It stretched around 155 kilometers through the middle of the capital. On August 13, 1961, the construction of the Berlin Wall began – and also separated families and friendships.
On the 62nd anniversary of the building of the Wall, the victims of the GDR border regime were commemorated in Berlin on Sunday. Numerous personalities from politics and society came together at the Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse to commemorate the people who died or were killed trying to escape. Other consequences of decades of division were also discussed, such as the separation of families and the lack of freedom for people in the GDR.
Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) laid a wreath for the Berlin Senate. “Even after so many years, it is important to remember and to make people aware again and again that democracy and freedom cannot be taken for granted and that people fought for our reunited Germany and today’s free Berlin or even for their desire for freedom died,” Giffey said in a written statement.
The construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13, 1961 and sealed the German-German division. The leadership of the GDR wanted to stop the mass exodus of people to West Berlin and the Federal Republic, which was slowing down the GDR economy and destabilizing the state.
The bulwark, around 155 kilometers long, divided Berlin for more than 28 years and separated the western part of the city from its surroundings. According to the Berlin Wall Foundation, at least 140 people were killed at the Wall during this time or lost their lives in connection with the GDR border regime. In addition, at least 251 travelers died during or after controls at Berlin border crossings. After mass protests in the GDR, the Wall was opened on November 9, 1989.
Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow also recalled the peaceful revolution of 1989: “It was the citizens of the GDR who brought down the Wall almost 30 years later. On November 9, 1989, they opened the door to German and European unity “, he said. The painful experience of “a Germany divided by walls and barbed wire” reminds us to do everything “so that we can continue to live in freedom, diversity and democracy in our country in the future”.
Source: Stern
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