History - Berlin - page 524

Konrad Adenauer as its first chancellor and Bonn, on the Rhine River, as its capital. An eco-
nomic aid package dubbed the Marshall Plan created the basis for West Germany's
Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle), which saw the economy grow at an average 8% per
year between 1951 and 1961. The recovery was largely engineered by economics minister
Ludwig Erhard, who dealt with an acute labour shortage by inviting about 2.3 million for-
eign workers, mainly from Turkey, Yugoslavia and Italy, to Germany, thereby laying the
foundation for today's multicultural society.
The Soviet zone, meanwhile, grew into the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German
Democratic Republic or GDR), making East Berlin its capital and Wilhelm Pieck its presid-
ent. From the outset, though, the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED, Socialist
Unity Party of Germany), led by party boss Walter Ulbricht, dominated economic, judicial
and security policy. In order to counter any opposition, the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit
(Ministry for State Security, or Stasi), was established in 1950 and based its headquarters in
Lichtenberg. Regime opponents were incarcerated at the super-secret Gedenkstätte Ho-
henschönhausen (Stasi Prison) nearby.
Economically, East Germany stagnated, in large part because of the Soviets' continued
policy of asset stripping and reparation payments. Stalin's death in 1953 raised hopes for re-
form but only spurred the GDR government to raise production goals even higher. Smoul-
dering discontent erupted in violence on 17 June 1953 when 10% of GDR workers took to
the streets. Soviet troops quashed the uprising, with scores of deaths and the arrest of about
1200 people.
The Wall: What Goes Up…
Through the 1950s the economic gulf between the two Germanys widened, prompting hun-
dreds of thousands of East Berliners to seek a future in the West. Eventually, the exodus of
mostly young and well-educated East Germans strained the troubled GDR economy so
much that - with Soviet consent - its government built a wall to keep them in. Construction
of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War's most potent symbol, began on the night of 13 August
1961.
This stealthy act left Berliners stunned. Formal protests from the Western Allies, as well
as massive demonstrations in West Berlin, were ignored. Tense times followed. In October
1961, US and Soviet tanks faced off at Checkpoint Charlie, pushing to the brink of war.
The appointment of Erich Honecker (1912-94) as leader of East Germany in 1971 opened
the way for rapprochement with the West and enhanced international acceptance of the
GDR. In September that year the Western Allies and the Soviet Union signed a new Four
Power Accord in the Kammergericht (courthouse) in Schöneberg. It guaranteed access to