communist government, to make it impossible for East Germans to leave their country.
Berlin, 1961. Berlin Wall at Zimmerstrasse. West Berliners watching over the Wall to the East.
Berlin Wall being built – separation.
Berlin. Bernauer Strasse/BrunnenstrasseView from West to East Berlin.
Berlin, Checkpoint CharlieView from West to East Berlin, 1961
Standoff between US and Soviet tanks at
Checkpoint Charlie, 1961.
Berlin, Potsdamer Platz, 60s
Brandenburg Gate photographed through the barbed wire there, from the West
Berlin, April 1963
Checkpoint CharlieBerlin, April 1963
Berlin, 1963. John F. Kennedy visiting Berlin on June 26, 1963.
JFK gave his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech.http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkberliner.html
President Kennedy says, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” (I am a Berliner) – I support you.
Due to the Allied Air Lift, from a few years prior, and President Kennedy’s support, West Berlin remained a vigorous and healthy city. Berlin, unfortunately, remained divided.
In the last phase of the wall's development, the "death strip" between fence and concrete wall.
East Germans were killed if they tried to escape.
Berliner Mauer, Berlin 1983.
In 1985 I took a group of students to Germany
United States President Ronald Reagan delivers his famed "Tear Down This Wall" speech at the Berlin Wall in June of 1987, in which he called for Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall.