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What do you think was the greatest wall in history? Some might say it's the Great Wall of China; others might argue that it’s the Kumbhalgarh Fort Wall. In my opinion, the greatest wall ever built by mankind was none other than the Berlin Wall.

After World War II, the Allies and the Soviet Union had taken control of the now weakened Germany. Due to the difference in ideologies and the way they wanted to run the country, Germany was divided into two different sectors. West Germany was run by the Allies, which made it a capitalist, democratic state, and East Germany was run by the Soviets, which made it a communist state. The capital, Berlin, was a state in the Eastern part of Germany. Although being completely in East Germany, due to treaties that were signed, the Allies held land over half of the city. Hence, in the heart of Germany, in its own capital, there were two different sectors.

After a while, a pattern was noticed. A lot of people from the Eastern, Communist side of Berlin were migrating towards the Western, Capitalist side of the city. This was a big problem for the Soviets. As things were dire enough due to the toll the Second World War had taken on them, this mass exodus of manpower was crushing the East German state. This then led the Eastern Authorities to take action.

On August 13, 1961, the citizens of the western and eastern sides of Berlin noticed something weird. Along the imaginary border between the two sectors now stood East Germany’s soldiers. They stood shoulder to shoulder, preventing anyone from crossing to either side. Thus, the greatest divide in modern history, the greatest wall in history that not only divided the Western and Eastern sides of Berlin but the entirety of the world, was formed.

Fortification and Isolation

Throughout its existence, the Berlin Wall received a lot of improvements to fortify the divide even more.

First iteration: They just rolled out barbed wire that stretched throughout the length of the border, and soldiers stood guard to prevent anyone from escaping.

Second iteration (1962): The barbed wire was replaced by fences, and a death strip was created surrounding the fences. This served as a buffer zone to allow more visibility for the soldiers to take down any defectors.

Third iteration (1965): Another major change in the wall occurred. Now, the wall was made of concrete; a 3.6-meter wall with watchtowers and elite military gunners with shoot-on-sight orders.

Countless other iterations occurred after this, which led to the fully realised and most popular version of the wall, the 1975 Berlin Wall. It consisted of reinforced concrete walls of 3.6 meters with smooth piping on top to prevent climbing, over 120 watchtowers, anti-vehicle traps, mine fields, electrical fences, floodlights, and so much more. The entire structure stretched for about 155 km along the border and served as a chilling reminder of the divide between the world after the Second World War.

This strategy of East Germany seemed to actually work. Now that the number of people leaving, especially technically-skilled workers, had been reduced, the economy and social structure of East Germany had begun to stabilise. But in exchange for that stability, the Eastern Authorities had lost all respect, caging their own people like animals; it was utterly inhumane.

Several treaties and agreements later, people from the East could finally move to the West. But even this was held behind a gruelling bureaucratic system and a hefty fee payment. This made things more difficult for the normal person to do so. Even then, the Eastern Authorities were overwhelmed with applications from people wishing to see their friends and family from the other side.

The Fall

These constant restrictions on freedom had made the people turn. Slowly but surely, people began to speak. Mass protests and movements that demanded freedom and a travel pass began taking shape. These got worse when neighbouring countries like Czechoslovakia and Hungary loosened their borders. In 1989, more than 40,000 East Germans went to the West German Embassy in these countries, hoping to travel to the West.

This made the East German Authorities realise that this was not practical, and something had to be done to provide some aid to quell these protests. In 1989, the then East German leader Egon Krenz decided that the best way to do so would be by allowing free passes, as without that, stability would be a distant thought. So, a new law regarding free passage from the East to the West had been made and finalised. This bill would allow anyone to go from one country to the other without any difficulties.

After the bill was drafted, the spokesperson, Günter Schabowski, was about to give his regular press conference on the fateful day of November 9, 1989. In the press conference, he was to break down the news of the new regulations. At the end of the press conference, Günter said the words: East Berliners would be allowed to travel without any prerequisites.

After he uttered these words, a journalist asked a simple question: “From when will this rule take effect?” Flipping through his pages, Günter, in a panicked mode, said, “Effective Immediately.” Before the conference, Günter didn't have the time to go through the entirety of the rules. If he had, he would have known that the rule would be taking place the following day through passport offices in an orderly manner. But like they say, “A shot fired from a gun and words uttered from a mouth can’t return once they leave.” Those simple words resonated throughout Eastern Berlin.

Thousands of people rushed to the walls—some waiting to meet their loved ones, others hoping for a chance at life. The guards, unaware and unprepared for this situation, had no choice but to let the crowd through. After 28 long years, the partition was gone, Berlin had once again united, and now people could sing, laugh, and cry together.

People started breaking the wall open, families that had been separated could finally hug each other, and the most humane moment in the history of humanity occurred—a time when every human present was just being human, celebrating freedom, celebrating life, and celebrating being human.

Then what followed was the total collapse of the communist-run East Germany. Hoarding people together and closing the walls on them was not the brightest of ideas. This movement cemented capitalism as the front of the “People’s Government” and gave rise to the quote, “But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us.”

Throughout its lifespan, the Berlin Wall caused more than 140 official deaths, and parts of it are still scattered around Berlin, making sure none of us forget the day freedom was achieved in its truest form.