Where was the border of East and West Germany?
Berlin, which was entirely within the Soviet zone, had been similarly divided by the four powers, thus creating an exclave surrounded by East Germany that was closely aligned with (but not formally part of) West Germany….Inner German border.
| Inner German border Innerdeutsche Grenze | |
|---|---|
| Demolished | 1990 |
| Battles/wars | Cold War |
| Garrison information |
Was there a border wall between East and West Germany?
The East Germans also erected an extensive barrier along most of the 850-mile border between East and West Germany. In the West, the Berlin Wall was regarded as a major symbol of communist oppression.
How long was the East and West German border?
Physically separate from the more famous Berlin Wall, the Inner German border was nearly 1,400km long and divided East and West Germany from 1949, when the Soviets established East Germany, until the border fortifications started to topple down in 1989.
What were the borders of East Germany?
Geographically, the GDR bordered the Baltic Sea to the north, Poland to the east, Czechoslovakia to the southeast and West Germany to the southwest and west. Internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin, known as East Berlin, which was also administered as the state’s de facto capital.
Why was there a wall between East and West Germany?
The official purpose of this Berlin Wall was to keep so-called Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, but it primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections from East to West.
Why was there a Wall between East and West Germany?
Is there still a border between East and West Germany?
30 years after the German reunion, there are still boundaries separating East and West Germany, although those are no political borders anymore.
What is the origin of the inner German border?
The inner German border originated from plans by the Allies of World War II to divide a defeated Germany into occupation zones. Their boundaries were drawn along the territorial boundaries of 19th-century German states and provinces that had largely disappeared with the unification of Germany in 1871.
What happened to the East German border in 1961?
At one location, Rüterberg on the Elbe, the border fortifications completely surrounded the village and sealed off the inhabitants from the rest of East Germany as well as the West. East German border guard Konrad Schumann fleeing East Germany, 1961.
How did people cross the East German border?
The border could be crossed legally only through a limited number of air, road, rail and river routes. Foreigners were able to cross East German territory to or from West Berlin, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Czechoslovakia.