August 13, 1961
The Berlin border between East and West Berlin is closed. The zonal boundary
is sealed in the morning by East German troops. “Shock workers” from East
Germany and Russia a seal off the border with barrier of barbed wire and light
fencing that eventually became a complex series of wall, fortified fences, gun
positions and watchtowers heavily guarded and patrolled. In the end, the Berlin
Wall was 96 miles (155 km) long and the average height of the concrete wall was
11.8 ft (3.60 m). Over the course of the Wall’s existence, 133 people were
confirmed killed trying to cross into West Berlin according to official sources,
while a victims’ group puts the number at over 200 dead. There were also some
5,000 successful escapes into West Berlin. The August 13 operation lasted 24
hours.
August 14, 1961
Brandenburg Gate is closed.
August 15, 1961
Conrad Schumann, the first East German border guard, escapes by jumping the
barbed wire to West Berlin. The first concrete elements and large square blocks
are used on this date. Within the next months the first generation of the Berlin
Wall was build up: a wall consisting of concrete elements and square blocks.
August 16th, 1961
The barbed wire barrier is being removed and replaced with a wall of concrete
blocks. This first Wall around Berlin was two meters high, made from different
building materials assembled into a rough construction.
August 26, 1961
All crossing points are closed for West Berlin citizens.
June 1962
A second Wall is being built to prevent escapes to the West. The first Wall
is improved over the next years and it becomes difficult to distinguish between
the first and the second generations of the Wall.
August 17, 1962
Peter Fechter, 18, a bricklayer from East Berlin, is shot and left to bleed
to death in full view of western media. Bystanders in the West tried to rescue
him, but were prevented from it at gunpoint.
June 26, 1963
President J. F. Kennedy visits Berlin and declares: “Ich bin ein Berliner.”
(“I am a Berliner.”)
December 17, 1963
After 7 rounds of negotiations between the Senate of Berlin and the East
German authorities, an administrative agreement is signed allowing West
Berliners to visit their relatives in East Berlin on a limited basis.
1965
A new Wall generation, the third, is introduced to replace the old
construction. The new one consists of concrete slabs laid between H-shaped steel
concrete supports. A round, 0,40 meter large concrete tube capped the wall
making it more difficult to climb over.
September 3, 1971
The Four Power Agreement over Berlin is reached. It charges the governments
of West Berlin and the GDR with negotiating an accord that would regulate access
to and from West Berlin from the FRG and secure the right of West Berliners to
visit East Berlin and the GDR.
May 1972
The Transit Agreement is reached that arranged the matters raised in the Four
Power Agreement and also secured the rights of GDR citizens to visit the FRG,
but only in cases of family emergency.
December 1972
The Basic Treaty is signed in which both German states committed themselves
to developing normal relations on the basis of equality, guaranteeing their
mutual territorial integrity as well as the border between them, and recognizing
each other’s independence and sovereignty. They also agreed to the exchange of
“permanent missions” in Bonn and East Berlin to further relations.
May 1973
East and West Germany establish formal diplomatic ties.
October 1, 1973
An explicit firing order is issued to a special team of Stasi agents tasked
with infiltrating regular units of border guards to prevent their colleagues
from defecting.“It is your duty to use your combat ... skills in such a way as
to overcome the cunning of the border breacher, to challenge or liquidate him in
order to thwart the planned border breach. ... Don’t hesitate to use your weapon
even when border breaches happen with women and children, which traitors have
often exploited in the past.”
1975-1976
Construction of the infamous ‘Stutzwandelement UL 12.11’, known also as
Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall ’75) begins. This new installation — a second wall —
penetrated deeper into East German territory and included a touch-sensitive,
self-firing fence. The product of a large-scale development and testing program,
it was made of L-shaped sections of pre-cast concrete used by farmers to build
open silos. Each section was 3.60 meters high and 1.20 meters wide and was
topped off by a smooth asbestos-concrete pipe 40 centimeters in diameter.
Consequently, the Wall becomes harder to penetrate. Yet this did not put an end
to attempted escapes. As a result, East German authorities increase their
control of the border structures.
June 12, 1987
President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin and calls on Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
February 6, 1989
Chris Gueffroy is the last person to be killed trying to cross the Wall.
August 23, 1989
Communist Hungary removes its border restrictions with Austria.
September 10, 1989
The Hungarian government opens border for East German refugees More than
13,000 East Germans escape into Austria.
November 4, 1989
An estimated one million people attend a pro-democracy demonstration in East
Berlin’s main square. Within days, the East German Government resigns.
November 9, 1989
The East German government announces that visits in West Germany and West
Berlin will be permitted. Thousands of East Berliners pass into West Berlin as
border guards stand by. People begin tearing down the wall which is opened.
December 22, 1989
The Brandenburg Gate is opened.
October 3, 1990
Germany is formally reunited.
Thank you to http://www.coldwar.org/articles/60s/BerlinWallTimeLine.asp for this timeline.
The Berlin border between East and West Berlin is closed. The zonal boundary
is sealed in the morning by East German troops. “Shock workers” from East
Germany and Russia a seal off the border with barrier of barbed wire and light
fencing that eventually became a complex series of wall, fortified fences, gun
positions and watchtowers heavily guarded and patrolled. In the end, the Berlin
Wall was 96 miles (155 km) long and the average height of the concrete wall was
11.8 ft (3.60 m). Over the course of the Wall’s existence, 133 people were
confirmed killed trying to cross into West Berlin according to official sources,
while a victims’ group puts the number at over 200 dead. There were also some
5,000 successful escapes into West Berlin. The August 13 operation lasted 24
hours.
August 14, 1961
Brandenburg Gate is closed.
August 15, 1961
Conrad Schumann, the first East German border guard, escapes by jumping the
barbed wire to West Berlin. The first concrete elements and large square blocks
are used on this date. Within the next months the first generation of the Berlin
Wall was build up: a wall consisting of concrete elements and square blocks.
August 16th, 1961
The barbed wire barrier is being removed and replaced with a wall of concrete
blocks. This first Wall around Berlin was two meters high, made from different
building materials assembled into a rough construction.
August 26, 1961
All crossing points are closed for West Berlin citizens.
June 1962
A second Wall is being built to prevent escapes to the West. The first Wall
is improved over the next years and it becomes difficult to distinguish between
the first and the second generations of the Wall.
August 17, 1962
Peter Fechter, 18, a bricklayer from East Berlin, is shot and left to bleed
to death in full view of western media. Bystanders in the West tried to rescue
him, but were prevented from it at gunpoint.
June 26, 1963
President J. F. Kennedy visits Berlin and declares: “Ich bin ein Berliner.”
(“I am a Berliner.”)
December 17, 1963
After 7 rounds of negotiations between the Senate of Berlin and the East
German authorities, an administrative agreement is signed allowing West
Berliners to visit their relatives in East Berlin on a limited basis.
1965
A new Wall generation, the third, is introduced to replace the old
construction. The new one consists of concrete slabs laid between H-shaped steel
concrete supports. A round, 0,40 meter large concrete tube capped the wall
making it more difficult to climb over.
September 3, 1971
The Four Power Agreement over Berlin is reached. It charges the governments
of West Berlin and the GDR with negotiating an accord that would regulate access
to and from West Berlin from the FRG and secure the right of West Berliners to
visit East Berlin and the GDR.
May 1972
The Transit Agreement is reached that arranged the matters raised in the Four
Power Agreement and also secured the rights of GDR citizens to visit the FRG,
but only in cases of family emergency.
December 1972
The Basic Treaty is signed in which both German states committed themselves
to developing normal relations on the basis of equality, guaranteeing their
mutual territorial integrity as well as the border between them, and recognizing
each other’s independence and sovereignty. They also agreed to the exchange of
“permanent missions” in Bonn and East Berlin to further relations.
May 1973
East and West Germany establish formal diplomatic ties.
October 1, 1973
An explicit firing order is issued to a special team of Stasi agents tasked
with infiltrating regular units of border guards to prevent their colleagues
from defecting.“It is your duty to use your combat ... skills in such a way as
to overcome the cunning of the border breacher, to challenge or liquidate him in
order to thwart the planned border breach. ... Don’t hesitate to use your weapon
even when border breaches happen with women and children, which traitors have
often exploited in the past.”
1975-1976
Construction of the infamous ‘Stutzwandelement UL 12.11’, known also as
Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall ’75) begins. This new installation — a second wall —
penetrated deeper into East German territory and included a touch-sensitive,
self-firing fence. The product of a large-scale development and testing program,
it was made of L-shaped sections of pre-cast concrete used by farmers to build
open silos. Each section was 3.60 meters high and 1.20 meters wide and was
topped off by a smooth asbestos-concrete pipe 40 centimeters in diameter.
Consequently, the Wall becomes harder to penetrate. Yet this did not put an end
to attempted escapes. As a result, East German authorities increase their
control of the border structures.
June 12, 1987
President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin and calls on Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
February 6, 1989
Chris Gueffroy is the last person to be killed trying to cross the Wall.
August 23, 1989
Communist Hungary removes its border restrictions with Austria.
September 10, 1989
The Hungarian government opens border for East German refugees More than
13,000 East Germans escape into Austria.
November 4, 1989
An estimated one million people attend a pro-democracy demonstration in East
Berlin’s main square. Within days, the East German Government resigns.
November 9, 1989
The East German government announces that visits in West Germany and West
Berlin will be permitted. Thousands of East Berliners pass into West Berlin as
border guards stand by. People begin tearing down the wall which is opened.
December 22, 1989
The Brandenburg Gate is opened.
October 3, 1990
Germany is formally reunited.
Thank you to http://www.coldwar.org/articles/60s/BerlinWallTimeLine.asp for this timeline.