Berlin Wall - Bernauer Straße

A couple of miles (3km) northeast of Brandenburg Gate is the historical Bernauer Straße (Street). When the city was divided, the wall ran along this street. Since the street belonged to France, all the windows, doors and rooftops on the southside were progressively bricked up by the East German border guards and later the buildings were demolished.

It was here that the first casualty of the Wall occurred. Ida Siekmann was a 59 year old widowed nurse. Attempting to flee, she threw a quilt and some possessions into the street and jumped from her 3rd floor (4th by North American standards) window. She was gravely injured, and died on her way to the hospital. 

In 1964, a group of 34 West Berlin students began digging a tunnel beneath the street. Six months later they completed the 475ft (145m) tunnel and reached East Berlin. Over a few days, 57 people escaped, before the tunnel was discovered. It had one casualty, a border soldier who was accidentally shot by a comrade.

It is also on this street that 19 year old Hans Conrad Schumann, a border patroller, took a leap of faith and jumped over the newly installed barbed wire. In an interview, Hans recalled watching a young woman handing a bouquet of flowers to her mother over the barbed wire and apologising for not being able to cross over. Realising that he didn’t want to keep his fellow citizens imprisoned, he dropped his submachine gun and jumped. The West Berlin police were alerted and quickly arrived in a van to whisk him away to safety. His jump was captured by a photographer and the image entitled “Jump to Freedom” became a symbol of freedom. A large photo can be seen on the side of a building on Bernauer Straße and a short distance away is a sculpture attached to the side of a building.

The demolished buildings on the southside of the street were never replaced. In its place now is a memorial park commemorating the victims of the Wall and the history of the city’s division. It is a wide-open green space, filled with information boards and relics of the Wall.

 

Berlin Wall - Brandenburg Gate

Within a mile of each other are two very important historical features that played crucial parts in Berlin’s history: Checkpoint Charlie and Brandenburg Gate.

Checkpoint Charlie was a major border crossing between East and West Berlin and the only crossing accessible to foreigners and Allied forces. A mere wooden shack, the checkpoint was in complete contrast to East Berlin’s side that featured guard towers, barriers and a shed to check vehicles for hidden escapees. The simple shack was meant to illustrate that the Berlin Wall was not a legal international border and that the checkpoints were meant to be temporary.

In October 1961, a US diplomat crossing into East Berlin was requested to have his documents examined by East Germans. He refused on the grounds that as per the US-USSR agreement, only Soviets were authorised to check documents. The diplomat was denied entry. Repeated efforts to restrict access to American personnel followed, culminating with a tank stand-off between the two superpowers at Checkpoint Charlie. Over a 24 hour period, the American and Soviet tanks (about 10 each side), barely 100m apart, faced-off, trained their guns on each other and were ready to fire. Concerns that the first shot fired could set off World War III, swift diplomatic negotiations ensued. Reaching an agreement, tensions were diffused and the tanks withdrew peacefully.

One of the most distressing moments that captured the plight of East Berliners worldwide was the fatal shooting of Peter Fechter. He was 18 years old when, together with a friend, he attempted to flee over the Wall, near Checkpoint Charlie. Having reached the wall, his friend made it across but Peter was shot in the pelvis by border guards. Lying injured, help was not forthcoming. The West side couldn’t help because he was on Soviet territory. The East didn’t want to help for fear of being shot at by the West. Peter, caught in the middle, was left at the Wall and bled out. An hour later he was carried away by border guards. 

Brandenburg Gate was built in the 18th century, as a representation of peace and as such was initially named the Peace Gate. In 1806, Napoleon used it for a triumphal procession and promptly took the quadriga atop the Gate as a trophy. The quadriga was returned by the Prussians a decade later. In the early 20th century, the Gate became a party symbol for the newly ascended Nazi regime and by the end of WWII, it suffered significant damage following the heavy air raids on Berlin. After the war the Allies restored it.

When the Berlin Wall was built, the Brandenburg Gate found itself amid the ‘death strip’. With the concrete wall running behind and a boom gate barrier in front, the Gate was closed off from the public. Viewing points from a fair distance were only available in East Berlin.

When the Wall fell, Brandenburg Gate became a symbol of peace and unity, reminiscent of its original purpose.