Berlin Wall

By Rae Rae

  • October 29, 1946

    A 30 day valid passport is needed to travel between the sections of Germany. It was still possible to cross between the two sectors, although it was getting very dangerous.
  • Period: to

    Age of the Berlin Wall

    The Berlin wall was a physical wall in the German city of Berlin, it was created as part of the compromise after WWII.

  • April 4, 1949

    The NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is signed, effectively uniting Us, Canada, & western European states.

  • June 25, 1948

    The Berlin Airlift starts.The US is sending help to Berliners, in the form of food & fuel.

  • May 24, 1949

    Federal Republic of Germany is founded, this is now known as West Germany.

  • September 30, 1949

    The Berlin Airlift is discontinued.

  • October 7, 1949

    The German Democratic Republic, later known as East Germany, is founded in Eastern Berlin.

  • April 1, 1952

    Eastern German leaders hold a meeting with Stalin in Moscow, his foreign minister proposes a plan that would effectively slow/ stop the travel between East & West Berlin.

  • May 26, 1952

    Both the the border between Eastern & Western Germany and the border between Eastern Germany and West Berlin is closed. After this, the only the border left open is between between East and West Berlin.

  • November 14, 1953

    Eastern German people need permission to travel West.

  • December 11, 1957

    Leaving East Germany without permission is outlawed with repercussions of up to three years in prison.

  • July 25, 1961

    President John F. Kennedy gives a famous speech, just days after the Border is closed. He openly says that any attack on Berlin by the Soviet Union, would be equivalent to an attack on NATO.

  • August 13, 1961

    The Berlin border is closed, troops are posted immediately. They are later replaced with a loose barrier of barbed wire.This barrier is later upgraded to a series of heavily fortified walls.

  • August 15, 1961

    Conrad Schumann, the first East German border guard to get across the Berlin wall, gets his freedom. However this leads to concrete walls in place of the barbed wire.

  • August 26, 1961

    All crossing points are closed for West Berlin citizens.

  • June 1962

    A second Wall is being built to prevent escapes to the West half of Berlin. AS time goes on the wall gets progressively more fortified.

  • August 17, 1962

    Peter Fechter, 18, a bricklayer from East Berlin, is shot. Other eastern Berliners try to help but are prevented by risk of gunpoint.

  • June 26, 1963

    President J. F. Kennedy visits Berlin and declares: “Ich bin ein Berliner.” (“I am a Berliner.”)

  • December 17, 1963

    After 7 rounds of negotiations between the Senate of Berlin and the East German authorities, an administrative agreement is signed allowing West Berliners to visit their relatives in East Berlin on a limited basis.

  • 1965

    A new Wall generation, the third, is introduced to replace the old construction. The new one consists of concrete slabs laid between H-shaped steel concrete supports. A round, 0,40 meter large concrete tube capped the wall making it more difficult to climb over.

  • August 17, 1962

    Peter Fechter, 18, a bricklayer from East Berlin, is shot and left to bleed to death in full view of western media. Bystanders in the West tried to rescue him, but were prevented from it at gunpoint.
    June 26, 1963
    President J. F. Kennedy visits Berlin and declares: “Ich bin ein Berliner.” (“I am a Berliner.”)

  • May 1973

    East and West Germany establish formal diplomatic ties.

  • 1975-1976

    Construction of the infamous Border wall 75 begins. This new installation a second wall included a touch-sensitive, self-firing fence. Each section was 3.60 meters high and 1.20 meters wide in diameter. It is designed to stop escapes, but it did not work as planned.

  • June 12, 1987

    President Ronald Reagan goes to Berlin & demands the tearing down of the Berlin wall.

  • February 6, 1989

    Chris Gueffroy is the last Berliner killed trying to escape across the Berlin wall.

  • November 4, 1989

    Approximately 1 million people attend a democratic rally, in East Berlin's town square. Within days the the East German Government decided to relent.

  • October 3, 1990

    East & West Germany are formally reunited.