On Saturday Aug. 12, 1961, a record number of people (approximately 4,000) fled from East to West Berlin. Between 1948 and 1961, 3 million people had fled the communist state, representing one sixth of East Germany's population.
Reasons Why the Berlin Wall Was Built
The Soviets had built a heavily fortified barrier between East and West Germany, which made West Berlin a small capitalist island in the middle of a communist state. The wall was built to prevent mass emigration from East to West Berlin, for economical reasons as well.
The Building of the Berlin Wall
On Sunday Aug. 13, 1961, the following day of the mass emigration, the world waking up to find 30 miles of barbed wire running through the city. The barrier was laid by East German soldiers and volunteer workers. Two days later, on Tuesday Aug. 15, the same soldiers began to transform that wire into a wall - The Berlin Wall.
The Wall on a Map
The map of Germany showing the separation of the two sides - East and West. The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989.
The Berlin wall
This is how the Berlin Wall looked like after the construction finished. Once completed, the wall followed a 96-mile zigzag path, but only 27 miles of the wall divided East and West Berlin; the rest of the barrier separated West Berlin from the surrounding East German countryside.
People Protesting the Construction of the Berlin Wall
Germans protesting and trying to convince to not build the wall.
John. F. Kennedy on the Separation of Berlin
It is widely regarded as the best-known speech of the Cold War and the most famous anti-communist speech. Kennedy aimed to underline the support of the United States for West Germany 22 months after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall to prevent mass emigration to the West. The message was aimed as much at the Soviets as it was at Berliners and was a clear statement of U.S. policy in the wake of the construction of the Berlin Wall.
German Guard Escaping the East Side
When 18-year-old border guard, Conrad Schumann, jumped the barbed wire fence he was guarding he became the first defector from East Germany and a symbol of the Cold War. The date was August 15, 1961, and the wall had been under construction for three days. As people on the West side of the street shouted "come over here," Schumann jumped the barbed wire and was driven away by a waiting West Berlin police car.
East Germans fleeing to West Berlin
Footage of East Germans escaping to West Germany
Defence Of Berlin
The defensive system of the wall and methods of escapes.
