No. 27

Fifty years on, Berlin revisits the day it was torn in two

The building of the Berlin Wall which became a physical divider of Berlin and iconic symbol of Communism began on August 13th 1961.

The barrier was ordered by the East German government with 40,000 soldiers sealing-off all but 13 crossing points into West Berlin with barbed wire.

The operation surrounded a 96-mile perimeter of the city designed to stop East Germans fleeing to West Germany to escape Communist rule.

Some 3,200 people were arrested for trying to cross after the wall was built and at least 136 people were killed trying to get through the wall illegally. Most were shot by East German border guards.

But as Communism across Europe began to crumble so did the wall. Following months of mass demonstrations, on November 9th 1989 the Berlin Wall was breached by hundreds of people after an East German official incorrectly broadcast that border restrictions had been abolished ""immediately".

The country was reunified just 11 months later.

Ceremonies and exhibitions take place in the German capital to mark 50 years since the wall's construction.

Read more |  The Telegraph, 13.08.11

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