Berlin Wall Facts – 70 Interesting Facts About the Berlin Wall

10 Berlin Wall Facts

An estimated 230,000 people defected in 1960.

After the mass exodus, East Germany desperately wanted to stop this and decided to build a wall to prevent the defection.

The Berlin Wall was built in four months.

Erich Honecker managed the building of the wall.

Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union ordered to build the wall in 1961.

The Berlin wall was constructed overnight on the 13 August and so many people woke to find that they were trapped on one side.

The wall was originally barbed wire fence of 96 mile but it was later rebuilt because people were able to climb over it.

The makeshift barrier was then replaced by a series of concrete walls with wire mest fences up to 5 meters high stretching for 28 miles.

The famous Checkpoint Charlie incident in the city on Oct 22 – 28, 1961 involved a standoff between the U.S and Soviet tanks, however it ended peacefully as both agreed to withdraw their tanks.

Buildings behind the Berlin wall were demolished and that wide open area was known as “no man’s land” or “death strip”, where the guards in more than 300 sentry towers could shoot anyone trying to escape.