Grey sky view, towards Reconciliation Chapel, brick foundation walls of building at 10a Bernauer Strasse, Berlin Wall
In 2010-11 archaeologists excavated the foundation walls of a building that once stood at 10a Bernauer Strasse. The building stood in east Berlin, while the sidewalk in front, along Bernauer Strasse, lay in West Berlin. A 'Human Suffering' information panel reads: 'before the Wall was built the residents of the border houses, ... situated directly behind the border, enjoyed a certain freedom. They had immediate and uncontrolled access to the West. When the border was closed on August 13, 1961, the residents lost the privilege. The Wall also separated friends and families living on Bernauer Strasse. residents on the east side were faced with the decision of whether to go or stay. Many decided to flee. The SED reacted to the large numbers of escapes by forcing all the residents of the border houses to leave their homes by October. After that the buildings stood empty. The windows were completely bricked-up by mid-November. This became the dominant image of Bernauer Strasse until February 1965, when the systematic demolition began. Only the remains of building fronts, behind which the actual Wall stood, remained standing. These facade ruins were torn down in 1980, when the new Berlin Wall was erected. Until 1989, the East Berlin side of Bernauer Strasse was a wasteland used by the border regime and equipped with numerous barriers and guarded by armed soldiers ...' . The Reconciliation Chapel, in the background of the view, is built on the foundations of the Reconciliation Church, which, because of its name and the fact that its tower seemed to reach to the heavens behind the Wall almost accusingly, was blown up in 1985, after standing in the border strip as a symbol of Berlin's division since the mid-sixties.
Size: 5340px × 3444px
Location: Foundation walls, former building at 10a Bernauer Strasse, Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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