We did not know much about the period which led to the building of the Berlin Wall. We had seen the fall, but did not understand much of the history behind this event. Our tour through Berlin was interesting as the guide describe where the wall was and how it effected daily life.

After WWII, the defeated territories of Germany, the Balkans, Middle East and North Africa, were placed under U.S., British or Russian governance. Much of the division was made based on political agreements of the three victorious countries with lines being drawn based on military occupation of the fallen states at the end of the war. These divisions paid little attention to the culture, ethnicity, or historical boundaries of these regions. As a result, neighbors and families were divided and enemies forced together.

Berlin was the classic example of the political solutions imposed where much of what happened was driven by ideology, paranoia and political power struggles. As the U.S., Britain and Russia parceled Germany, the U.S and Britain were not willing to give up the city, so the compromise split of the city was implemented. And so began a period where two bordering countries attempted to control the flow of people, ideas and economic development where there had existed a history of economic and cultural dependency. The building of the wall under the auspices of security was the solution of choice.

As relations between the West and Russia deteriorated, the land transportation options were disrupted and the only way to keep Berlin was to airlift all supplies to the city: food, fuel, coal, everything. The stories of the flights to ship food into the city are amazing. The C-54 Skymaster cargo planes were nicknamed candy bombers when Col. Gail Halvorsen started dropping candy tied to parachutes from his plane to children during the Berlin Airlift. There are many stories of courage to defy the wall and even today, most Berliners can tell you story of JFK’s speech where he states, “We are all Berliners”.

During our visit we saw where the line of the original wall is preserved in the streets and sidewalks by a double line of bricks, a simple reminder of the past division. We heard the stories about the strict enforcement of the border and the killing of those who attempted to challenge it. Most difficult to understand was why this option was chosen when the two countries had citizens that crossed the border daily to go to work and visit family.

We know the end result, the wall was taken down and after 20 years, the country is reunited and moving forward as one of the most powerful European countries. While we in the West view this as a great success story of democracy and capitalism, it seems the lessons of this piece of history are lost in this time of globalization as countries that have spent the last 20 years developing economic dependencies, now try to restrict the free flow of economic and cultural influences. Nations are still focused on building walls and not bridges.