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Germany Marks Berlin Wall's 50th Anniversary
BBC NEWS, EUROPE
August 13, 2011: Germany is marking the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall. Communist East Germany moved to close its border on August 13, 1961, dividing Berlin for more than 28 years.
Soldiers from the communist East began construction on the morning of August 13, 1961, eventually building a wall that spread for nearly 160km (100 miles). There were more than 300 watchtowers to prevent escapees.
The now German capital will observe a minute of silence at noon on Saturday in memory of those who died trying to cross to the West. Transport will stop in the German capital at noon for the minute's silence.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will pay tribute on one street cut in half by the Wall and President Christian Wulff will deliver a keynote speech.
Commemorations for the anniversary started overnight, with a seven-hour reading of the names of those who died trying to leave the communist east.
President Wulff told Die Welt newspaper the anniversary was a time to reflect. "We have reason to be very pleased to live here and now. We can look with pride to East Germans' irrepressible desire for freedom and West Germans' solidarity with them."
Mrs Merkel, who was raised in the East, will attend the inauguration of a memorial and museum on Bernauer Strasse, which was divided by the Wall.
The BBC's Stephen Evans in Berlin says the East German authorities portrayed the Wall as a barrier to keep the fascist West out - what came to be known as the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart. But he says the accepted view now is that it was to keep East German migrants in.
The number of people died trying to cross the Wall is disputed - at least 136 are known to have been killed but victims' groups say the true number is more than 700. The first victim was thought to be Guenter Liftin on August 24, 1961 and the last Chris Gueffroy on February 6, 1989.
Although the Wall came down in 1989, it remains for some a symbol of continuing economic division between the richer west and poorer east. Few parts of the Wall remain, though city authorities have laid down an 8km row of cobblestones to mark its path. Tourists often struggle to find original sections.
