Guarding the Berlin Wall

Divided Germany

At the end of the Second World War, the Allied Powers of the United Kingdom, United States, France and the Soviet Union divided Germany into four occupied zones. 

The British occupied the northwest zone, the Americans the southeast, the French the southwest and the Soviets the northeast – which included the capital, Berlin. 

Berlin was then divided into four sectors. 

The Western Allies worked together to make their sectors capitalist democracies and the Soviets, who controlled the east of the city, established a socialist state. 

In 1949, Germany officially divided into two independent and ideologically opposed nations: The Federal Republic of Germany (FDR or West Germany), allied to the Western democracies, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany), allied to the Soviet Union. 

Tensions between East and West were rising and in 1952 the East German government closed the border to the West. However, the border between East and West Berlin remained open and it is estimated that between 1949 and 1961 over 2.5 million East Germans fled to the West using Berlin as their escape route. 

The Wall

With the help of the Soviet Union, the East German government tried to stop people from fleeing by closing the border to West Berlin. 

On the morning of Sunday 13 August 1961, Berliners woke up to a divided city.  

During the night, the East German police and worker militias erected barbed wire fences of up to six feet high.  

Train services between East and West had stopped and no road traffic across the border was allowed.

Within days the barbed wire had been replaced with concrete and the Wall was built. 

The Berlin Wall was 27 miles long. It consisted of not just one wall but a series of fortifications including multiple walls, fences, guard towers, patrol roads and a ‘death strip’. It was protected by barbed wire, attack dogs and landmines. 

Officially, the Wall had been presented to the East German people as an anti-fascist protection barrier meant to protect citizens from Western aggression. 

For most, it was clear that the Wall had been built to keep East Germans in, not to keep anyone out. 

Families torn apart

Before 13 August 1961, residents of East Berlin had been able to travel freely into the west of the city. Many people went to visit friends or relatives, to work, to shop and see films and theatre productions.  

Overnight, families, friends and neighbours had been torn apart and many lost their jobs.

People living directly behind the border on the east side of Bernauer Strasse had to decide on whether to stay or go. Many chose to flee. 

In late August, the East German government began evicting and evacuating residents. In October 1961, 341 people were forced out of their homes. East German police officers ordered them to pack up their belongings and they were driven away with no knowledge of where they were going. 

The buildings facing out onto Bernauer Strasse were bricked up and in 1963 and 1965, several buildings were torn down. 

Border Guards

With the construction of the Wall came the need for border enforcement. This fell to the Grenztruppen, or East German border guards. 

The Grenztruppen was formally established in 1961, and its job was to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West. 

Soldiers were responsible for not only guarding the Berlin Wall but the entire border between East and West Germany which stretched over 850 miles. 

Most Grenztruppen soldiers were conscripts, young men doing their mandatory military service. The typical border guard was between 18 and 21 years old. 

They lived in barracks close to the Wall under a strict regime of discipline and surveillance. As part of their training, they learned how to use firearms, manage searchlights, and operate high tech surveillance equipment. 

They were also taught how to deal with escape attempts, what to do if someone made a run for the border and when to use deadly force.

The utilised firearms were the Makarov PM semi-automatic pistol as the standard sidearm, the MPIK rifle, an East German copy of the Kalashnikov, as well as the RPK and RBD light machine guns.

The fall of the Wall

On 9 November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. It had stood for 28 years.

The fall of the Wall was something that many East Germans never thought would happen.  

At a press conference, Gunter Schabowski, a spokesman for the East German government, announced that travel restrictions for East Germans to travel to the West had been lifted immediately. He failed to mention that some restrictions would remain in place, which prompted tens of thousands to cross the border. 

Border guards who were unaware of Schabowski’s error were overwhelmed by the crowds and eventually passport checks were abandoned. 

Many East Germans feared that the border would close again and that there would be severe punishment for anyone who had decided to cross. 

The border remained open. Germany reunified on 3 October 1990, 11 months after the fall of the Wall. It ended 45 years of division.