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The Red Army captures Berlin and with the end of World War II, on May 8, 1945, Berlin is divided into four sectors: the American, British, and French the West; the Soviet in the East.
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Period: to
The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall
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A 30 day valid Interzonenpass or Inter-zone passport is required to travel between the sectors in Germany. It was still possible to cross between the two sectors, although it was becoming increasingly dangerous.
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Currency reform in Berlin, Berlin is divided into two different currency zones.
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The Soviet Union begins the Berlin blockade.
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The United States begins the Berlin Airlift to keep Berlin supplied with food and fuel.
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End of the Berlin blockade.
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End of the Berlin Airlift.
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The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is proclaimed in East Berlin.
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Border between East and West Germany and between East Germany and West Berlin is closed. Only the border between East and West Berlin is still opened.
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Riots by East Berlin building workers against the working conditions are suppressed by the Red Army.
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The Western Powers waive the Interzonenpass, the Soviet Union follows but East German citizen need a permission to travel to the West.
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Leaving East Germany without permission is forbidden and violations are prosecuted with prison up to three years.
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“Shock workers” from East Germany and Russia seal off the border with barrier of barbed wire and light fencing that eventually became a complex series of wall, fortified fences, gun positions and watchtowers heavily guarded and patrolled.
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Brandenburg Gate is closed.
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Conrad Schumann, the first East German border guard, escapes by jumping the barbed wire to West Berlin.
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The barbed wire barrier is being removed and replaced with a wall of concrete blocks. This first Wall around Berlin was two meters high, made from different building materials assembled into a rough construction.
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All crossing points are closed for West Berlin citizens.
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A second Wall is being built to prevent escapes to the West. The first Wall is improved over the next years and it becomes difficult to distinguish between the first and the second generations of the Wall.
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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.
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President J. F. Kennedy visits Berlin and declares: “Ich bin ein Berliner.” (“I am a Berliner.”)
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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.
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A new Wall generation, the third, is introduced to replace the old construction.
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An explicit firing order is issued to a special team of Stasi agents tasked with infiltrating regular units of border guards to prevent their colleagues from defecting.
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Construction of the infamous ‘Stutzwandelement UL 12.11’, known also as Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall ’75) begins.
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President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin and calls on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
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Chris Gueffroy is the last person to be killed trying to cross the Wall.
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Communist Hungary removes its border restrictions with Austria.
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The Hungarian government opens border for East German refugees More than 13,000 East Germans escape into Austria.
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An estimated one million people attend a pro-democracy demonstration in East Berlin’s main square. Within days, the East German Government resigns.
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The East German government announces that visits in West Germany and West Berlin will be permitted.
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The Brandenburg Gate is opened.
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Germany is formally reunited.