Curiosities Of The Berlin Wall

It's the 20 anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. But did you know that...? It was built in just one night, in some hours between days 12th and 13th of August 1961. It was also called the Wall of Shame. It was demolished on November 10, 1989. The length of the Berlin Wall was more than 140 Kms long (87 miles). Its purpose was to divide Germany in two parts: West and East. One was the democratic Germany, and the other the communist (although called German Democratic Republic). That wall separated many family members. Many people died trying to cross that wall. They shot everyone that tried to go through that. Over 200 people died this way, and 5,000 tried to cross the wall. The wall made difficult to travel to Germany, and this was the cause of many protests. During a mass and live press conference with Gunter Schabowski (member of the German socialist party), the Italian journalist Riccardo Erman asked him when will the traveling permissions be legal between the two German countries. The politician answered "immediately", and that night people started to pull down the Wall of Shame with their hands. The Berlin Wall costed 16 million of German Marks. The pieces of the Wall of Berlin were sold as souvenirs and some Germans nowadays still have some of them in their houses. Fragments of the Berlin Wall have been auctioned sometimes. -Emma Alvarez- © 2008 by Emma Alvarez. Link to this post without copying the text. Some Related Posts: If you liked this post, subscribe to Emma Alvarez Site or give yourself a gift Stumble it! Add me to your del.icio.us network