8. Erected by East German government / August of
1961.
Separated East Berlin from West Berlin
Divided for 28 years
The Wall
9. Why the Wall?
• Between 1942 and 1962, about 2.5
million East Germans fled to
West Germany, threatening to
destroy
East Germany’s economy.
• Wall was erected because of the
number of East Germans escaping
to West Germany
• West Germany was better off
than East.
• East Berlin was communist-lead
11. Security
• Concrete wall, 12 feet high
• Barbed wire
• Hundreds of guard dogs
• Randomly placed mines buried under the
ground
• 16 foot ditch to stop vehicles from
attempting escape
• Electric fences
• “Death Strip” of barren land
12. Checkpoint
• President John F. Kennedy ordered
checkpoints
• Three checkpoints at different points in the
wall
• “Charlie” because of the American
alphabet
• Other walls were Alpha & Bravo
• Most famous checkpoint
13.
14.
15. Casualties
• An estimated 940 people died
trying
to escape.
• A number of others died by
jumping
off of buildings or drowning.
16. Fall of the Wall
• Mass demonstrations against the government and the system
in East
Germany began at the end of September, until November
1989.
• The government prepared a new law to lift travel restrictions.
•On November 10th and
December 22nd, checkpoints
were opened for pedestrians
• Not until July 1st, 1990, did the
East and West finally reunite