Berlin Wall Archives - Walled In Berlin

Posts Tagged ‘Berlin Wall’

Konrad Schumann Paid High Price for Freedom

Monday, August 15th, 2022

Konrad Schumann (also referred to as Conrad Schumann in English speaking countries) leapt to freedom in the blink of an eye. It happened on 15 August 1961, the third day of construction of the Berlin Wall. Ordered to guard the beginnings of this newly created barrier, he made a split-second decision and jumped into West Berlin.

Konrad Schumann’s Early Years

He was born in 1942 and grew up in a small town between Dresden, and Leipzig, both located in East Germany. Following high school, he apprenticed as a shepherd. Because the military offered better pay and greater promotional opportunities, Schumann enlisted in the East German border police (Grenzpolizei) soon after his 18^th birthday. Following a brief training period, he was posted to a non-commissioned officers’ college in Potsdam. In early August 1961, he volunteered for service in East Berlin, the capital of East Germany. That’s how he came to be in East Berlin on the fateful day in August 1961.

Berlin Crisis

The East German state had been in crisis mode since November 1958. At that time, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had given the three western occupying powers an ultimatum. He had demanded that they transform West Berlin into a demilitarized free city within six months or the Soviets would sign a peace treaty with East Germany and allow the East Germans to control the access routes between West Germany and West Berlin. In spring of 1961, Khrushchev repeated his demands. He believed the free city concept to be a solution to East Germany’s people drain. Between 1950 and 1960, 2.4 million East Germans had fled to the west, pushing the East German economy to the brink of collapse. If West Berlin was a neutral city, however, East Germans might not be so eager to migrate into the west.

Konrad Schumann’s Decision to Jump

At 11 p.m. on August 12, a Saturday, Schumann’s unit was ordered to help seal the border between East and West Berlin at Bernauer Strasse. There were no incidents the first night, but by morning, 1,000 West Berliners had gathered in protest. The demonstrations continued for the next couple of days. The crowd grew more and more menacing. By Tuesday, August 15, they yelled profanities. Schumann was nervous and chain-smoked one cigarette after the other. This was not the kind of job he had bargained for. When he casually pressed down a section of barbed wire with his foot, West Berlin bystanders shouted, “Komm rüber, komm rüber” (come across, come across). When one young man came too close to the border, Konrad Schumann bellowed “Get back at once”, then whispered “I’m going to jump!” The young man alerted the West Berlin police, who soon arrived in a van.

Konrad Schumann’s Leap to Freedom

All of a sudden, Sergeant Schumann threw his machine gun over his shoulder and jumped across the knee-high concertina wire. The act took no more than a couple of minutes, and Konrad Schumann stood on West Berlin soil. He was immediately ushered into the police van and driven off. Eventually, he was flown to West Germany, where he settled in Bavaria. He was free. He felt relief. But fear and grief lurked not far behind. What if the East German Stasi, the secret police, located him? His desertion was punishable with death in East Germany. Would he ever see his family and old friends again?

Konrad Schumann leaps to freedom across the Berlin Wall on 15 August. 1961. Photo: courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, <https:/creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0> walled-in-berlin.com

Life goes on in West Germany

In West Germany, Konrad Schumann picked up the pieces. At first, he worked as a caregiver, then as a worker at a winery, and later at Audi car factory. He married a local girl and seemed content until … the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. He was elated. Now, he could visit his family and friends again. But it turned out to be more difficult than that. Some members of his family and former friends no longer accepted him in their circle. In their minds, he had lost the right to belong with his desertion. As time went on, Schumann got more and more depressed, and nine years later, in 1998, he took his life. The price he paid for freedom had been too high.

Schumann was only three years my senior. We both were in Berlin when the Berlin Wall went up: he on the East side; I on the West side. I saw his escape on film. A few years later, I too, left Berlin for greater freedom, but under very different circumstances. I left for adventure and independence. Would I have had the courage to do what he did?

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

Tags: 15 August 1961, Berlin Crisis, Berlin Wall, Conrad Schumann, fall of the Berlin Wall, free city berlin, Konrad Schumann, Stasi
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Konrad Schumann Paid High Price for Freedom

Entenschnabel – a Cold War Relic of the Berlin Wall

Monday, June 21st, 2021

Entenschnabel (duck’s bill in English) is one of the last remaining Cold War relics in Berlin. Nicknamed for the narrow strip of residential land in the shape of a duck’s bill, it gives the visitor an idea of the magnitude of the impact of the Berlin Wall on civilian life during the Cold War. “Entenschnabel” protrudes from Berlin’s Glienicke district (former East Berlin) into the Reinickendorf district (former West Berlin). This roughly 650-yard-long and 100-yard-wide piece of land has a unique history.

1989 aerial photo of Entenschnabel in the upper left corner. www.walled-in-berlin.com

History of Entenschnabel

Berlin’s district of Reinickendorf purchased the land in 1907 and, thirteen years later, incorporated it into its newly established and posh Fronau neighborhood. Until the 1950s, there was nothing unusual about the small community. Residents and visitors came and went freely. After 1952 however, when the Cold War deepened, West Berliner were all of a sudden denied access to the community. After the Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961, Entenschnabel residents were also prevented from gaining access to the surrounding western part of the city.

The Bizarre Course of the Berlin Wall Relative to Duck’s Bill

When the city of Berlin was divided into four Allied occupation sectors in 1945, Entenschnabel became part of the Soviet sector. Of the four sides of the strip of residential land, only one side was open to the Soviet sector. The other three sides abutted the French sector. That posed a grave security problem for East German authorities. When the Berlin Wall was constructed, border fortifications had to be less extensive than usual in this area because the “almost enclave” was so narrow. The wall ended up running directly through the Entenschnabel residents’ gardens for the next 28 years.

Entrance to Entenschnabel on Silvesterweg. – Where the Berlin Wall once ran. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Life for Entenschnabel Residents During the Berlin Wall Years

East German border security classified Entenschnabel as an inhabited special restricted area, which required special observation. Due to its high-risk location, only people who were considered loyal to the regime were allowed to make their home on the small strip of land. Nonetheless, since the risk of fleeing over the wall into the west remained high, residents and visitors alike were subject to special restrictions. All visitors, including doctors, craftsman, repairmen and delivery services were required to obtain a permit before entering the area. In addition, empty buildings were used by the Ministry of State Security (Stasi) to construct radio technology. All contact with their western neighbors was forbidden to Duck’s Bill residents.

Tags: Allied occupation sectors, Berlin Wall, Cold War, Division of Berlin, Duck's Bill, Entenschnabel, Stasi
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | 2 Comments »

Haus des Rundfunks now houses RBB

Monday, October 28th, 2019

The Haus des Rundfunks (radio broadcasting house) is the world’s oldest independent broadcasting center and Berlin’s oldest radio station. It was designed by German architect and painter, Hans Poelzig, and is located across the street from the trade exhibition grounds in the city of Berlin, Germany. The Haus des Rundfunks was one of the first buildings in Europe dedicated solely to broadcasting. It greatly influenced the development of stereophonic sound and its adoption by radio broadcasting. During the Cold War, the building served as a political football for a number of years.

The Haus des Rundfunks (radio broadcasting house) is the world’s oldest independent broadcasting center and Berlin’s oldest radio station. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com

The building survived World War II and the Cold War and is now used by ARD broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). Despite its age, the building still offers ideal conditions for broadcasting. Immediately adjacent to the Haus des Rundfunks is the new television studio tower of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, formerly called Sender Freies Berlin. It was constructed between 1963 and 1971

Design of the Haus des Rundfunks

Hans Poelzig designed this architectural landmark in 1929. The building forms a triangle with two curved sides and a 500-foot straight façade, clad with ceramic tiles. The gem of the project, the large, central broadcasting studio, was completed in 1933. Poelzig’s design was novel in the broadcasting world because it placed the three transmission studios in the center of the building so that the surrounding office wings would shield them from street noise. Also unique were some of the studios’ acoustic properties. For instance, the chairs in the large broadcasting studio were designed so that the seats had the same sound-absorbing qualities whether or not they were occupied. In the smaller broadcasting studio, the one hundred wall panels could be flipped so that one side of the panels absorbed sound while the other reflected it.

Haus des Rundfunks and the Cold War

After World War II, the Allied occupation forces divided Berlin into four sectors. The Haus des Rundfunks was located in the British Sector of West Berlin. But Soviet forces continued to operate East Berlin’s radio station, Berliner Rundfunk, from the premises. That meant that British soldiers guarded the outside of the building while Soviet soldiers occupied the inside. Since the structure sat entirely in the British sector, the British occupation forces tried to evict the Soviets. They even turned off the water, electricity and heat to the building. To no avail. The Soviets remained put and kept warm by burning the studios’ wood paneling. Not until 1952 did the Soviets move their broadcasting operation to East Berlin. Finally, in 1956, they handed the building over to West Berlin. One year later, after considerable renovation work, the Haus des Rundfunks became home to the West German radio station, Sender Freies Berlin.

The old Radio Broadcasting House still in use today

In 2003, more than a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Sender Freies Berlin merged into the ARD broadcaster, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, which still uses the building today. Its programming includes Inforadio and Kulturradio. The small broadcasting studios are still occasionally used for concerts and radio recordings. The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin regularly perform in the large studio.

The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin regularly perform in the large studio of the Haus des Rundfunks, Berlin. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: Berlin Wall, Berliner Rundfunk, Cold War, Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, East Berlin, Hans Poelzig, Haus des Rundfunks, Inforadio, Kulturradio, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Sender Freier Berlin, West Berlin
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Haus des Rundfunks now houses RBB

Pan-European Picnic and German Reunification

Monday, October 14th, 2019

The Pan-European Picnic was the first in a series of events that dealt fatal blows to the Berlin Wall, brought it down completely a few months later and set the stage for German Reunification. Heartfelt thanks must go to the courageous leaders and border guards of Hungary and Austria who, on 19 August 1989, allowed hundreds of East Germans to cross the border from communist Hungary into democratic Austria. Tens of thousands followed their path.

Purpose of the Pan-European Picnic

On 2 May 1989, Hungary began dismantling the electrified fence along its border with Austria. Eager to renew friendships across the Iron Curtain, the organizers of the Pan-European Picnic arranged for people on both sides of the border to gather for an afternoon of music and speeches. To allow participants to cross back and forth during the event, they temporarily opened the border for a few hours. Planned mainly to show support for open borders and a reunited Europe, the picnic ended up being far more than that.

What happened at the Pan-European Picnic?

About 100 dignitaries were invited to the friendship picnic, which was held in a meadow at the dividing line between the Communist bloc and the west. To everyone’s surprise, 600-900 East Germans also showed up at the appointed time. They had been vacationing in the region. But on 9 August 1989, they had more than holidays on their minds. Rumors had been circulating that the border with Austria was porous. To the vacationing East Germans, these whisperings were analogous to an invitation to make a break for the west.

Big Dilemma for the Border Guards

Apparently tipped off by unidentified diplomats working behind the scenes, the East Germans arrived en masse at the border, catching the Hungarian guards by surprise. The sentries had no special orders. They unable to reach their superiors. The unexpected situation placed the border guards in a moral dilemma. It was their duty to stop the East Germans from crossing the border and to use force, if necessary. Allowing them to pass was a punishable dereliction of duty. A split-second decision with potentially far-reaching consequences had to be made. Since these run-away East Germans with their picnic baskets and strollers seemed to be peaceful, the guards decided to turn their backs on them. Instead, they focused on checking the Austrian picnic guests’ documents. This on-the-spot decision changed the world. Over the next few weeks, 70,000 East Germans exited East Germany through Hungary and Austria on their way to West Germany.

Who Orchestrated the Events?

Thirty years later, the question of who orchestrated the events of August 19, 1989, still remains unanswered. Many suspect behind the scenes efforts. Why did the Heads of State of Russia, Hungary and Austria chose not to interfere? Who distributed the sacks of leaflets, conveniently printed in German and Hungarian in advance of August 19? Was the West German Intelligence community involved? Whatever the case, the events surrounding the Pan-European Picnic opened the door to the Fall of the Berlin Wall three months later and to German reunification a year later.

Monument at the Pan-European Picnic site

Since 2009, a monument by Miklos Melocco commemorates the picnic site. It is named “Breakthrough” and its engraving reads, “On August 19th 1989 an enslaved people opened the gates of its prison so that another enslaved people could walk out into freedom”. http://turizmus.sopron.hu/en/info/sights/history-of-sopron/paneuropean-picnic.html

Monument by Miklos Melocco at the site of the Pan-European Picnic. It is named “Breakthrough.” The inscription reads, “On August 19th 1989 an enslaved people opened the gates of its prison so that another enslaved people could walk out into freedom.” www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: Berlin Wall, dilemma of the border guards, German reunification, Hungary, Miklos Melocco, Monument at the Pan-European Picnic site, Pan-European Picnic
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Pan-European Picnic and German Reunification

Eiskeller Boy With Chutzpah Adds to Berlin Wall Drama

Monday, August 19th, 2019

Eiskeller is a tiny rural community along the western boundary of Berlin. The area of less than 0.20 square miles was a West Berlin exclave during the Cold War and connected to West Berlin proper by a narrow 13-foot wide road. Of course, both sides of the road were regularly patrolled by East German police to make sure that East German citizens would not defect to the west by way to Eiskeller. Also known as the coldest spot in all of Berlin (hence the name “ice cellar),” this small community added some intrigue to Cold War history. Here is what happened:

Eiskeller Boy is Detained by East German Guards

Erwin Schabe was a twelve-year-old schoolboy in 1961 when the Berlin Wall went up. He lived with his parents in their Eiskeller home and attended school in the West Berlin district of Spandau, just half a mile down the road. Every day, he rode his bike down the only road to Spandau. One day, he told his parents that he did not want to go to school that day because East German police had detained him the day before. Now he was afraid of riding his bike down that lonely stretch of road.

British Occupation Forces Provide Protection

Erwin’s parents immediately reported the incident to the British Occupation Forces since Eiskeller was located in the British Zone. In order to ward off an International incident, British military police quickly came to Erwin’s aid. For the next few days, a British armored reconnaissance vehicle accompanied the boy on his half-mile ride to school.

A British armored reconnaissance vehicle accompanies Erwin Schabe along the half mile from Eiskeller to Spandau in 1961, shortly after the construction of the Berlin Wall. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Without delay, the photo went around the world, showing little Erwin on his bike holding a sack lunch and followed by a British military vehicle. Instantly, he became famous and received letters of encouragement and praise from people throughout Germany. A West Germany civil servant even invited him to vacation in West Germany for a week. That’s as much of the story I was familiar with until recently.

My 2019 visit to Eiskeller

Imagine my surprise when I read that Erwin Schabe publicly admitted 33 years later that his story was pure fiction. https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/schulschwaenzer-gesteht-nach-33-jahren-seinen-streich–freiheits-kind–enttarnt-17280662 The Berlin rascal had invented the incident because he needed an excuse that would allow him to skip school that day.

Road from Eiskeller to Spandau in 2019 (now paved). The same road Erwin Schabe took to school in 1961. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Curious about what the half-mile Eiskeller road might look like today, I visited the tiny community, now home to three families, on a recent visit to Berlin. Located on the edge of the Spandau woods, it is just a short walk from the Berlin Wall Trail (Berliner Mauerweg). Along the trail, an info board shows the very photo I remember: A young school boy on his bike with a British military vehicle on his heels. It turns out, Erwin Schabe’s family home is still standing. He hasn’t lived there for many years. The current owner of the home sells beer, soft drinks and ice cream to passer’s by.

Tags: Berlin Wall, Berlin Wall Trail, Berliner Mauerweg, British Occupation Forces, Chutzpah, Cold War, Eiskeller, Erwin Schabe, exclave
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Eiskeller Boy With Chutzpah Adds to Berlin Wall Drama

Where is the outrage?

Monday, January 28th, 2019

Is there no outrage these days when we are told blatant lies? I grew up in West Berlin during the Cold War. One day, on 15 June 1961, I happened to listen to the transmission of a press conference given by East German head of state, Walter Ulbricht. A reporter asked Ulbricht whether making West Berlin a “free city” would mean creating a state boundary at the Brandenburg Gate. Walter Ulbricht’s concept of a “free city,” was that the three western powers would stop occupying and protecting West Berlin. The reporter further questioned whether a “free city” would imply a permanent division between East and West Berlin.

No one has the intention of building a wall

Walter Ulbricht responded by assuring the reporter that the East German government was not planning to erect a wall. Without blinking, he declared, “Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten – No one has the intention of building a wall.” Then he added that East German construction workers were fully occupied with the construction of housing for East German workers. They had no time to build a wall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjgKKOdVRx4/

Outrage over a blatant Ulbricht lie

Contrary to these statements, only two months later – on 13 August 1961 – Ulbricht gave orders to begin construction of the Berlin Wall.

Where is the outrage these days when the public is told blatant lies? Photo of the Berlin Wall © J. Elke Ertle, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Work began shortly after midnight when immense stockpiles of concertina wire and bollards emerged at the border. It became evident that the East German head of state had already been deep into preparation for this momentous event at the time of the press conference. He had told a blatant lie. While East German citizens shrugged their shoulders in resignation, there was outrage throughout West Berlin and all over the western world. How could a head of state sink so low as to shamelessly lie to his own people and to the rest of the world? Was that the difference between communism and democracy, we wondered? Our heads of state didn’t blatantly lie. They didn’t have to.

No outrage over Trump lies?

Now Donald Trump is the president of the United States. Trump has told countless lies and half-truths since he took office. Where is the outrage now? Many Americans simply shrug their shoulders at these deceptions. “That’s Trump,” they say. Does the current generation of Americans accept Trump’s lies the way East German citizens accepted Ulbricht’s lies in the 1960s?

Tags: accepting lies and deception, Berlin Wall, Donald Trump, East and West Berlin, free city, No one has the intention of building a wall, Walter Ulbricht
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Where is the outrage?

Changing Attitudes Toward the Wall

Thursday, January 10th, 2019

In 1987, US President Ronald Regan stood at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, looked across the Berlin Wall to the east and said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Thirty years later, US President Donald Trump shuts down the government to force the issue and says, “The wall is coming.”

Are we going forward or backward?

Changing attitudes? Reagan and Trump talk about the wall. Photo © J. Elke Ertle. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: Berlin Wall, border wall, President Donald Trump, President Ronald Reagan
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Thought of the Day | No Comments »

Berlin’s East Side Gallery history

Thursday, August 23rd, 2018

The East Side Gallery is not a traditional indoor gallery. It is the world’s longest open-air art gallery. This artistic landmark was created in 1990, one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The concrete that now serves as the “canvass” for this 0.8-mile-long gallery was once part of the hated 12-feet tall wall that divided East and West Berlin. Today, it is a monument to the former east-west division and the longest continuous section of the Berlin Wall still in existence. During its almost 28-year existence, the Berlin Wall went through four major redesigns. The part of the wall that is now known as the East Side Gallery was built in 1975.

Section of the East Side Gallery in Berlin, Germany. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Where is the East Side Gallery?

The East Side Gallery is located in the Muehlenstrasse close to the historical Oberbaumbruecke, which spans the River Spree. At one time, the wall formed the border between the Soviet and the American sectors here. After the wall came down, most of it was quickly dismantled. But 118 artists from 21 countries came together and painted 101 murals on the east side of the wall. They chose the east side for their art because during the years of the Berlin Wall only the west side of the wall was covered with graffiti. The East side remained unadorned because it was inaccessible to the East German population during the division. After the fall of the wall, painting on the east side became possible, and with their creations, the artists expressed their euphoria over the peaceful dismantling of the Iron Curtain and their optimism for the new era of freedom.

One of the famous murals in the East Side Gallery is the “Bruderkuss” (brotherly kiss) by Dmitri Vrubel. It depicts Leonid Brezhnev, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, kissing Erich Honecker, former General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party.

Tags: Berlin Wall, Bruderkuss, Dmitri Vrubel, East Side Gallery, Erich Honecker, Iron Curtain, Leonid Brezhnev, Oberbaumbruecke
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Berlin’s East Side Gallery history

5 February 2018 – half-life of the Berlin Wall

Monday, February 5th, 2018

Half-life is the time required for half of something to undergo a process. Today, on February 5, 2018, Berliners celebrate the halfway point between the Berlin-Wall-era and the post-Berlin-Wall-era. In other words, today the Berlin Wall will have been down for exactly the same number of days that it once stood, namely 10,315.

The Day the Berlin Wall went up

The Berlin Wall went up on 13 August 1961 and divided the city for the next 28 years. The purpose of the monstrosity was to stop the massive exodus of East Germans who were seeking a less controlled and more prosperous life in the West. Prior to the construction of the Wall, an estimated 3.5 million people had defected from East Germany.

The East German government called the barrier an “Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart”, necessary to protect East German citizens from western fascist elements who supposedly were intent on undermining East Germany’s efforts of building a utopian socialist state. The West German government called the barrier the “Wall of Shame.” During its 28-year existence, the Berlin Wall was continually fortified with guard towers, anti-vehicles trenches, beds of nails, dog runs, a death strip and shoot-to-kill orders.

Berlin Wall, Photo © J. Elke Ertle, www.walled-in-berlin.com

The Day the Berlin Wall came down

The Berlin Wall stood until 9 November 1989 when it unexpectedly fell in the wake of a misunderstanding. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/the-day-the-berlin-wall-fell/ At an East Berlin press conference, Guenter Schabowski, an East German government official misread a new policy that was intended to allow select East Germans to visit the West with proper approval. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/schabowski-sparks-fall-of-berlin-wall/ Instead, Schabowski mistakenly announced that visits to the West would be permitted “immediately.” http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/brinkmann-or-ehrman-the-crucial-question/ Within minutes, masses of East Germans headed for the Berlin Wall crossings points. Without specific orders and quickly overwhelmed by the crowds, East German border guards opened the checkpoints. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/who-really-opened-the-berlin-wall/ Following that initial border opening on 9 November 1989, there was no going back. Within days, the Berlin Wall began to be dismantled for good.

Tags: 13 August 1961, 9 November 1989, Anti-Fassist Protective Rampart, Berlin Wall, fall of the Berlin Wall, Guenter Schabowski, half-life of the Berlin Wall, Wall of Shame
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on 5 February 2018 – half-life of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Sculpture symbolizes city history

Monday, January 29th, 2018

Berlin is the capital of Germany, a city that was divided into East and West from 1945 to 1989 and brutally severed by the Berlin Wall from 1961 to 1989. But Berlin is also the name of a well-known sculpture, the Berlin Sculpture, located in the median of the Tauentzienstrasse, not far from the famous Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtniskirche. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/iconic-kaiser-wilhelm-memorial-church/. If you are positioned just right, the sculpture will frame the church perfectly.

Berlin Sculpture in the median of Tauentzienstrasse with the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtniskirche in the background. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

How the Berlin Sculpture came about

In 1987, two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city celebrated its 750^th anniversary http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/berlins-long-history/ To commemorate the occasion, the city of West Berlin commissioned a group of artists to create artistic sculptures for its main boulevard, the Kurfuerstendamm. The eight winning sculptures went on display. Husband-and-wife team, Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff and Martin Matschinsky, created one of these eight sculptures and placed their creation within close proximity of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the house of worship that was so heavily damaged during the bombing of Berlin during World War II. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/the-battle-of-berlin-ended-wwII/

The Berlin sculpture consists of four chromed nickel steel tubes, shooting up into the sky, seemingly courting each other without touching. By placing the cylinders in close proximity, yet inaccessible to one another, the Matschinsky-Denninghoff sculpting team tried to represent Berlin’s situation in a symbolic way. From a certain angle, the Berlin Sculpture looks like a broken chain whose links are severed, which symbolizes the division of East and West.

To everyone’s surprise, only two years after the Berlin sculpture was created, the Berlin Wall fell quite unexpectedly. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/the-day-the-berlin-wall-fell/ Today, the sculpture is a reminder of Berlin’s history during the Cold War.

Tags: Berlin sculpture, Berlin Wall, Berlin's 750th anniversary, bombing of Berlin during World War II, Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff, Cold War, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Kurfuerstendamm, Martin Matschinsky
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Berlin Sculpture symbolizes city history