereignty over West Berlin on the grounds that it was “on the territory of the GDR.”

In November 1958, the head of the Soviet government, Nikita Khrushchev, accused the Western powers of violating the Potsdam Agreements of 1945. He announced the Soviet Union's abolition of Berlin's international status and described the entire city (including its western sectors) as the "capital of the GDR". The Soviet government proposed turning West Berlin into a “demilitarized free city” and, in an ultimatum, demanded that the United States, Great Britain and France negotiate on this topic within six months (Berlin Ultimatum (1958)). This demand was rejected by the Western powers. Negotiations between their foreign ministers and the head of the USSR Foreign Ministry in Geneva in the spring and summer of 1959 ended without result.

After N. Khrushchev's visit to the USA in September 1959, the Soviet ultimatum was postponed. But the parties stubbornly adhered to their previous positions. In August 1960, the GDR government introduced restrictions on visits by German citizens to East Berlin, citing the need to stop them from conducting “revanchist propaganda.” In response, West Germany refused a trade agreement between both parts of the country, which the GDR regarded as an “economic war.” After lengthy and difficult negotiations, the agreement was nevertheless put into effect on January 1, 1961. But the crisis was not resolved. ATS leaders continued to demand the neutralization and demilitarization of West Berlin. In turn, the foreign ministers of NATO countries confirmed in May 1961 their intention to guarantee the presence of the armed forces of Western powers in the western part of the city and its “viability”. Western leaders said they would defend “the freedom of West Berlin with all their might.”

Both blocs and both German states increased their armed forces and intensified propaganda against the enemy. The GDR authorities complained about Western threats and maneuvers, “provocative” violations of the country’s border (137 for May - July 1961), and the activities of anti-communist groups. They accused “German agents” of organizing dozens of acts of sabotage and arson. Great dissatisfaction with the leadership and police of East Germany was caused by the inability to control the flow of people moving across the border.

The situation worsened in the summer of 1961. The tough course of the 1st Chairman of the State Council of the GDR Walter Ulbricht, economic policy aimed at “catching up and overtaking the Federal Republic of Germany”, and the corresponding increase in production standards, economic difficulties, forced collectivization of 1957-1960, foreign policy Tensions and higher wages in West Berlin prompted thousands of GDR citizens to leave for the West. In total, more than 207 thousand people left the country in 1961. In July 1961 alone, more than 30 thousand East Germans fled the country. These were predominantly young and qualified specialists. Outraged East German authorities accused West Berlin and Germany of “human trafficking,” “poaching” personnel and attempts to thwart their economic plans. They claimed that the East Berlin economy loses 2.5 billion marks annually because of this.

In the context of the aggravation of the situation around Berlin, the leaders of the ATS countries decided to close the border. Rumors of such plans were in the air as early as June 1961, but the leader of the GDR, Walter Ulbricht, then denied such intentions. In fact, at that time they had not yet received final consent from the USSR and other members of the Eastern Bloc. From August 3 to 5, 1961, a meeting of the first secretaries of the ruling communist parties of the ATS states was held in Moscow, at which Ulbricht insisted on closing the border in Berlin. This time he received support from the Allies. On August 7, at a meeting of the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED - East German Communist Party), a decision was made to close the border of the GDR with West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany. On August 12, the Council of Ministers of the GDR adopted a corresponding resolution. The East Berlin police were put on full alert. At 1 am on August 13, 1961, the project began. About 25 thousand members of paramilitary “battle groups” from GDR enterprises occupied the border line with West Berlin; their actions covered parts of the East German army. The Soviet army was in a state of readiness.

Construction of the wall

Crossing the border for money

During the Cold War, the GDR practiced releasing citizens to the West for money. Such operations were carried out by Wolfgang Vogel, a lawyer from the GDR. From 1964 to 1989, he arranged border crossings for a total of 215 thousand East Germans and 34 thousand political prisoners from East German prisons. Their liberation cost West Germany 3.5 billion marks ($2.7 billion).

Escapees and their victims

Memorial to the victims of the Wall. Photo from 1982.

The Potsdam Research Center, which is counting the victims of the Berlin Wall at the request of the German Federal Government, has documented, as of 2006, the death of 125 people as a result of attempts to overcome the wall. As of 2017, the number of documented victims has increased to 140 people

Those who tried to illegally cross the Berlin Wall in the opposite direction, from West Berlin to East Berlin, are called “Berlin Wall jumpers,” and there were also victims among them, although according to instructions, GDR border guards did not use firearms against them.

For attempting to illegally cross the Berlin Wall, there was an article in the criminal code of the GDR that provided for up to 10 years in prison.

“Mr. Gorbachev, destroy this wall!”

On June 12, 1987, US President Ronald Reagan, delivering a speech at the Brandenburg Gate in honor of the 750th anniversary of Berlin, called on the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev to demolish the Wall, thereby symbolizing the desire of the Soviet leadership for change:

We hear from Moscow about a new policy of reform and glasnost. Some political prisoners were released. Certain foreign radio news broadcasts are no longer jammed. Some economic enterprises were allowed to operate with greater freedom from government control. Is this the beginning of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are these symbolic gestures meant to raise false hopes in the West and strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome perestroika and glasnost because we believe that freedom and security go together, that the progress of human freedom can only bring world peace. There is one move the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would become a symbol of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you are looking for peace, if you are looking for prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you are looking for liberalization: come here! Mister Gorbachev, open these gates! Mr. Gorbachev, destroy this wall!

Fall of the wall

As a result of mass protests, the SED leadership resigned (October 24 - Erich Honecker, November 7 - Willy Stoff, November 13 - Horst Sindermann, Egon Krenz, who replaced Erich Honecker as General Secretary of the SED Central Committee and Chairman of the State Council of the GDR, was also removed 3 December 1989). Gregor Gysi became the chairman of the SED, Manfred Gerlach became the chairman of the State Council of the GDR, and Hans Modrow became the chairman of the Council of Ministers.

The entire Berlin Wall complex, which occupies four hectares, was completed in 2012. The Berlin Senate - an analogue of the state government - invested 28 million euros in the construction.

The memorial is located on Bernauer Strasse, along which the border between the GDR and West Berlin passed (the buildings themselves were in the eastern sector, and the sidewalk adjacent to them was in the western).

Part of the Berlin Wall memorial complex was the Chapel of Reconciliation, built in 2000 on the foundation of the Church of Reconciliation, which was blown up in 1985. The initiator and active participant in the creation of the memorial on Bernauer Strasse was Manfred Fischer, who is called the “pastor of the Berlin Wall.”

In culture

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Fine arts and architecture

If from the “eastern” side of the wall it was impossible to get close to it until the very end, then in the West it became a platform for the creativity of numerous artists - both professional and amateur. By 1989, it had turned into a multi-kilometer exhibition of graffiti, including very highly artistic ones. After the destruction of the wall, its fragments quickly turned into objects of trade. Many fragments of the wall ended up in the United States, for example, in the office of Microsoft Corporation, the CIA headquarters in Langley, at the Ronald Reagan Museum, in Fatima, etc. In 2009, Germany bought a fragment of the Berlin Wall for installation in front of the German embassy in Kyiv as part of celebrating the 20th anniversary of its destruction.

Music

• The song by the pop rock band Tokio Hotel - World Behind My Wall, dedicated to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• Udo Lindenberg's song - "Wir wollen einfach nur zusammen sein".
• On the album Back for the Attack (1987) by the rock band Dokken, there is the song Lost Behind The Wall, which tells about life “on the other side of the wall.” And in the lyrics of the song there is the line “Die Mauer muss weg”, which translated from German means “the wall must disappear.”
• On July 21, 1990, after the demolition of the Wall, but before the reunification of Germany, a grandiose performance of “The Wall” in Berlin, based on the album of the rock group Pink Floyd, organized by Roger Waters, took place on Potsdamer Platz.
• A year before the release of the song “Wind of change” (literally “Wind of Change”) by the group Scorpions, the Berlin Wall was destroyed, and soon the Soviet Union collapsed, so the track was and is perceived as the anthem of Perestroika, glasnost and the end of the Cold War, as a symbol of peace between the peoples of Germany and Russia, world peace. Klaus said: “Our fathers came to Russia with tanks. We are coming to you with guitars"
• 1985 single by Elton John - Nikita.
• Song by progressive rock band Camel - West Berlin
• In the 1977 song Holidays in the Sun, the punk rock band Sex Pistols call for the Berlin Wall to be torn down.
• Song of the bard Nikolai Nick. Brown's "Berlin Wall" in 1990 with the question: "When will we destroy the idols of lies?"
• The title of Queen's album - Jazz and the drawing on its cover were taken from a drawing on the Berlin wall in the area of ​​​​Checkpoint Charlie, which the musicians saw while visiting East Berlin.
• Mike Mareen - composition Germany, just about the wall. 1987 album Let's Start Now
• The song of the group "Bi-2" "Goodbye Berlin" talks about the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• The Pigott Brothers - song "Berlin Wall", 2012, album The Age of Peace.

Books

• Humorous story by Mikhail Kazovsky “Psycho, or an Unsuccessful Attempt to Cross the Wall” (2008).
• In the book “Rivne / Rivne (Stina)” by Alexander Irvanets, a wall runs through the Ukrainian city, dividing it into eastern and western sectors. The main character receives permission to visit his family in eastern Rivne.
• In the novel by Russian writer Ilya Stogov “mASIAfucker” (2002), the main character recalls his visit to his mistress in Berlin during the destruction of the wall. He is focused on his experiences and is not able to empathize with the general enthusiasm of people on the streets of the city.
• The story “Apothegeus” (1989) by Soviet and Russian writer Yuri Polyakov describes the trip of a group of Moscow Komsomol functionaries to Berlin with a “visit” of the Berlin Wall.
• Mark Levy's novel “The Words We Didn't Say to Each Other” (2008) describes the events that took place in Germany in November 1989, and the main characters meet on the day the Berlin Wall fell.

Games

• Each box of the World in Conflict collector's edition of the video game contained a piece of the Berlin Wall, the authenticity of which was confirmed by the attached certificate.
• Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer features the Berlin Wall map, where the action takes place at Checkpoint Charlie.
• In the game "Ostalgie: the Berlin wall" the wall is automatically destroyed depending on your actions.

Berlin Wall (Germany) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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Berlin is a city with a rich cultural heritage, with incredible architecture, museums, theaters, galleries, but for many tourists it is primarily associated with the notorious Berlin Wall. A concrete fence more than three meters high, surrounded by barbed wire, stretching one hundred and sixty kilometers, was not just a border between two parts of the German state, it divided thousands of families overnight for almost thirty years.

The Berlin Wall was erected at the end of the summer of 1961, and it fell only in the fall of 1989, during which time about seventy-five thousand people were detained and convicted while trying to cross it, and more than a thousand were shot on the spot, including even children. In November 1989, Germans from East Berlin were allowed to cross the border with special visas, but people did not wait to receive them and forcibly stormed the wall, behind which they were joyfully welcomed by the residents of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Some of them today decorate large American corporations, museums and even the headquarters of the CIA.

This became a global event; the reunification of families, the city and the entire state was talked about in all corners of the planet. In a matter of days, no stone was left of the wall; its fragments, which West Berlin artists decorated with eloquent graffiti, were sold for a lot of money to private collections. Tourist interest in this unique historical site has not subsided to this day. Many people come to Berlin precisely to see at least its ruins with their own eyes, but the Berliners themselves cannot answer with confidence where exactly it was located. Therefore, today an initiative group, with the support of a special EU fund, is restoring fragments of the Berlin Wall, trying to use the same building materials and achieving maximum historical compliance.

For example, an almost eight-hundred-meter section of the wall along Bernauer Strasse was reconstructed; it was here that people most often tried to cross the border illegally, and their lives ended tragically. When restoring the wall, they used the same slabs from which it originally consisted; they had to be purchased from private collectors around the world at a price of a thousand EUR for each fragment. The completeness of the picture is also provided by three watchtowers, of which there were more than three hundred until the early 90s of the last century.

Today, these unique objects are of great tourist interest, and are also a symbol of freedom, unity and invincibility of people who once lived in complete isolation.

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More than a quarter of a century has passed since the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall. Willy Brand, one of the Chancellors of Germany, called this structure the “wall of shame.” The concrete fence became a symbol of the split of Germany into separate states and the Cold War - a time of confrontation between two superpowers: the USSR and the USA.

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The unconditional surrender of the Third Reich after World War II entailed the redivision of the world into new spheres of influence. The strengthening of the USSR's position in Eastern Europe aroused the fears of the countries of the Western camp, to which the idea of ​​dividing the defeated power belonged. In February 1945, the participants of the Yalta Conference (America, England, France and the USSR) determined the post-war status of Germany: the allies agreed on the dismemberment of the country. The issue of delimiting the four occupation zones was finally resolved during negotiations in Potsdam on July 17-08, 1945.

Four years later, in May 1949, a new state appeared on the world map - the Federal Republic of Germany, and six months later - the GDR. The nearly 1,400 km long border ran from Bavaria in the south to the Baltic Sea in the north. It cut through the landscapes, settlements and lives of millions of people. Berlin also turned out to be bipolar, while remaining a free zone. Residents moved without problems between the two parts of the divided city.

Walter Ulbricht, the first person of the GDR, was interested in stopping the increasing outflow of citizens (especially valuable specialists) to the west. He repeatedly wrote to Khrushchev about the need to strengthen control on the border with Germany. The impetus for the construction of the fence was the political conflict of 1961. Its participants - the USSR and the USA - claimed undivided ownership of the city. The Vienna negotiations, the topic of which was the status of Berlin, were unsuccessful, and the Soviet leadership approved the GDR proposal to strengthen border control.

History of construction

On the night of August 13, 1961, barbed wire appeared in the eastern part of the city. Next, armed troops blocked transport arteries and installed barriers. By August 15, the entire border line was cordoned off. The first blocks appeared. Creating a reinforced concrete structure, builders blocked streets, bricked up the windows of nearby houses, cut wires and welded pipes. The wall knew no barriers - it passed through metro stations, tram lines, railway crossings and the Spree River.

The Brandenburg Gate, located along the way, was fenced on all sides, making the main symbol of Berlin inaccessible to both Western and Eastern residents of the city. From 1962 to 1978, the building was completed and re-equipped. Each time the wall acquired more and more sinister outlines.

What was

The Berlin Wall is a 3.60 m high engineering structure consisting of reinforced concrete segments. The top of the fence was covered with iron pipes installed in 1975, which prevented anyone from clinging to the edge of the fortification with their hands. At the same time, to enhance protection, anti-tank hedgehogs and barrier tapes with spikes, popularly nicknamed “Stalin’s lawn,” were installed at the foot of the structure. Several areas were supplemented with live barbed wire.

By the end of the 70s, in some areas on the eastern side, a metal mesh with signal flares was strengthened. It was separated from the wall by an earthen ditch, called the “death strip.” This area was guarded by dogs and illuminated by powerful floodlights. An illegal attempt to move to the western part of the city was punishable by imprisonment or death.

The total length of the structure was 155 km, of which Berlin accounted for 44.75 km. The “Shameful Wall” crossed 192 streets, 3 highways and 44 railway lines. Along the entire length there were 20 bunkers, 302 towers and 259 posts guarded by guard dogs. The defense fortification was patrolled by 10 thousand armed soldiers, who were ordered to shoot to kill if necessary.

Border crossing

The odious construction divided the city and cut off relatives and friends from each other. Only pensioners had the right to cross the border. Nevertheless, reckless refugees tried to find loopholes through which they could leave the “socialist paradise.” According to various sources, between 136 and 206 East Berliners died trying to escape, most of them within five years of the construction of the fence.

The first killed was Günter Litfin, shot dead in August 1961 by GDR border guards while trying to get into West Berlin along the Spree River. In 1966, 40 shots killed two children. They were 10 and 13 years old. The last two victims were Winfried Freudenberg, who crashed on March 8, 1989, while flying over a wall in a homemade hot air balloon, and Chris Gueffroy, who died in a hail of bullets while trying to cross the border in February of the same year.

Fall and destruction

Mikhail Gorbachev, who came to power, began to modernize the state and government apparatus. Under the slogans "Glasnost" and "Perestroika" he reformed the Soviet Union. The leadership of the GDR lost the support of the USSR and could no longer stop its citizens trying to leave the country. Socialist Hungary, followed by Czechoslovakia, liberalized the border regime. Residents of East Germany filled these states, wanting to get to Germany through them. The Berlin Wall was no longer necessary.

In fact, the beginning of the fall of the wall was the evening of November 9, 1989. At a live press conference dedicated to the authorities’ decision to open checkpoints, the question was asked when this resolution would come into force. In response, Schabowski, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Party of Germany, uttered the famous words: “This will happen, as far as I know, ... now, immediately.”

Berliners watching the performance on TV were speechless. When the initial shock wore off, people from both sides of the border rushed to the hated fence. The border guards did not hold back their pressure. The reunion that had been dreamed of for 28 years took place. The demolition of the Berlin Wall began on June 13, 1990 at Bernauer Strasse. But even before this moment, the townspeople had broken many of its fragments, taking away pieces of concrete as souvenirs.

Those of you who want to include a visit to the infamous landmark in your excursion program will be interested in information that the guidebooks do not contain. So, the Berlin Wall: facts and figures.

1. On October 27, 1961, a confrontation between American and Soviet troops occurred at a checkpoint on Friedrichstrasse - 30 battle tanks collided at the border.

1. On June 11, 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle informed the USSR Ambassador about the possibility of a nuclear war in the event of a new military conflict in Berlin.

1. Despite enhanced security measures, in the period between 1961-1989. 5,000 townspeople managed to get over the fence. Taking advantage of their official position, 1,300 GDR soldiers also crossed the border.

1. After the opening of the passage, West Berliners showed generosity to the East German border guards - bars near the wall gave out free beer.

1. Today, some of the concrete monster's segments can be found in different parts of the world, such as the CIA headquarters and the Vatican.

1. The construction and protection of the border fence became a great economic burden for the GDR. The cost was more than 400 million marks (200 million euros). Ironically, the “anti-capitalist stronghold” led to the collapse of the socialist country.

1. On November 9, 2014, on the day of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, 7,000 glowing rubber balls were installed along the entire perimeter of the former border, which soared into the sky at exactly 19:00.

Berlin Wall today

Currently, all that remains of the structure, which aroused hatred and fear among people for 28 years, are only small fragments and a double line of paving stones, snaking like a long snake through the city. To ensure that the memory of the victims remains forever in the hearts of people, the Berlin authorities have opened several museums and memorial centers located next to the remains of the wall.

Memorial on Bernauerstrasse

“Window of Memory” is the name of the memorial, created to familiarize contemporaries with the tragic events associated with the split of the capital. It is dedicated to people living in the eastern part and trying to get to the western part by jumping from the windows of houses and falling to their deaths. The monument is a rusty iron composition containing photographs of the dead.

Nearby there is an area of ​​gray concrete and border strip, a tower, the Chapel of Peace, built on the site of a bombed Gothic temple, a library, a museum and an observation deck. You can get to the memorial by metro (line U8). Stop Bernauerstrasse.

Topography of terror

This place is a reminder of the countless tragedies caused by the Nazi regime. The museum is located on the territory of the headquarters of one of the leaders of the SS - Reichsführer Himmler. Now in a pavilion with an area of ​​800 m2, visitors can look at photographs and documents introducing genocide and other crimes of fascism. Nearby, in the open air, are the ruins of Gestapo barracks and basements, and part of the Berlin Wall.

Address: Niederkirchnerstrasse 8. You can get here by S-Bahn (city train). Line U2 to Anhalter Bahnhof.

Checkpoint Charlie

At the former border checkpoint for diplomats and officials, where a conflict took place in 1961 - a confrontation between Soviet and American tank divisions, today there is a museum of the Berlin Wall. Among the exhibits are unique photographs and devices with which the East Germans moved to the western side: scuba gear, hang gliders and hot air balloons. Near the museum there is a model of a guard booth with “soldiers” standing nearby, dressed in American military uniforms of that time. “Border guards” willingly take pictures with everyone.

Checkpoint Charlie is located on Friedrichstrasse next to the Kochstrasse metro station. The museum is open every day from 9:00 to 22:00.

Nikita Khrushchev at the UN (was there a shoe?)

As you know, history develops in a spiral. This fully applies to the history of the United Nations. Over more than half a century of its existence, the UN has undergone many changes. Created in the wake of the euphoria of victory over Nazi Germany, the Organization set itself bold and largely utopian goals.

But time puts a lot of things into place. And hopes for creating a world without wars, poverty, hunger, lawlessness and inequality were replaced by a persistent confrontation between the two systems.

Natalia Terekhova talks about one of the most striking episodes of that time, the famous “Khrushchev’s boot”.

REPORTAGE:

On October 12, 1960, the most stormy meeting of the General Assembly in the history of the United Nations took place. On this day, the delegation of the Soviet Union, headed by Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, introduced a draft resolution on granting independence to colonial countries and peoples.

Nikita Sergeevich delivered, as usual, an emotional speech, which was replete with exclamation marks. In his speech, Khrushchev, without sparing expressions, denounced and denounced colonialism and the colonialists.

After Khrushchev, the representative of the Philippines rose to the podium of the General Assembly. He spoke from the position of a country that experienced all the hardships of colonialism and, after many years of liberation struggle, achieved independence: “In our opinion, the declaration proposed by the Soviet Union should cover and provide for the inalienable right to independence not only of the peoples and territories still remaining ruled by Western colonial powers, but also by the peoples of Eastern Europe and other areas, deprived of the freedom to exercise their civil and political rights and, so to speak, swallowed up by the Soviet Union.”

Listening to the simultaneous translation, Khrushchev exploded. After consulting with Gromyko, he decided to ask the Chairman for a point of order. Nikita Sergeevich raised his hand, but no one paid attention to him.

The most famous Foreign Ministry translator, Viktor Sukhodrev, who often accompanied Nikita Sergeevich on trips, spoke about what happened next in his memoirs: “Khrushchev loved to take his watch off his hand and twirl it. At the UN, he began banging his fists on the table in protest against the Filipino's speech. Clutched in his hand was a watch that had simply stopped.

And then Khrushchev, in his anger, took off his shoe, or rather, an open wicker sandal, and began to hit the table with his heel.”

This was the moment that went down in world history as the famous “Khrushchev’s boot.” The UN General Assembly Hall has never seen anything like it. A sensation was born right before our eyes.

And finally, the head of the Soviet delegation was given the floor:
“I protest against the unequal treatment of representatives of the states sitting here. Why is this lackey of American imperialism speaking out? He touches on an issue, he doesn’t touch on a procedural issue! And the Chairman, who sympathizes with this colonial rule, does not stop it! Is this fair? Gentlemen! Mr. Chairman! We live on earth not by the grace of God and not by your grace, but by the strength and intelligence of our great people of the Soviet Union and all peoples who are fighting for their independence.

It must be said that in the middle of Khrushchev’s speech, the simultaneous translation was interrupted, as the translators were frantically looking for an analogue to the Russian word “lack.” Finally, after a long pause, the English word “jerk” was found, which has a wide range of meanings - from “fool” to “scum”. Western reporters covering events at the UN in those years had to work hard until they found an explanatory dictionary of the Russian language and understood the meaning of Khrushchev’s metaphor.

Fragment of the Berlin Wall

An undestroyed section of the Berlin Wall is located on Bernauer Straße, a street that divides the lives of Berliners in two. At one time, this border, equipped and fortified with the latest technology, ran along it. In the German Democratic Republic it was officially called the "Anti-Fascist Defense Wall". In the West, with the light hand of the then Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Willy Brandt, it was called nothing less than the “Shameful Wall,” and also quite officially. Today, it’s hard to believe that the cordon between the two states could have been exactly like this - cutting to the quick: the houses on Bernauer Strasse belonged to the GDR, and the sidewalk in front of them belonged to West Berlin.

The Berlin Wall was and is perceived throughout the world as the ugliest manifestation of the Cold War. The Germans themselves associate it not only with the division, but also with the unification of Germany. On the preserved section of this ominous border, a unique East Side Gallery subsequently appeared, attracting the attention of not only art connoisseurs, but also all freedom-loving citizens for whom democratic values ​​are not just nice words, but a state of mind. A separate attraction on the former border is Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous of the three checkpoints on Friedrichstrasse, which now houses the Berlin Wall Museum.

There are probably not many places in the world where you can literally touch history with your own hands, and the Berlin Wall is one of them. For many years, this former border literally cut the metropolis of millions in two, not only along the streets and the Spree River, but also through residential areas. Not to mention the separated families, shattered human destinies and the lives taken of innocent people who, in desperation, dared to cross it illegally. So this place in the German capital is more than unique and worth seeing with your own eyes at least once.

What preceded the construction

At the time the wall appeared, the two Germanys, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, were still very young entities and there was no clearly defined border between them. The same thing was observed in Berlin, the division of which into eastern and western parts was more a legal fact than a real one. Such transparency led to conflicts at the political level and a massive outflow of specialists from the Soviet occupation zone to the West. And this is not surprising: after all, they paid more in the Federal Republic, so East Germans (Ossies) preferred to work there and simply ran away from the “socialist paradise.” At the same time, both states that arose on the territory of the former Reich after World War II, to put it mildly, were not friends with each other, which led to a serious aggravation of the situation around the once common capital, Berlin.

During the existence of both Germanys, several so-called Berlin crises took place. The first two happened in 1948-1949 and 1953. The third erupted in 1958 and lasted three years: it turned out to be especially intense. By this point, the eastern districts of Berlin, while legally remaining under Soviet occupation, were effectively controlled by the GDR. The rest of the city was under both de jure and de facto rule of the Americans, British and French. The Soviet Union demanded free city status for West Berlin. Allies in the anti-Hitler coalition rejected these demands, fearing that the enclave could subsequently be annexed to the GDR, and they would be unable to do anything.

The situation was also negatively affected by distortions in the economic policy pursued by the government of the German Democratic Republic led by Walter Ulbricht. It sought to “catch up and overtake” Germany and, it seems, was ready to sacrifice anything to achieve its goal. Following the example of the USSR, collective farms were forcibly created in the agricultural sector, and labor standards were increased for workers in cities. However, low wages and a generally low standard of living forced East Germans to seek a better life in the West, and people fled en masse. In 1960 alone, about 400 thousand people abandoned their homeland. The leadership understood perfectly well: if this process is not stopped, the young state will die for a long time.

What to do in such a difficult situation? They puzzled over this at the highest level: on August 3, 1961, the top officials of the countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact gathered for an emergency meeting in Moscow. President Ulbricht believed that closing the border with West Berlin was the only way out. The Allies did not object, but had little idea how to implement this in practice. Nikita Khrushchev, first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, proposed two options. The first, an air barrier, was ultimately rejected by the negotiators because it was fraught with problems in the international arena, and above all complications with the United States. The second remained - a wall that would divide Berlin in two. We decided to stop there.

Construction of the Berlin Wall

The appearance of a physical border between both parts of Berlin came as a complete surprise to the population. It all started on the night of August 13, 1961, when the GDR troops were drawn to the conditional dividing line. They quickly, using barbed wire, closed all sections of the border within the city limits. The Berliners, who had gathered on both sides of it the next morning, were ordered by the military to disperse, but the people did not listen to them. It is unknown what this spontaneous rally would have developed into if it had not been for the water cannons brought by the authorities, which they used to hit the crowd, dispersing it in less than an hour.

For two days, military personnel, together with workers' squads and the police, surrounded the entire western zone with barbed wire. About 200 streets, a dozen trams and several lines of the Berlin metro were blocked. In places adjacent to the new border, telephone communications and power lines were cut off. At the same time, the water and sewer pipes running here were plugged. Then the construction of the Berlin Wall began, which lasted until the first half of the 70s. During this time, the concrete border acquired its ominous appearance. There were high-rise buildings adjacent to it, where it was, of course, no longer possible to live, so the apartment owners were relocated, and the windows facing the “enemy” were blocked with bricks. Potsdamer Platz, which instantly became a border area, was also closed to the public.

Interestingly, the Brandenburg Gate, the calling card of Berlin and one of the symbols of all of Germany, stood in the way of the odious structure. But it could not become an obstacle to construction. The authorities didn’t think long and decided... to surround them with a wall, from all sides. No sooner said than done: as a result, residents of not only the western part of the city, but also the capital of the GDR could not even approach the gates, let alone pass through them. So the famous tourist attraction was sacrificed to political confrontation and was closed to the public until 1990.

What the odious border looked like

The border, which could only be compared to a fortress gate, was more than just a wall. It was a complex structure, consisting of a concrete structure itself (length - 106 km, height on average 3.6 m), as well as two types of fences. The first is made of metal mesh (66.5 km), the second is made of barbed wire (127.5 km), stretched over a wall through which voltage was released. When trying to penetrate through it, flares went off, and border guards immediately headed to the site of the illegal crossing of the Berlin Wall. A meeting with them, as you understand, turned into big troubles for the violators.

The “shameful wall” stretched for as much as 155 km, of which 43.1 km were within the city limits. The border was also fortified with a system of earthen ditches stretching for 105.5 km. In some areas there were anti-tank fortifications and stripes strewn with metal spikes, which were called “Stalin’s lawns.” In addition, along the perimeter of the ominous cordon there were 302 watchtowers and other border structures (there were no fences except in places where the cordon ran along the Spree). Along it, the authorities set up a special zone with warning signs, in which it was strictly forbidden to be present.

Fall and destruction of the wall

In June 1987, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, took part in the celebrations in honor of the 750th anniversary of Berlin. It was at the Brandenburg Gate that he delivered his famous speech with the words addressed to the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee: “Mr. Gorbachev, open these gates! Mr. Gorbachev, destroy this wall!” It is difficult to say whether the American leader believed that his Soviet colleague was heeding his call - most likely not. Another thing is obvious: neither the head of the White House nor the owner of the Kremlin at that time even imagined that the ominous border would not last long...

In the fall of the Berlin Wall, which another American president, John Kennedy, called “a slap in the face of all humanity,” an unexpected role was played by... Hungary. In May 1989, the authorities of this country, thanks to perestroika in the USSR, were no longer afraid of the “big brother”, decided to lift the “iron curtain” at the border with Austria. The citizens of East Germany just needed this, and they rushed en masse to neighboring Czechoslovakia and Poland. The goal is to get from these countries first to Hungary, and from there, in transit through Austria, to get to Germany. As in the early 60s, the leadership of the GDR could not contain this flow and no longer controlled the situation. In addition, mass demonstrations began in the republic: people demanded a better life and civil liberties.

After the resignation of long-time leader Erich Honecker and those close to him, the outflow of people to the West became even larger, and this circumstance only emphasized the meaninglessness of the existence of the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989, it was announced on television that the Politburo of the SED Central Committee had decided to lift restrictions on crossing the border with West Berlin and Germany. The Ossies did not wait for the new norms to come into force, and in the evening of the same day they rushed to the ominous structure. The border guards tried to push back the crowd with the help of an already tested means - water cannons, but ultimately gave in to the pressure and opened the border. On the other side, people also gathered, rushing to East Berlin. Residents of the divided city hugged each other, laughed and cried with happiness - for the first time in thirty years!

The date December 22, 1989 became significant: on that memorable day the Brandenburg Gate was opened for passage. As for the Berlin Wall itself, it still stood in its original place, but little remained of its former terrifying appearance. In some places it was already broken, in some places it was painted with a lot of graffiti. People painted drawings on it and left inscriptions. Not only tourists, but also the townspeople themselves could not resist the desire to break off at least one piece from the wall - as a keepsake, realizing that this was not just a souvenir, but a priceless historical artifact. Moreover, the wall was soon demolished altogether; this happened several months after the unification of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic into a single state, which took place on the night of October 3, 1990.

Berlin Wall today

An object such as the Berlin Wall, having ceased to exist physically, still could not disappear without a trace. She left behind a bad memory that is unlikely to be erased from public consciousness. And it’s hardly worth forgetting such sad lessons from history, which are needed in order to prevent this from happening in the future. This border not only divided an entire city, it became a place sprinkled with the blood of innocent people who were desperately trying to escape from a totalitarian state, but died while crossing it. The exact number of victims is still unknown. According to official statistics of the former GDR, there were 125 people. A number of other sources give the following figure: 192 people. However, there is every reason to believe that these data are clearly underestimated. According to some media sources citing the archives of the Stasi (East Germany's secret police), the death toll is 1,245.

Most of the Berlin Wall memorial complex, opened on May 21, 2010, which was called the “Window of Memory,” was dedicated to the innocent victims of political confrontation. Made of rusted steel, the monument weighs about a ton. There are several rows of black and white photographs of the dead on it. Some met their death by jumping from the windows of houses on Bernauer Strasse - the same ones that were later blocked with bricks. Others died trying to cross from East Berlin to the western part of the city. The memorial, located on Bernauer Straße, was completed in 2012 and covers an area of ​​4 hectares. The Chapel of Reconciliation, built back in 2000 on the site of the church of the same name, which was blown up in 1985, also became part of it. The construction of the complex - initiated by the pastor of the evangelical church Manfred Fischer - cost the city treasury 28 million euros. But can historical memory be measured in money? Commemorative plaque on the site of the Berlin Wall

All these years, the surviving fragment of the Berlin Wall, 1316 meters long, remains a “living” reminder of the tragic times of division and confrontation. When the border, embodied in concrete, fell, artists from all over the world rushed here, inspired by the spirit of freedom. They painted the remaining section of the wall with their paintings. Thus, unexpectedly and completely spontaneously, an entire open-air art gallery arose, called the East Side Gallery, which translates as “East Side Gallery.” The result of spontaneous creativity was the appearance of 106 paintings, united by the theme of political detente of 1989-1990 in East Germany. The most famous and recognizable work was the fresco made by our compatriot Dmitry Vrubel. The artist captured in the form of graffiti the famous kiss of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and the First Secretary of the SED Central Committee Erich Honecker.

Special mention should be made of the former checkpoint Checkpoint Charlie on Friedrichstrasse, the most famous of the three checkpoints under American control. Only high-ranking officials could cross the border through Checkpoint Charlie. Attempts by ordinary Germans to illegally enter West Berlin from here were brutally suppressed by the GDR border guards, who without warning shot to kill every violator.

At the above-mentioned border point there is now the Berlin Wall Museum, among the exhibits of which are various equipment and devices with which the inhabitants of the “socialist paradise” tried to escape into “decaying capitalism”. These include parachutes, paragliders, small submarines and even armored vehicles and hot air balloons. The collection contains many photographs depicting watchtowers, bunkers, technical means of warning and much more for which the Berlin Wall became notorious throughout the civilized world. Relatives of Berliners who died trying to cross the wall often come here.

One of the popular exhibitions is of Soviet and American soldiers looking at each other, whose portraits are placed in light boxes (by artist Frank Thiel). Another famous exhibition, “From Gandhi to Walesa,” is dedicated to the theme of a person’s struggle for his civil rights, but only through peaceful means, without violence and bloodshed. The history of Checkpoint Charlie itself is told in an open-air exhibition: comments on the photographic materials are available in both German and Russian. The museum will also show tourists a documentary film telling about the stages of destruction of this terrible border, which seemed to last forever.

How to get there

Considering that the Berlin Wall stretched for several tens of kilometers within the city, it does not have an address in the usual sense.

The surviving fragments of this engineered concrete structure are scattered in various areas along its entire perimeter. You can get to the most preserved and significant sections of the legendary border by metro, reaching the Niederkirchenstracce and Warschauer Straße stations.

Official website of the Berlin Wall memorial complex: www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de. Materials are duplicated in three languages: German, English and French.