For Free - Berlin - page 77

stag, on the southern bank of the Spree River, the Gedenkort Weisse Kreuze (White Crosses
Memorial) also commemorates the Wall victims, as does the emotional 'Window of Remem-
brance' at the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Memorial). It features the names
and photographs of all the people who were shot or died in an accident while attempting to
escape.
The Wall Memorial runs along 1.4km of Bernauer Strasse which was literally split in two
by the Berlin Wall, with one side of apartment buildings on the western side and the other in
the east. As the barrier was erected, many residents on the eastern side decided to flee spon-
taneously by jumping into rescue nets or sliding down ropes, risking severe injury and
death. Bernauer Strasse was also where several escape tunnels were dug, most famously
Tunnel 29 in 1962, so named because 29 people managed to flee to the West before border
guards took notice.
The fact that there was no limit to the ingenuity of would-be escapees is engagingly docu-
mented at the Mauermuseum near Checkpoint Charlie. On display are several original con-
traptions used to flee East Germany, including a hot air balloon, a hollow surfboard, a spe-
cially rigged car and even a homemade mini-submarine.
The End
The Wall's demise came as unexpectedly as its creation. Once again the GDR was losing its
people in droves, this time via Hungary, which had opened its borders with Austria. Thus
emboldened, East Germans took to the streets by the hundreds of thousands, demanding im-
proved human rights and an end to the dictatorship of the SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei
Deutschland), the single party in East Germany. A series of demonstrations culminated in a
gathering of half a million people on Alexanderplatz on 4 November 1989, vociferously de-
manding political reform. Something had to give.
It did, on 9 November, when government spokesperson Günter Schabowski announced
during a press conference on live TV that all travel restrictions to the West would be lifted.
When asked by a reporter when this regulation would come into effect, he nervously
shuffled his papers looking for the answer, then responded with the historic words: 'As far as
I know, immediately.' In fact, the ruling was not supposed to take effect until the following
day, but no one had informed Schabowski.
The news spread through East Berlin like wildfire, with hundreds of thousands heading
towards the Wall. Border guards had no choice but to stand back. Amid scenes of wild
partying and mile-long parades of GDR-made Trabant cars, the two Berlins came together
again.