Saturday, October 11

Berlin Wall 1961, 1966, 1989, 2008 and Martti Ahtisari

Today I will focus on the Berlin Wall.
The wall separated the two German states for 28 years and 1 day, from the day construction began on August 13, 1961 until it was dismantled beginning in late 1989. It was considered to be a longtime symbol of the Iron Curtain.
During this period, at least 136 people were confirmed killed trying to cross the Wall into West Berlin, according to official figures. However, a prominent victims' group claims that more than 200 people were killed trying to flee from East to West Berlin.The above photo is taken 3 days after the first concrete blocks began to divide west and east Berlin. The border was closed at Checkpoint Charlie, but still possibilities to drive through. In October the first Panzer Confrontation happened, and you may now see the physical wall in Friedrich strasse behind the control post.

The next photos are taken five years later when I and my fellow students visited the city.Here we all are gathered on the "safe" west side of the wall with Brandenburger Tor behind us
Inger Anne near Checkpoint Charlie with only ruins to see on the DDR side.
Looking over the wall seeing the DDR guards with dogs and guns and rebuilding of houses in no escape distance. The control post in 1966 and 2008 Today tourists can bring photos with themselves from this point, and some remains of the wall can be seen in different places in Berlin. Artists painted the west side for many years, and parts of the wall are now for sale, or just for promoting the sales.
At Potsdamer Platz you may have your legs placed on the both sides, and study historical photos and text from the "closed" area.
The first hole in the wall in 1989 was in this square and the buildings today are marvelousIt is my hope that the Israeli government understands the possibilities that can emerge if they more active go for peace with the Palestinians and remove the present wall of shame or the West Bank Barrier. The key to removing of the Berlin wall was Gorbatsjov. Can we hope for another key in Obama.
If not competent ((knowledge + skill)*attitude), please call the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Martti Ahtisari

8 comments:

Ivar Østtun said...

Takk for en flott og interessant tur ;-)

Rune Eide said...

Takk you for the guided tour! And I'll support your last paragraph.

Anne said...

Kjempespennende lesning Arne!! for dette er et tema jeg ikke kan mye om du..., litt mer nå da takket være deg.

God lørdag til deg min venn.

Damen her må på handling da det er eko i kjøleskapet etter mannfolka som har rådet kjøkkenet noen dager.
Tror DE skal få en guidet tur på Rema i dag, i tilfelle det blir en lengre konferanse neste gang.

Håper du overlevde både sykepleiere og stikking :-)

DeniseinVA said...

Thank you for such a very interesting and informative post. Your pictures were wonderful. I thought you might be interested in the fact that there is part of the Berlin Wall at the Newseum in Washington DC, USA. I have photos here:

http://anenglishgirlrambles.blogspot.com/2008/08/part-of-berlin-wall-at-newseum.html

Gerald (SK14) said...

I remember watching the fall of the wall on TV and it was a joyous occasion. Your tour brings it all back. A lot has happened since then and lessons can be learnt.

Herbert, London said...

I visited Berlin in 1988, 1972 and 1980 but haven't been back since the Wall came down as that always seemed to me an essential part of the city's identity. That does not mean I am not glad that Stalinism collapsed.

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Sergey Tchernyakov said...

Thanx for sharing this unique photos about West Berlin. I take a pleasure. Greetings from Moscow, Rus.Federation.