Perhaps the most fascinating and confusing historical landmark in Berlin is the Berlin Wall.  We didn’t know much about the wall before visiting Germany, but the city makes information easily accessible, even providing maps that trace its path.

Memorials and information centers that explain the purpose and construction of the Berlin Wall can be found all over the city so residents and visitors never forget its dark history.

Why Was The Berlin Wall Built?

After WWII, the Allies split Germany into four zones to be occupied by France, the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom.  The Allies wanted to rebuild Germany, but the Soviets had plans of their own; Stalin wanted his section of Germany to become part of the Eastern Bloc, a series of Communist countries that provided a protective barrier for the western border of the Soviet Union.  Stalin added East Germany into his Communist arsenal in 1949, renaming the state the German Democratic Republic (even though there was nothing democratic about it).

When East Germans witnessed the rapid resurrection of West Germany, floods of people emigrated to the West for a chance at a better life.  The government had to act fast to stop the exodus to the West — around 3.5 million had already abandoned the East. On August 12th, 1961, the citizens of Berlin awakened to the shocking sight of barbed wire dividing the city.  The East German government spinsters called the division an Anti-Fascist protection barrier to protect East Berlin against the “fascist” Westerns.

Three days later, the first concrete slabs were erected in Berlin. Armed guards patrolled the border with orders to shoot and kill any East Berliners attempting to escape.  Within weeks, Germany was divided by a wall 87 miles in length.  The wall stood for over 28 years until a revolutionary wave sweeping the Eastern Bloc nations triggered civil unrest in East Germany that made the fall of the Berlin Wall nascent on November 9th, 1989.

The wall was slowly chipped away by elated citizens until the East German military officially started to dismantle it in the summer of 1990.  The fall of the Berlin Wall led to German reunification on October 3rd, 1990, and by 1991, almost the entire wall was gone.

Where The Berlin Wall Still Stands Today

There are three extended sections of the wall still standing today.  The longest and most popular is the East Side Gallery, a mile-long stretch on Mühlenstraße that’s been turned into a gallery consisting of over 100 paintings from artists around the world.  (We weren’t able to visit the gallery due to bad weather.)

The second longest stretch of the Berlin Wall is on Niederkirchnerstraße near the Topography of Terror.  Near this area are exhibits that chronicle escape attempts — over 5,000 people attempted escape with 192 murdered by guards — and the uprising that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The third longest intact section of the Berlin Wall is located on Bernauer Straße, which is where the dismantling officially began.  The site is also home to a reconstructed stretch of No Man’s Land, the heavily guarded stretch of dirt, landmines and patrol cars between the two sides of the wall; there’s also a Berlin Wall Documentation and Memorial Center with an observation deck to overlook No Man’s Land.

Following a cobblestone path that marks where the wall once stood will lead you to these intact sections of the Berlin Wall.  However, there are still plenty of memorials featuring chunks and individual slabs of the wall all over the city, including in parks, museums, and even shopping malls.

No Man's Land on Bernauer Strasse

People overlook No Man's Land from an observation deck at the Documentation Center

Much of the Berlin Wall was chipped away on Bernauer Strasse

Stretch of the Berlin Wall near the Topography of Terror

Berlin Wall Memorial at Potsdamer Platz

Piece of the Wall on Wilhelmstrasse near Hitler's Bunker

Segments of the Berlin Wall in front of the Berlin Hi-Flyer (Welt-Balloon)

Slab of the Berlin Wall outside Checkpoint Charlie Museum