Where in the World is the Berlin Wall?
It has been my dream for years to follow the whereabouts of the Berlin Wall in the world. Without the aid of Google Maps it was a difficult undertaking.
Today – August 13 th 2011 – it is the ideal start. The groundwork of putting up the Wall started exactly 50 years ago.
The Wall was dismantled in 1989. People old enough to remember the pictures saw the crowds chipping away with whatever tools they had available. Nearly every visitor to Berlin has taken home a piece of the material from the Berlin Wall. So in theory – it still exists all over the world. I want to know where. I’m most intrigued with the idea of where in the world we can find its concrete remains.It is obviously the largest single ‘man-made piece’ ever constructed that is dispersed all over the world. That tells us a lot about its immeasurable importance and impact – not just for the Berlin people but for everybody with a grasp of what freedom means.The ‘pieces’ of concrete in people’s houses* mean that the history lives on. Please help me make this visable!
Your contribution is simply to put your address (and name if you wish) on the google map ‘Where in the World is the Berlin Wall?’. Add a photo of your personal piece of rock if you wish.
Thanks you for helping me – please inform anyone you know, anywhere in the world who’s been to Berlin.
August 13 th 2011 – Moniek Westerman
*personal pieces, not the public gifts: List of official places in the world that have a real segment of the Wall (Wikipedia)
A short reminder of the History of the Berlin Wall
8 May 1945 Second world war ends and the Red Army captures Berlin. The city is divided in half; the Soviet Union in the east, and the British, Americans and French in the west.
24 June 1948 The Soviets begin the Berlin blockade.
25 June 1948 The United States begin the Berlin air lift delivering food and fuel supplies to the city.
12 May 1949 The Federal Republic of Germany,West Germany is founded.
24 May 1949 The German Democratic Republic,East Germany is founded.
30 September 1949 Berlin airlift ends.
17 June 1953 The Red Army steps in to suppress riots by East Berlin workers over work conditions.
13 August 1961 The border between East and West Berlin is closed. Soldiers start to build the wall, at first with barbed wire and light fencing which in the coming years develops into a heavily complex
series of wall, fortified fences, gun positions and watchtowers that are heavily guarded. The wall ended up being 96 miles long and the average height of the concrete divide was 11.8ft.
14 August 1961 Brandenburg Gate is closed.
26 June 1963 US President John F Kennedy visits the wall vowing to protect East Berlin, famously declaring "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner).
May 1973 East and West Germany establish formal diplomatic ties.
12 June 1987 President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin calling for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall.
10 September 1989 Hungary opens its border with Austria. More than 13,000 refugees flee into Austria.
4 November 1989 More than a million people attend a pro-democracy rally in East Berlin's central square. The East German government resigns within days.
9 November 1989 The wall is pulled down as thousands of East Germans celebrate entering West Berlin.
(source: the Guarian Newspaper)