Fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany ― Date, History, and Details
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History of Fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany and How to Celebrate/ Observe It
The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier erected 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 Eastern Bloc 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. In practice, the wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the “Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart”. The East German government announced the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961. East German authorities officially referred to the Berlin Wall as the “Anti-Fascist Protection Barrier” (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall).
The Berlin Wall was actually two walls. The first wall was an inner wall that surrounded West Berlin. The second wall was built about 100 yards (91 m) further out and was made up of concrete slabs that were 12 feet (3.7 m) high and 4 feet (1.2 m) wide. There was a “no man’s land” between the two walls that was about 150 yards (137 m) wide. The total length of the Berlin Wall was 96 miles (154 km).
The Berlin Wall became obsolete after the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, when the last section of the wall was demolished by crowds of people using sledgehammers.