| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
NO OTHER EVENT has had more impact on modern European history than the Berlin Crisis of 1958-1961. Its culmination was the construction on August 13, 1961, of the famous Berlin Wall that divided East and West Germany and consolidated once and for all the existence of two German states - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.
The border between East and West Berlin had remained open until August 13, 1961. The dividing line measuring 44.75 kilometers (the total length of the border between West Berlin and East Germany was 164 km) passed directly through streets, houses, canals, and watercourses. Officially, there were 81 street crossing points and 13 passageways in the subway and on the city railroad. In addition, there were hundreds of illegal routes. Every day, between 300,000 and 500,000 people crossed the border between the two parts of the city for different reasons.1 The lack of a clear-cut physical boundary between sectors led to frequent conflicts and the mass departure of specialists to West Germany. East Germans preferred to get an education in the GDR, where it was free of charge, yet work in West Germany.
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