Germany commemorates construction of Berlin Wall 65 years ago

The German capital marked the 65th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall with a commemorative event on Thursday at the former death strip dividing the city into East and West.

Political and public figures gathered to honour those killed at the Wall, congregating at the Chapel of Reconciliation along the Berlin Wall Memorial, a stretch of the former wall maintained as an open-air museum. Excerpts from the biography of one victim were read aloud.

Parliamentary President Julia Klöckner and Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner were among those who laid wreaths at a memorial site.

Klöckner laments remaining divisions

In a speech, Klöckner lamented a wall that persists in many people's minds and called for greater listening and solidarity within Germany.

"The former border has become almost invisible," the conservative politician said, according to her prepared text. "And yet it is there. The Wall has left marks on Germany that still influence our paths today."

East and West continued to play a role in many people's sense of identity, she said.

"Political questions are sometimes answered very differently on each side: migration, Covid, the handling of Russia," Klöckner said. "We must learn from our history. We must not lose ourselves in it," she added.

In 1989, she said courage had brought the Wall down. "Courage is needed today too. The courage to reach out to one another. We want to overcome the obstacles that sometimes still stand between us."

Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for the defence of freedom and democracy.

"Sixty-five years ago, the leadership of former East Germany had the Wall built. Today, our country has been united longer than it was divided, and we live in freedom and peace," Merz wrote on the platform X. 

"The lesson of the Wall remains: freedom and democracy are not a given. We must always fight for them." 

Political fringes play down dictatorship

Wegner called August 13, 1961, one of the darkest days in Berlin's history.

"Sixty-five years ago, the construction of the Berlin Wall tore families apart, separated friends, destroyed life plans and locked millions of people inside the [East German] dictatorship," he said.

Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer warned against playing down the harsh realities of the East German dictatorship.

"For almost three decades, the Berlin Wall was the most visible symbol of the lack of freedom and oppression in the German - so-called Democratic - Republic."

He added that both left and right-wing extremists were currently attempting to deliberately play down the former East Germany, and warned against "historical amnesia."

Weimer suggested naming streets and squares after people who had opposed the unjust system in former East Germany, been imprisoned or even killed, in comments to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.

More East German history in schools?

Axel Klausmeier, director of the Berlin Wall Foundation, said the history of former East Germany should be taught more intensively in schools.

"East German history, the history of German division, features far too little in the curriculum, often comes far too late - sometimes not until the upper school years," Klausmeier said on broadcaster RBB.

He added that it was important to remember that former East Germany had been governed autocratically and without free elections. "That tells us: Democracy is not to be taken for granted."

The Wall stood for more than 28 years

The construction of the Berlin Wall on August 13, 1961, sealed the division of Germany. The former East German leadership sought to halt the mass exodus of people to West Berlin and to West Germany, which was hampering the East German economy and destabilizing the state.

According to the Berlin Wall Foundation, at least 140 people were killed at the Wall or died in connection with the East German border regime. The barrier, around 155 kilometres long, divided Berlin for more than 28 years, separating many families and the western part of the city from its surrounding area.

At least 251 people also died during or after checks at Berlin border crossings, according to the foundation.

The Wall was opened on November 9, 1989, following mass protests in the course of a peaceful revolution in former East Germany. The reunification of East and West Germany followed on October 3, 1990.