Berlin Wall Research by Samantha Santoro

Berlin Wall

• Research by

• Samantha Santoro

• G.A.P. 2006-2007

Why I chose this Building

• Saw a documentary about it

• Interesting

• Know people who saw it

Name Origin and Meaning

• Located in Berlin, called Berlin Wall

• In German Berlin Wall is Berlin Mauer (Mauer meaning wall)

Location

• Continent - Europe

• Country – Germany (formerly East Germany)

• City - Berlin

Important Facts

• Was begun in 1961

• No longer standing

• East Germany and West Germany were separated by different governments

• East Germany = poor & communist

• West Germany = successful & free

Important Facts Con’d

• The Allies supported West Germany which was democratic

• The Soviet Union (Now Russia) controlled East Germany, which was communist

Functions

• To try to stop people from moving from East Berlin/Germany to West Berlin/Germany (2.6 million people moved)

• To try to stop “Brain Drain” from East Germany (Lost intelligent and young people)

• From 1954 to 1961, 3,100 doctors had left-1/5 of doctors in East Germany

Considerations for Construction

• Escaping Berliners

• Political Issues

• Dividing City/buildings/ churches

Walter Ulbricht

• East German leader in 1961

• Title was Chairman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic or GDR (Staatsratsvorsitzender in German)

• Presenter of the idea of “temporary” barbed wire fence

Erich Honecker

• Member of East German Central Committee & supporter of Ulbricht

• Man in charge of building Berlin Wall

Nikita Krushchev

• Title was Premier Krushchev

• The leader of the Soviet Union

• Gave permission for Ulbricht’s proposal & said, “Put up the barbed wire. If they don’t react, put up a wall.”

Warsaw pact Members

• Soviet union (most powerful)

• East Germany

• Czechoslovakia

• Bulgaria

• Hungary

• Poland

• Albania (left in 1962)

Size, Shape and Form

• 96 miles - border length around West Berlin

• 11.8 ft high, 66 miles long - Concrete segment wall

• Each section weighed about 2.5 tons

• 41 miles - wire mesh fencing

Size, Shape & Form Con’d

• 65 miles - anti-vehicle trenches

• 79 miles - contact or signal fence

• 7.33 yd. wide, 77 miles - column track

Phase 1

• Barbed wire

• (August 13, 1961)

Phase 2

• Concrete objects (August 15, 1961)

Phase 3

• Concrete slabs between steel girders and concrete posts (Beginning 1965)

Phase 4

• Concrete segments

• Bunkers

• Watch & Viewing Towers

• Guard dogs

• Directing/control towers

• Anti-vehicle trenches

Phase 4 Con’d

• Tarmac roads

• Electric fences

• Armed guards

• Flood lights

• Automatic guns

• East wall whitewashed (to show people climbing wall easily)

Materials

• Cement slabs

• Concrete blocks

• Barbed wire

• Metal pipes

• Stalin’s grass

• Wire mesh fence

Materials Con’d

• Wire entanglements

• Softsand

• Tarmac

Human Interest Stories

• West Berlin family tried to learn about sick relative in East Berlin by talking through fence

• Couple lifted new twin babies over wall so grandparents could see them

• East German guard saw scenes which made him jump over the fence

Escape Attempts

• Man strapped meat to himself to protect him

• People went through sewers

• People went through tunnels

• People jumped out windows

• People went up in hot-air balloons

• People hid in cars

Tunnel Construction

• Usually measured 3 ft. by 3 ft.

• Wooden floors and ceilings

• Roof held up by wooden beams

• Lit as light as a living room

• Compressed air was pumped in to the people building the tunnel

Monument Sites

• Hinterland Wall at the Bornholmer StraBe

• Bernaur StraBe

• Wall segments along the “Ulbricht-Kurve”

• From the Death Strip to the Wall Park in Prenzlauer Berg

Monument Sites Con’d

• Around the Nordbahnhof

• The Invalid Cemetery in Berlin-Mitte

• Hinterland Wall at the Leipziger Platz

• The Wall at NiederkirchnerstraBe

• Watchtower at the Kieler Eck

• The Watchtower in the Erna-Berger-StraBe

Monument Sites Con’d 2

• Directing Tower Schlesischer Busch

• The Hinterland Wall at the Rudow Heights

• And der Schillingbrucke

• The East Side Gallery

Comparing & Contrasting to Others

• Proposal of fence on US/Mexican Border-

• 1. Not to keep American people in

• 2. To keep illegal immigrants out

• 3. Proposal is fence and vehicle barriers

Comparing & Contrasting to Others Con’d

• Israel’s Security Fence

• 1. Temporary

• 2. To keep terrorists from harming Israeli citizens

• 3. Made of fencing and alarm systems

Comparing & Contrasting to Others Con’d 2

• The Great Wall of China

• 1. Made of BRICK and GRANITE

• 2. 3,948 miles long

• 3. To protect people from nomadic tribes

• 4. Ran through entire country of China

Bibliography

• Internet

• “Berlin Wall Wall-Monuments.” Senate Department of Urban Development. December 12, 2006 http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/berliner_mauer/mauer_denkmale.shtml

• “Bermauer StraBe.” Berlin Wall. December, 13, 2006

• “The Berlin Wall.” The Berlin Wall A look back at the fall of Communism

• and Soviet influence. December 4, 2006

• “Episode 9: The Wall.” CNN Perspectives Series Cold War. December 12,

• 2006 http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/

• Reber, Nichole. “Berlin Wall a powerful influence for intern’s architect’s

• perspective.” Herald Tribune.com. December 4, 2006

Bibliography Con’d

• “The Berlin Wall as a building structure.” Berlin Wall. December

• 13,2006

• berlin/en/berliner_mauer/>

• “The system of the Berlin Wall.” History of the Berlin Wall. December 13,2006 http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/facts_03.htm

• “The Wall From East to West.” Concrete Curtain Tenth Anniversary

• Opening of the Wall. December 12, 2006

• http://www.msnbc.com/news/wld/graphics/berlinwall_dw.htm

• Trager, Eric. “Security Fences Make Good Neighbors.” Israel–at-a- Glance. December 13,2006

• “Trying to Escape.” Newseum: Berlin Wall. December 13,2006 http://www.newseum.org/cybernewseum/exhibits/berlin_wall/

Bibliography Con’d 2

• “Wage Terrorists Lurking South of the Border.” December, 13,2006

• http://statastic.com/category/Israel/

• Books

• Blashfeild, Jean F. Germany. New York: Children’s Press, 2003.

• Epler, Doris M. The Berlin Wall How It Rose and Why It Fell Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1992.

• Nickles, Greg and Niki Walker. Germany. New York: Raintree Steck- Vaughn Publishers, 2001.

• Wyden, Peter. Wall The Inside Story of Divided Berlin. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.

• Interview/ Letter

• Muck, Jack. [phone]. December19, 2006.

• Muck, Peggy. [phone]. December 19,2006.

• Santoro, Susan. Home. December 19,2006.

Thank You

• Thank you for listening!!!!!!!!!!