Crossing the Berlin Wall...

I bet you guys have heard of the Berlin Wall a.k.a Berliner Mauer in Germany. The wall that became a barrier between West Berlin and East Berlin, dividing the city of Berlin into two parts.The wall that restricted the freedom of movement between the two parts, preventing families and friends from meeting up and being with their loved ones.

Before going on further, I would like to enlighten you all with a lil bit of facts on the Berlin Wall.
(Source : Wikipedia, ten.facts.about.co.uk)

• Construction of the Berlin Wall began in the night of August 13 1961 as a way of separating the three zones controlled by France, Britain and America from the zone controlled by the Soviet Union.
• There are four generations of the Berlin Wall.First generation of the wall is made up of block stones.Second generation of the Berlin Wall was erected after Nov 1961 with concrete panels.Third generation consisted of concrete slabs between steel girder and concrete posts with a concrete sewage pipe on top of the wall.Fourth generation uses new concrete segments which were more resistant to breakthroughs.
• About 5000 people successfully escaped from East to West Berlin.However, approximately 136 people died trying to cross the border.
• The west side of the Berlin Wall was covered in graffiti. The East side was not.
• There were eight border crossings in the Wall. The most famous was “Checkpoint Charlie,” which was used by Allied personnel and non-Germans.
• November 9, 1989 was a memorable date for Berlin citizens as the East German government announced that visits in West Germany and West Berlin will be permitted.Tearing down of the wall started.

Enough with the facts, let me share with you all my experience visiting the Berlin Wall Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie and the famous East Side Gallery.

Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Memorial)

An open air exhibition was built between Bernauer Strasse and Nordbahnhof Station. The memorial contains the last piece of Berlin Wall with the preserved grounds behind it and you'd also get to enlighten yourself with the history on the escape trials by the people from East Berlin.It's very saddening to see how many times they have failed in doing so.They never gave up trying new ways to get through to their loved ones.

Berlin Wall Memorial Exhibition

The Wall of Remembrance starting from Bernauer Strasse

Map of the wall

Markers showing where the wall stood

Here you can read and listen to the history of the Berlin Wall

One of the tunnels that was used to escape to the west side of Berlin.

The Chapel of Reconciliation 

Examples of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall from the west side which was filled with graffiti.

Memorial of the people who died trying to cross the Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie

The world-renowed Berlin Wall crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.The name Charlie came from the letter C in the NATO phonetic alphabet.Not from some guy named Charlie ok. :)

Here you can get you passport stamped with the checkpoint stamps which is really cool.But not so cool when you have to pay €5 for them..Howoe..

Descriptions on Checkpoint Charlie

You can take pictures with the guys dressed in Soviet Army Uniform in front of the Checkpoint for €2.

I got my passport stamped! 

Meet Deana and Roxana!

For those who enjoy museums, you should try the Mauermuseum or Museum Checkpoint Charlie.

East Side Gallery

An international memorial for freedom.The 1.3km long gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall.As I've mentioned earlier, the east side walls do not have graffiti on them, leaving them grey and not lively.The paintings at the East Side Gallery document the time of change and express the euphoria and great hopes for a better and free future for all people of the world.

Here are some of the paintings on the wall that I would like to share with all of you...Enjoy!

Neno, Roxana and Deana

Excited expression from everyone.. :)

This is from the other side of the wall..Muka sedey je sorunk2 bajet xle cross the wall..

 

Neno, being the cool guy he is...

It was a very interesting experience exploring the remaining of the Berlin Walls. I'll definitely come here again to lay my eyes on the wonderful paintings by these great international artists.I hope you guys enjoy the post as much as I do.

Stay tuned for more posts on Berlin.

Tschüss und mach's gut!