Berlin Wall almost gone
The West German government did like the East Germans did when they erected the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961 – they came in the pre-dawn hours with scores of police while construction crews dismantled a large portion of the Wall today in order to avoid protesters who were locked in a dispute with the developer seeking to destroy the Wall for development, according to the Associated Press;
At least 136 people died trying to scale the wall that divided communist-run East Berlin from West Berlin. Over the years, the stretch has become a tourist attraction with colorful paintings decorating the old concrete tiles.
“I can’t believe they came here in the dark in such a sneaky manner,” said Kani Alavi, the head of the East Side Gallery’s artists’ group. “All they see is their money, they have no understanding for the historic relevance and art of this place.”
I guess the old government is like the new government when they set their minds to something.
Category: Historical
Did they at least (try to) preserve that stretch of The Wall, to be erected in a park, for posterity?
“Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it?”
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”
Obviously, they did not like this reminder of their dark past but remember, it was Communist East Germany, controlled by Moscow, that erected this wall. I remember it well from my time in West Berlin, 1985 ~ 1987. While I was there, an East German citizen was machine-gunned while trying to scale the wall opposite some apartments in the West. The East German “soldat” was heard to proclaim over the dead man’s body, “I got you, you PIG!” It’s too bad that the Berlin Wall is gone, people NEED to be reminded of this long, dark chapter of Communist history. http://articles.latimes.com/1986-11-24/news/mn-12977_1_berlin-wall
According to the article, the removal of the panels is temporary so trucks have access to the construction site. And, yes, there is a museum at what was Checkpoint Charlie. Evidently it’s not all that great. But then the museum/memorial at Dachau was also more and less what I expected.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187323-d242747-Reviews-Berlin_Wall_Museum_Museum_Haus_am_Checkpoint_Charlie-Berlin.html
Everything changes, but nothing is different.
Most Americans do not know that the wall did not just divide Berlin but another wall divided East and West Germany and Czech Republic and West Germany. Memory tells me it was about 800 miles long and was continually improved over the years. Every time someone would escape they would plug the hole and make it more difficult. Two 3 meter fences topped with razor wire and about 50 meters apart with tanglefoot and mines in between. Electrically operated shotguns mounted every 90 meters pointing in both directions on the fence. The towers had two man guard teams who were switched and rarely served together twice so they couldn’t plot to escape. When I was in the 1st AD in the 70s our Cav Squadron operated two of the border camps, Rotz and May. Not happy places during the Cold War.
Am I the only person left in the world who remembers the Red Army soldier in Berlin who ditched his rifle at one of the checkpoints and leaped over the barbed wire into West Berlin?
When my unit stopped over in Leipzig (If the spelling’s correct) going to Kuwait, I bought a couple of postcards containing what was said to be a tiny chunk of the wall in a plastic bubble. One of them was a picture of a Soldier leaping over a strand of concertina wire with his rifle slung behind him, muzzle pointing downward. Is that what you’re referring to? Yeah, the picture was in B&W as well.
Yes, that’s the one.
BC Cousins #6; You might like this story I wrote a few years back
#10 JL,
I remember reading that post at one time or another. It brought back memories to me, too. I served in Germany 4 years (1980-1983) as field commo support for the 2ACR (614th Maint/2SptComd, Merrill Barracks, Nurnberg). We did a walking tour along the West/East German fence a time or two. It really brought home the reason why were there.
Thanks for the wake up.
Our informal mottos then were:
“You can talk about us, but you can’t talk without us”.
“Without us, all you’ve got is a 60 ton paperweight”.
The East German border guards at the Berlin Wall were brutal from virtually day one, starting with Peter Fechter (August 17, 1962).
#7 Here you go, but he was an East German border guard.
http://open.salon.com/blog/lost_in_berlin/2009/08/03/a_leap_to_freedom_and_to_a_life_of_fear
Four tours in Germany and never did get to Berlin, but did get the border tour courtesy of the 11ACR shortly before it all went phsst.
Jonn,
Thanks. That’s quite a story and validates your contribution to winning the Cold War, even without the ARCOM citation, which I am glad you received for your actions. I played a small part in detaining SMLM #7 during the winter Reforger in January 1979. He was driving his armored Opel sedan on a tank trail in the 1st AD AO and got forced into a ditch then blocked by two M-60s. I had a photo of the car with the plate showing that got lost in a move years ago. Thanks for sharing your photos of the border. I especially like the one of the East Germans watching us watching them watching us.
One of my best weekends in Berlin (C/2/6) was when I was drunk and pissed on the wall. Years later when the wall was coming down and my kids were watching it on the news…I made the mistake of say: “Hey, that looks like where I got drunk and pissed on the wall back in 76.”
Never tell your kids your stories of drinking….
What’s your point? I thought you conservatives were unfettered free market people who let the market decide. Isn’t that a bedrock conservative principle? As far as the highest and best use of the land, as defined by its dollar value, an apartment complex probably beats some old grafitti covered wall all to hell.
No, I think Jonn would complain either way, he just likes to grouse. If they tear it down, it’s some kind of gov’t tyranny, it they don’t tear it down, some artist freaks are standing in the way of free enterprise. Bitch, bitch, bitch.
The obvious points, Joe the Thick, are succinctly stated in comments 1 and 2.
At least they’re obvious to anyone with a functional brain. Perhaps you need them explained to you?