This border cuts through Germany.
It separates East and West, communism and democracy.
It has only one purpose:
To keep the citizens of the GDR, in the East,
from fleeing to the Federal Republic of Germany.
WALLED IN! The inner German border
Berlin is located n the heart of the GDR.
The city is divided into four sectors
since the end of the Second World War.
In 1961, the Western sectors were
The Wall.
East Berlin, early 80s.
This street leads to the border with West Berlin.
One needs special authorization to come here,
to visit the cemetery on the left, for example.
It is located within the border area since the wall was built.
Here begin the actual border barriers.
To proceed is life-threatening.
What lies behind this first wall
is something no usual GDR citizen can enter:
the strictly guarded border strip.
It is permanently under construction.
The surveillance trail outside the border strip
is controlled not only by soldiers, but also
by the People's Police and others.
Flight prevention in the GDR:
an extravagant, costly initiative.
Two soldiers watch over 200 meters
in this area.
Altogether, the border troops in Berlin
amount to about 12.000 men.
The next obstacle: the signalling fence.
When grabbed, it triggers a silent alarm.
In the watchtower, the soldiers immediately see where the fence was touched.
A fugitive doesn't realize it, but the guards have already spotted him.
From their tower, they can alert other border soldiers.
By night, the border is illuminated as bright as day.
In the West, this area is known as the "Death Strip".
Here sentinels shoot fugitives as a last resort.
In the Berlin Wall alone, at least 136 are killed.
In the middle of the border zone, the Church of Atonement.
The Wall separated it from its congregation, settled in the western side of the city, for the most part.
The regime of the GDR had the church imploded in 1985.
Possible reason: it makes the border confusing.
These obstacles force all vehicles to stop, both fugitives and border soldiers.
On the other side lies a steel carpet made of fourteen centimeter long spikes.
In the West it is called "Stalin's grass". The GDR border guards refer to it as "asparagus board".
The soil is flattened regularly.
So that each fugitive leaves behind footprints.
And this is the famous Berlin Wall:
3.60 meters tall, the last obstacle before the West.
The west-side of the Wall still belongs to the GDR,
Border soldiers can only open them in pairs.
That's how they control the condition of the other side of the Wall.
On many street intersections
In case of war, this is where the Panzers would burst through.