-
Berlin Wall
The Berlin border between East and West Berlin is closed. The zonal boundary is sealed in the morning by East German troops. “Shock workers” from East Germany and Russia a seal off the border with barrier of barbed wire and light fencing that eventually became a complex series of wall, fortified fences, gun positions and watchtowers heavily guarded and patrolled. In the end, the Berlin Wall was 96 miles (155 km) long and the average height of the concrete wall was 11.8 ft (3.60 m). Over the cour -
Gates
Brandenburg Gate is closed. -
Conrad Schumann
Conrad Schumann, the first East German border guard, escapes by jumping the barbed wire to West Berlin. The first concrete elements and large square blocks are used on this date. Within the next months the first generation of the Berlin Wall was build up: a wall consisting of concrete elements and square blocks. -
Barbed wire
The barbed wire barrier is being removed and replaced with a wall of concrete blocks. This first Wall around Berlin was two meters high, made from different building materials assembled into a rough construction. -
berlin wall closed
All crossing points are closed for West Berlin citizens. -
Second berlin wall
A second Wall is being built to prevent escapes to the West. The first Wall is improved over the next years and it becomes difficult to distinguish between the first and the second generations of the Wall. -
Peter Fetcher
Peter Fechter, 18, a bricklayer from East Berlin, is shot and left to bleed to death in full view of western media. Bystanders in the West tried to rescue him, but were prevented from it at gunpoint. -
JKF Speech
President J. F. Kennedy visits Berlin and declares: “Ich bin ein Berliner.” (“I am a Berliner.”) -
Agreements
After 7 rounds of negotiations between the Senate of Berlin and the East German authorities, an administrative agreement is signed allowing West Berliners to visit their relatives in East Berlin on a limited basis. -
Wall generation
A new Wall generation, the third, is introduced to replace the old construction. The new one consists of concrete slabs laid between H-shaped steel concrete supports. A round, 0,40 meter large concrete tube capped the wall making it more difficult to climb over. -
East German government
The East German government announces that visits in West Germany and West Berlin will be permitted. Thousands of East Berliners pass into West Berlin as border guards stand by. People begin tearing down the wall which is opened. -
Agreeement over Berlin
The Four Power Agreement over Berlin is reached. It charges the governments of West Berlin and the GDR with negotiating an accord that would regulate access to and from West Berlin from the FRG and secure the right of West Berliners to visit East Berlin and the GDR. -
Four Power Agreement
The Transit Agreement is reached that arranged the matters raised in the Four Power Agreement and also secured the rights of GDR citizens to visit the FRG, but only in cases of family emergency. -
Formal Diplomatic Ties
East and West Germany establish formal diplomatic ties. -
Basic Treaty
The Basic Treaty is signed in which both German states committed themselves to developing normal relations on the basis of equality, guaranteeing their mutual territorial integrity as well as the border between them, and recognizing each other’s independence and sovereignty. They also agreed to the exchange of “permanent missions” in Bonn and East Berlin to further relations. -
President Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin and calls on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. -
Chris Gueffroy death
Chris Gueffroy is the last person to be killed trying to cross the Wall. -
Communist Hungary
Communist Hungary removes its border restrictions with Austria. -
Hungerian Gov.
The Hungarian government opens border for East German refugees More than 13,000 East Germans escape into Austria. -
Pro-Democracy
An estimated one million people attend a pro-democracy demonstration in East Berlin’s main square. Within days, the East German Government resigns. -
Border Guards
The East German government announces that visits in West Germany and West Berlin will be permitted. Thousands of East Berliners pass into West Berlin as border guards stand by. People begin tearing down the wall which is opened. -
Opened Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is opened. -
Reunited
Germany is formally reunited.
