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The Berlin Wall is arguably one of the most visited sites in the City of Berlin and Germany in general. Construction of the wall was started in 1961 and 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. The Berlinwall fell on On 9 November 1989, five. Germany was reunited officially on 3rd October 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Berlin wall.
In the German language the wall is known as “Die Berliner Mauer.” The history of the Berlin Wall can be traced to the cold war in 145. After the II World War in 1945, Germany was divided into territories. Eastern part of the country went to the Soviet Union while the Western part went to France, Great Britain and the United States. The wall finally came down in 1981, 5 days after demonstrators held a protest. The protest was against the division of German people and demonstrators demanded a unified German nation. Germany was reunited officially on 3rd October 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Berlin wall.
The wall was meant to keep East Germany from The West. The government at the time felt thet the influence was from the west of Germany was unwanted and had to build the wall to keep western influence out. East Berlin was Soviet controlled, so the wall was built to prevent the population from escaping the soviet controlled regime. As mentioned, construction of the wall was started by the German Democratic Republic, (GDR, East Germany) on 13th August 1961. During this time fachism was the main form of rule in a number of European countries. Fascism is a set of right-wing political beliefs that includes strong control of society and economy by the state, a powerful role of the armed forces and stopping of the political opposition. This explains why any anyone who tried to cross the Berlin Wall, or was thought of having an opposition towards the government was either killed or detained.
Despite all this, Germany was officially declared one state on 3rd October 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Berlin wall. 3rd October is a national holiday in Germany celebrating the German Unity Day. This day has been a German National Holiday since 1990, when the reunification was formally completed.
The Wall in Present Day Berlin
At the wall one finds an exhibition with information about the government at the time, and how life was for Germans on the east side of the wall during that time. The exhibition at the small piece of the Berlin wall that remains today is known as ‘Topography of Terror’. It is important to have this reminder and hopefully prevent a case of history repeating itself.
The existing wall has been slightly caged in to prevent people from directly touching it as there were people who were breaking parts of the wall and keeping it.
Other Places to visit Berlin
Today #KerryganTravels took you to the Berlin Wall there are many other beautiful places to visit in Berlin too. Can’t wait to share those pieces with you. On the top things on things to do in Berlin here are a few suggestions
The other place to visit in Berlin is The Jewish Memorial. Memorial was built to honor the victims of the Holocaust, keep alive the memory to educate future generations, and warn future generations to never violate human rights (Mahlum 281).The Jewish Memoroial in Berlin was built as a monument as a place of remembrance and commemoration for the up to six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust
The Jewish Memoroial in Berlin was built as a monument as a place of remembrance and commemoration for the up to six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust
The other location in Berlin that belongs to the top place to visit in Berlin is the Brandenburger Gate.
The Berlin parliament is also an amazing place to visit. The glass dome at the top gives you panoramic views of the beautiful City of Berlin.
Well.. when visiting Berlin I hope this gives you on places that are a must visit.
I loved this piece thoroughly, you are a great writer!