German leaders are gathering in Berlin on Saturday to mark the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall and pay homage to those who died trying to cross the old east-west divide.
On August 13, 1961, the East German communist regime closed its border and began building the Wall, dividing the city for more than 28 years. The Wall, in some cases, ran straight through streets, neighborhoods and public spaces.
The Wall, which was sold in the East as the "anti-fascist protection wall," became a symbol for the geographical, ideological and political divide between Europe's democratic West and the communist East controlled by the Soviet Union.
'Tragic day'
"It was the most tragic day in the history of Berlin after the end of World War II," said Berlin's current mayor, Klaus Wowereit. "The Wall was, and still is, a symbol of an inhumane and dictatorial political system."
The Wall finally fell on November 9, 1989, in a bloodless uprising which saw East Germans allowed to cross freely into the West for the first time in nearly three decades.
At midday, Berlin was to observe a minute's silence in memory of the victims, with buses and trains scheduled to stop as part of the tribute. At least 136 people are known to have died attempting to scale the wall, though historians say this number may have been as high at 700.
The anniversary will also see the inauguration of a new section of a memorial on Bernauer Strasse, where there is an original section of the Wall, a museum and photographs of people shot trying to escape.
The service will be attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was raised in the East, and President Christian Wulff, as well as Wowereit.
Wulff, who will make the keynote speech, said the anniversary was an occasion for Germans to reflect on how far they have come since the darkest days of the Cold War.
"We have reason to be very pleased to live here and now," he told Saturday's issue of Die Welt newspaper. "We can look with pride to East Germans' irrepressible desire for freedom and West Germans' solidarity with them."
On August 13, 1961, the East German communist regime closed its border and began building the Wall, dividing the city for more than 28 years. The Wall, in some cases, ran straight through streets, neighborhoods and public spaces.
The Wall, which was sold in the East as the "anti-fascist protection wall," became a symbol for the geographical, ideological and political divide between Europe's democratic West and the communist East controlled by the Soviet Union.
'Tragic day'
"It was the most tragic day in the history of Berlin after the end of World War II," said Berlin's current mayor, Klaus Wowereit. "The Wall was, and still is, a symbol of an inhumane and dictatorial political system."
The Wall finally fell on November 9, 1989, in a bloodless uprising which saw East Germans allowed to cross freely into the West for the first time in nearly three decades.
At midday, Berlin was to observe a minute's silence in memory of the victims, with buses and trains scheduled to stop as part of the tribute. At least 136 people are known to have died attempting to scale the wall, though historians say this number may have been as high at 700.
The anniversary will also see the inauguration of a new section of a memorial on Bernauer Strasse, where there is an original section of the Wall, a museum and photographs of people shot trying to escape.
The service will be attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was raised in the East, and President Christian Wulff, as well as Wowereit.
Wulff, who will make the keynote speech, said the anniversary was an occasion for Germans to reflect on how far they have come since the darkest days of the Cold War.
"We have reason to be very pleased to live here and now," he told Saturday's issue of Die Welt newspaper. "We can look with pride to East Germans' irrepressible desire for freedom and West Germans' solidarity with them."
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