The Berlin Wall

Cold War: Berlin Wall. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica. Web. 8 Jun. 2014. <http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/598930/media?assemblyId=86852>.

In preparation in for my adventure, I've been doing some research on sites and events in Germany's history.  Our first stop is in Berlin, and the Berlin Wall has always intrigued me, so of course I want to know more about it.

I was 9 years old when the wall came down and I remember it being on the news, but I didn't really understand it and why it was there in the first place.  My research has really opened my eyes.  I guess, I had an assumption on what it was and why it was there and some of those assumptions were correct, but most were a little off.

Some things I learned:

1. the East Germans built a barrier of barbed wire and cinder blocks over night
2. later a more permanent structure of concrete walls topped with barbed wire was built
3. the wall was up to 15 feet high in some places
4. some places it was electrified fences instead of concrete
5. eventually the structure extended 28 miles through Berlin and an additional 75 miles around West Berlin - this separated West Berlin from the rest of East Germany
6. soldiers and mines guarded the wall on the East German side
7. 5,000 people managed cross the wall from the East to the West
8. almost 200 people were killed as they tried to go over the wall

I am well aware that the Berlin Wall is not longer in existence, but it played such a huge roll in Germany's history.  I know that I won't be able to see the actual wall, but the sites below gave me a virtual experience.  I hope you enjoy it as well.

• http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
• http://www.berlin.de/mauer/index.en.html
• http://berliner-mauer.mobi/startseite.html?&L=1
• http://www.berlin.de/mauer/wo-war-die-mauer/twinity/index.de.html (not translated)