Walled in: The inner German border | DW English

this border Germany in two separates East and West communism and democracy repression and freedom its sole purpose to keep the people of communist East Germany from fleeing to freedom in the Federal Republic of Germany the West Berlin has special status in the middle of each Germany the city is divided into four sectors at the end of World War two in 1961 the Western sectors are surrounded by a fortified border 155 kilometres long the wall East Berlin in the early 80s this street leads to West Berlin anyone entering this restricted security zone requires special permits even visitors of the cemetery seen here on the left it's been closed off since the wall was built this is where the barriers marking the border begin going further means risking life and limb behind what is known as the inner wall is a place an average East German citizen may never enter a heavily guarded strip of border land this is what it looks like at the start of the 1980s the fortifications are continually reinforced and expanded the area along the restricted zone is patrolled not only by soldiers but also by the East German police and other watchful agents preventing people from fleeing communist East Germany is an elaborate and expensive operation two soldiers guard a 200-meter stretch of border here in total there are 12,000 border troops posted in Berlin the next obstacle is a signal fence touch it and a silent alarm goes off soldiers in the watchtowers can immediately see where the alarm has been triggered the would-be escapee doesn't know it but the guards are already aware of what is happening and where the guards in the tower can alert other troops along the border and direct their operations at night the no-man's land around the border is lit up bright as day in the West this area is known as the death strip a place where East German border guards will shoot to kill as a last resort to prevent an escape the Berlin Wall claims 136 lives the Church of reconciliation is surrounded by the death strip the wall separates the church from its parish most of which lies in the West in 1985 the East German regime demolishes the Church one possible reason is that it obstructs the guards view of the border tank traps prevent escapees from breaking through but also the guards on the other side a carpet of steel spikes 14 centimeters long seriously wounds anyone who steps on it East German border guards call it asparagus bored Westerners nicknamed it stalin rosin or Stalin's lawn the ground is smooth regularly so that anyone trying to flee across it will leave a mark and finally the notorious Berlin Wall three meters 60 tall the last insurmountable barrier the site of the wall facing West Berlin is still part of East Germany openings used by the guards to inspect the other side need to separate keys to unlock one person alone cannot open them at strategic intersections the East German regime leaves weak points in the reinforced concrete barrier so its tanks can break through to the West in the event of a war nearly everyone in the world is familiar with this view of the wall looking from the West initially observation platforms are built for West Berlin's police later for tourists this view at Bernauer Strasse shows that the sophisticated containment system in Berlin is far more than a wall Berlin is a special case West Berlin effectively part of the Federal Republic of Germany is located in the middle of East Germany the border separating East and West Germany is 1378 kilometers long curtains Laban is an East German village the people here live in immediate proximity to the border fortifications but most East Germans never get as far as hurt ins Laban sentries stop anyone without a permit about five kilometres away from the border right on the frontier and curtains Laban itself the residents are confronted constantly with the threat of forced resettlement to places deeper inside East Germany in the 1950s and 60s those deemed to have a high potential to flee had already been resettled as part of what the East German regime called Operation vermin before Germany was divided this street simply ran a straight course now a concrete barrier cuts across it blocking any view to the West the first major obstacle of the fortified border the no-man's land here is just 40 metres wide one of the narrowest points along the frontier between East and West Germany just five metres behind the wall is a deeply anchored alarm fence openings have been left in its foundation for the many rabbits living in no man's land to prevent them from triggering the alarm six soldiers stand guard in the watchtowers around-the-clock tour at the top the other four are posted in quarters below in some places guard dogs are added to the patrol of the area a tripwire serves as a further alarm when a person runs into it a yellow flare is triggered the death strip is lit up brightly at night live ammunition is fired at anyone trying to flee until 1983 landmines along the inner German border are another lethal danger pass those another tripwire when triggered it fires a red flare to let the border guards know precisely how far an escape attempt has progressed along the patrolled route for military vehicles is another area of smooth bare soil every footprint can be seen clearly tank traps block all vehicles here as well concrete barriers are put up only in areas believed to be especially vulnerable most places along the inner German border are marked by a fence three metres tall there are gates where the fence meets the wall the first few meters on the other side of the barriers are part of East Germany only the most reliable soldiers patrol there just a hundred metres away automatic firing devices shoot at anyone who hits the tripwire some 60,000 of these weapons are in use until 1983 hundreds of people are killed trying to flee East Germany the communist regime has made prisoners of its people they are walled in

Channel: DW News

Views: 1,480,455

Keywords: Berlin, GDR, Trabant, Hötensleben, Berlin wall, berlin death strip, berlin no man's land, berlin escape, east berlin escape, east berlin, west berlin, east berlin church, berlin wall church, berlin wall spring gun, bernauer str. berlin, berlin barrier, berlin wall mine, berlin wall signaling device, berlin wall escape, berlin wall shootings, berlin border troops

Id: OwQsTzGkbiY

Length: 10min 40sec (640 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 30 2009

Reddit Comments

[u/CadmiumNickel]

Probably a dumb question: why was the East German Communist regime so desperate to keep people within East Germany? Was there this much regulation in other Soviet countries at the time?

[u/iamkokonutz]

These are pretty interesting. Some of the ways people escaped from he East to the West.

I remember watching a movie about the balloon escape when I was younger.

Found it. Night crossing

Pretty ingenious! 2 families constructed the balloon based on pictures they had seen of a hot air balloon. Sewed it together with material they were able to gather and flew from the East to the West in the middle of the night. Found this video of the balloon in a museum in Germany.

[u/NewNorth]

pretty awesome animation.

[u/Webhoard]

Growing up in the 80s, we had friends whose relatives escaped from East Germany. They would speak openly about their life in East Germany but NEVER would say how they escaped. They kept it secret in case others tried it.

Edit: Yes, commenters are right: whatever means they used to escape was kept secret to keep the passage open. There was also reason to keep it secret to protect people who may have helped. I was very young at the time. All speculation was just that, speculation. They seriously would not say a word about the escape. Even their kids, also young, wouldn't utter a word.

[u/dbbo]

IIRC in the early 60s (before the borders were as thorough) there was some guy who spent months modifying his car by removing the roof, glass panels, mirrors, letting some air out of the tires, etc. so that if he ducked under the dash, the total height of the vehicle was like 2 cm below the pole at one of the checkpoints (he chose a specific checkpoint that he figured would be the easiest to get through). He also filled the side panels with concrete to block any bullets. When he actually attempted his escape, his strategy was basically to straight at the border guards and hope that they ran away.

It worked.

Edit: found an article about him and some other escapes:

http://www.real-strategy.com/strategy-definition/general-strategy-model/escaping-e-berlin-a-simple-way-to-devise-complex-strategies-1/

[u/SirGoofsALott]

One of the greatest concerts of all time, The Wall Live in Berlin 1990, in celebration of the elimination of the Berlin wall.

[u/irnothere]

I've actually been to that section of the wall in Berlin, nowadays no-man's-land looks like this.

[u/newfoundslander]

Neat Easter Egg: Noticed graffiti on the wall "bjorn and simmi were here" check the credits - bjorn and simmi are the animators. Cute.

[u/HurricaneSandyHook]

Good Guy Communists giving unrestricted freedom to come and go to the rabbits.