THE BERLIN WALL

mardi 17 mai 2022

THE BERLIN WALL

THE BERLIN WALL

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The Berlin Wall, "wall of shame" for West Germans and "anti-fascist protection wall" according to East German propaganda, was erected in the middle of Berlin from the night of August 12 to 13, 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was trying to stop the growing exodus of its inhabitants to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)

1961 construction of the wall

- Pictures Miniatur Wunderland of HAMBURG -

The wall physically separated the city into East and West Berlin for more than twenty-eight years, and is the most striking symbol of a Europe divided by the Iron Curtain.

Video of 3D animations of this wall

Brand: Preiser Scale: 1/87 Reference: 16601

Also along the border between the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany, West) and the GDR (German Democratic Republic, East, pro-Soviet) a wall with barbed wire, also called the Iron Curtain, was erected over 1,300 km.

Brand: Preiser Scale: 1/87 Reference: 16593

Video without commentary tracing
the beginning of the construction of the Wall

More than a simple wall, it is a complex military device with two 3.6-meter high walls with a sentry walk, 302 watchtowers and alarm devices, 14,000 guards, 600 dogs.

1/87 scale diorama of the Berlin Wall

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About 900 GDR nationals lost their lives trying to cross it, with East German border guards and Soviet soldiers not hesitating to shoot the fugitives, and more than 3,200 were arrested.

Here is a 1:87 scale diorama showing the demarcation line between the FRG and the GDR

Here is a detail of its construction

and here is one of the detection systems that alerted the border guards. It was a rocket launcher that reacted when the barbed wire was touched.

More pictures of this diorama
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Picture from Miniatur Wunderland showing a GDR soldier jumping the barbed wire to escape to West Germany.

More than 5,000 East Germans managed to cross the wall

And here, the video of soldier Conrad SCHUMANN taking advantage of the inattention of other East German soldiers

>>> Click here to learn about its history <<<

Scene in 1980

1989

- Pictures Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg -

The weakening of the Soviet Union, the perestroika led by Gorbachev and the determination of the East Germans, who organize large demonstrations cause on November 9, 1989, the fall of the wall of shame.

1989

- Pictures Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg -

Same picture but in 1945

- Pictures Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg -

Checkpoint Charlie

Check Point Charlie of 1/87

Brand: Busch Scale: 1/87 Reference: 1490

Checkpoint Charlie is one of Berlin's border crossings which, during the Cold War, made it possible to cross the wall dividing the German capital between the Western and Eastern sectors.

Link to the history of Checkpoint Charlie
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