The Wall - Die Mauer

This picture was taken in 1980 and shows the graffiti although at this point it was not so colourful in places such as here in Kreuzburg. Notice the pavement and road which the Wall cuts across at 90 degrees and the ever present notices telling you that you are leaving the West at that point.

Many people died trying to cross into West Berlin from the East and many of these tried to cross the River Spree which was itself a part of the Wall. Some fast swimmers tried to swim it on the surface, some with home made breathing apparatus, some made miniature submarines. Most were doomed to failure as this part of the 'Wall' was heavily patrolled with armed patrol boats and barbed wire placed on the bottom of the river to entangle swimmers. Some of these swimmers were never identified and this memorial cross near the Oberbaum Bridge salutes an unknown escapee.

I hope you enjoy the pages on Berlin and I hope to add to them as I go along. I would be happy to answer any queries on Berlin or its history - just e-mail me by clicking on the Berlin logo here.
Grüsse aus Berlin,
Der Berliner.

The view to the right here is from the Potsdamer Platz looking over the wall towards East Berlin. The tall building with the ball on the top is the Fernsehturm, the televison tower in East Berlin. An incredibly fast lift takes you to the observation ball at the top from which you can look down on Berlin East and West. Although the Wall is no longer there, the tower is and it is well worth a visit.

Just right of center of the picture on the left is the gun tower with the border guards, 'Vopos', keeping a watchful eye open with powerful binoculars. This particular picture was taken at the observation stand in Kreuzburg, West Berlin and the round topped wall in the foreground is the actual Wall itself. Behind the Wall, there was a 'no-man's land' within which nothing moved and which was heavily mined and watched by the armed guards whose job it was to prevent anyone escaping from the East to the West. In the early days of the Wall, several guards themselves escaped which led to them always being paired off, one to watch the other! Often there was a 'dog run' which was a fenced off 'run' parallel to the Wall which the dogs patrolled on their own and in some remote places of the Wall there were auto firing weapons and head high mines to protect it.

The Church of St Thomas on the right here is in the West and the 'no-man's' land behind the Wall can be clearly seen with its many defences. The gun tower in the right of middle can be seen as can the 'hedgehogs' on the right, put there to stop armoured vehicles from breaking through.