Wall of Shame Archives - Walled In Berlin

Posts Tagged ‘Wall of Shame’

Berlin Wall Trail Retraces Former Wall

Monday, August 5th, 2019

The Berlin Wall Trail (Berliner Mauerweg) is a 100-mile hike and bike trail that retraces the course of the Berlin Wall, which encircled the western half of the city for 28 years. In many places the path makes use of old patrol roads formerly used by East Berlin border guards or West Berlin customs agents.

Cobble Stones Mark Former East/West Border

Immediately after the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Berliners wanted to forget that the “Wall of Shame” had ever existed. They could barely wait for it to be torn down. But a few years later they decided that some visual reminders should remain. After all, the 12-foot Berlin Wall is part of the city’s history. Following reunification, when massive new construction projects threatened to commit to oblivion the memory of the Berlin Wall, many Berliners wanted to make its former path more visible again. That is why double rows of cobble stones snake through the city today. The cobbles mark the former East/West border.

Cobble stone border markers showing the course of the former Berlin Wall. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Creation of the Berlin Wall Trail for Hikers and Bikers

In 2002, the city also began work on the 4.4 million Euro Berlin Wall Trail project. It consists of a 100-mile hike and bike trail that is divided into 14 segments, each between 4.5 and 13 miles in length. Along historically significant sections, the city installed information boards with photos, texts and maps. In some areas, remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall are left in place. The Berlin Wall Trail also cuts through forests and long stretches of natural beauty.

Berlin Wall Trail (Berliner Mauerweg) sign near Eiskeller. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2019. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Eiskeller – a Community near the Berlin Wall Trail

I was particularly interested in visiting Eiskeller, a tiny rural community and former West Berlin exclave not far off the Berlin Wall Trail. In 1961, a photo from this hamlet had gone around the world, and I will always remember the picture. It was taken the year the Berlin Wall went up when I lived in West Berlin. The black and white photo showed a young Eiskeller boy riding his bike to school along a narrow country road. A British military vehicle followed closely behind. The acompanying narrative became even more incredible decades later. I hoped to find the Eiskeller site by hiking the Berlin Wall Trail, and I was in luck. Get a chuckle when you read the full Eiskeller story in my next blog.

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 and current events, people, places and 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: Berlin Wall Trail, Berliner Mauerweg, Cold War, Eiskeller, fall of the Berlin Wall, Wall of Shame
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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
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