The Berlin Wall - How it worked | DW Documentary 

It's amazing how a nation could go through all this trouble to prevent it's people from leaving, and not think "Are we the bad guys?"

This video is very educative, I did not know the wall was this complex.

I like how Björn and Simmi added their own little touch to the animation at the 4:59 mark. Well done, guys.

East German borderland: death, death, death, and deadly force West German border area: watch tower, McDonald's, a little door hole to see what's up, top tourist Spot.

I remember as an american how I grew up watching the news at night . They would celebrate anyone who made it accross the wall.I know exactly what I was doing the moment I heard the wall was coming down.. Later in my life I met a woman from east berlin who was a couple of years younger than me. I asked her what it was like for her.she said that a teacher at her school encouraged the students to travel to see the world. She then said something profound . She said" It was very emotional for my parents who had known freedom and had it taken away. I had been born without freedomand it took me a while to adjust to what that meant"

I lived with this wall in Berlin on the western side for 8 years before it finally came down. I was also well acquainted with the part where the Church of Reconciliation stood. I can therefore say that the animation at least depicts the true depressive atmosphere that the Berlin Wall emitted if not entirely the details. At the time the church stood there the Wall was not made of concrete slabs, it consisted of the left over redbrick facades of the demolished tenant houses that formally stood along the border. Their windows were bricked up and the bricklayers had not even bothered to remove the curtains before hand leaving them protruding from between the bricks. Only after the church was demolished was the Wall "up dated" to the infamous white concrete slabs.

I served in US Army in Berlin HHC 3rd BN, 6th US Inf. 1967/1969 Surreal duty station

superb animation, totally captivated me

Very informative and educative . After watching so many videos on Berlin Wall finally I got to know how complex it was. Thank you!

This is an amazing animation depicting and explaining how the Berlin Wall worked in the 1980s. Wow! Very nice shots and smooth movement! Perfect for using it in class! Bravo guys!!

This is the best description of the Berlin wall I've ever seen.

So sad what humans would do to harm each other.

I was a U.S. Army Russian Linguist & Intelligence Analyst in Berlin from December 1983 to 1984. One of the best years of my life...

When i was growing up my dad was in the army spent 8 years of my life over there watched the wall get torn down with my own eyes and brought a piece of it home so now in port huron Michigan there sits a piece of the berlin wall.

as a tourist in 1982 i went through the wall in to west berlin.on the eastern side i seen about six civilians watching .in those days citizens were only allowed to go so far near the wall .they looked at me as if to say i wish i could go through there with you .i felt sorry for them .seven years later the wall came down

The city of Berlin went through an astonishing amount of changes in the 20th century - from mass destruction from World War II, to this absurd wall.

Very clear and thorough explanation - all in just ten minutes.

I just realised something. Imagine being born in 1925 in what would become East Germany. You're 8 when Hitler rises to power in 1933. In 1935 you're admitted to the Hitlerjugend, and you're 20 when WW2 ends. You've been bottled up with Nazi ideology -- all of a sudden the new rulers clear your mental slate, and you're to adopt a whole new ideology and set of values. In 1949, when you're 24, the GDR is born. The years go by. November 1989 you're 64 years old, and 65 at time of reunification. Thanks to good health and good genes you live on for another 30 years, until in 2020 you die at the age of 95. In your whole long life, your time in the GDR was kind of a little intermission or chronological set of brackets.... And to think . . . in 2029 (8 years from now) it'll be as many years since the fall of the Berlin Wall as GDR itself managed to exist (i.e. 40 years). Rather mind-blowing when you think about it.... 😮😮😮

Im from Germany and already visited Berlin for in depth sight seeing. However, even I didn't know how sophisticated the walls defense system was...not to that degree of detail shown and explained here...great video and at the same time very shocking, even after all these years since the reunion happend. Unbelievable that this really existed for so long... thank god I was born in West-Germany back then...

What a detailed discussion and what excellent video footage!!! 🔥

really well put together thanks

Excellent animation. Most informative, thank you.

Bravo and thank you to the creators (on every level) - this was very special.

Proud to serve there with the US Army's Berlin Brigade. 1983-1986. I use to patrol the Wall in a Gun Jeep. The East German troops in the towers would wave back and dangle their dog tags if you waved at them. I remember when that Church was torn down. The West side had protests when it happened. US Troops were allowed to go into East Berlin. We had to have special orders, be in uniform and be out by midnight. At the time one US dollar equaled 21 East German Marks. We would go over for shopping, a nice meal and hit a pub or two. Major Arthur D. Nicholson (7 June 1947 - 24 March 1985) was a United States Army military intelligence officer shot and killed by a Soviet sentry in East Berlin while engaged in intelligence-gathering activities as part of an authorized Military Liaison Mission which operated under reciprocal U.S. - Soviet authority.

Thank you for this video, it provided important information and amazing animation.

It's strange that people say life was okay over there when some people felt motivated to go through all this to get out of it.

I lived there before during and after the wall. Happiest time of my life. Berlin was the place to be.

That's a LOT of barriers to keep people IN!!!!

In 1988 I was working on a British tv documentary that involved a week's filming in East Berlin. A rather decrepit old E German mini-bus with E Berlin 'trusty' driver arrived at our W Berlin hotel to take us across the border, disappointingly not through Checkpoint Charlie. We and all our luggage was given a very thorough going over, and the sound recordists radio microphones were confiscated and sent back to our W Berlin hotel. We were supplied with some ungainly GDR radio mics of indeterminate age that worked surprisingly well, that came with 3 people. One was in charge of the transmitter, one looked after the receiver and the third man made sure the other two didnt get too friendly with the decadent Western film crew. We weren't able to source the extensive lighting kit we needed in E Berlin so we were allowed to get it from the West. The latest in big Arri lights arrived in an immaculate lorry accompanied by several West Berlin electricians in very expensive cars. As the film was about classical architecture on one day we wanted to film at and around the Brandenburg Gate. Permission from high was granted, and under strict but polite supervision we were allowed right up to the gate itself, way past anywhere that ordinary East Berliners were permitted to go. We were told where it wasnt safe to walk, for fear of anti-personnel mines and other lethal devices, which we were told were to keep the W Berlin fascists out, of course, but we were otherwise allowed pretty much free rein. Next day we were back in W Berlin, filming just across the Wall from where we had been the day before. As the cameraman and I rose to a great height in the cherry-picker we were using to get a high wide shot of the B Gate, we could see the E German border guards eyeing us with their binoculars, and I'm sure they were saying to each other, 'Hey, comrade, it's the British film that were here yesterday.' Two years later I was back in Berlin on another film and simply walked through the Gate, and over the 'Death Strip' to my heart's content. I wondered if the blokes selling E German memorabilia had only two years before been guarding the 'anti-fascist wall'.

Its amazing the lengths man will go to take another man's freedom away. The time and money wasted on this wall is a depressing ugly thing.

Excellent graphics. I’ve spent the last 5 days in Berlin and haven’t understood the exact set up of the wall and security strip until I watched this video.

I was an American Air Force Security Police Specialist in Berlin during 1979 to 1982. This is the best description for the wall and the people who were in the East. I worked 500 yards from the wall and would talk and give the DDR soldiers hand signs 😂😂 Berlin was a beautiful city with the exception of the Wall. I returned to Berlin in 2018 with my children and showed them how it was. They have a memorial park that still has a section of the wall , guard towers and pictures of the 138 victims A must visit if you are in Berlin.

Very Educational and Well Done Video

This is a wonderful presentation. Thank you.

A very interesting documentary. It really shows how pathetic the DDR regime were, the 'Party of the People' were prepared to kill their own men, women and children in the name of a 'socialist belief'. Those responsible for the construction and operation of this border should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves, but the corrupt politicians are never ashamed of what they do.

We need a wall like this but in our south border to prevent drug dealers, rapists and murders enter.

thank you great video

The video was fantastic, thanks

Good, informative!

Wow. Thats some animation 👌 Having spent time there as a soldier 1988-90, I can say this is a fantastic video. Full of good information

Excellent informative video

amazing video!

Berlin was a great place to get stationed at in the 80s! Spent some time at TCA when I was in the Air Force (1987-1988). Unlike any other assignment I ever had.

Good one guys! Thanks

Excellent job!

Very nice job with the animations! Gives a good visualisation on how it was back then! I would like to see more from the second world war and the cold war, keeps amazing me

Good work. Which software?

Excellent

Very educational!!!

Íts so interesting video - I want to know which side s residents life like !

Informative video with good attention to detail. Can DW re-upload this master piece in full HD. This topic deserves much discussion even in today's time when neo fasist forces are trying to break the western civilization.

After watching this I am thankful to our freedom.

A very interesting documentary

The Rolling Stones' career has lasted twice as long as the wall stood, 12 years longer than the entire Eastern Bloc, and 18 years less than the entire Soviet Union XD

Nb: Sangat Menarik serta Bagus.. Untuk ,, Skripsi dan Kliping.. Tugas Mata Pelajaran Sejarah!! 👍👍👍

How can any country really believe that its citizens will believe its lies when you have to keep them prisoners within your borders? If your political system is that great, you don't have to fear your people leaving.

I was stationed in West Berlin Germany from 1980 until 1986. On McNair. Traveled to the East many times . Wonderful City, Great people, miss the friends i made.

I find this part of history so interesting.

Thanks sir

Great animation, especially for a video over 10 years old.

I grew up in a divided Europe. My parents only went on vacation to Yugoslavia once which was behind the wall. However it's leader Tito fought against Communism they hated being a communist country. Most countries in Eastern Europe did. However any resistance against the U.S.S.R would be quickly put down. I am Dutch and it sounds a lot like German to a foreigner I remember my parents being asked if they were German, after they said they were from the Netherlands they were Treated very nice but Germans in the same hotel were not. Yugoslavia never forgave Germany for what happened during and after the 2nd world War. There fate was decided for them by the American and Russian governments they divided Europe in half, for a peace treaty that in the end led to the cold war. I also remember that my father who's hobby was taking pictures did not take one picture during that vacation. I went to Yugoslavia again after my marriage to an American Air Men. We both had to to OSI the Air Force investigation office for a briefing and debriefing. I noticed during that vacation that everyone working in the hotel wore the same shoes, it was like this in every hotel. Everyone in the tourist industry wore the same clothes. Almost like in the military. We were stationed in Las Vegas when the wall came down. I remember a frantic call from my mother both my parents were children during WWII, she was frantic that a united Germany would lead to another war. It did lead to the war in Bosnia Herzegovina. We were stationed in Germany after the wall came down, I worked in a German hotel, one of my co workers was from east Germany and 2 were from Hungary they had fled to the west as soon as they could out of fear the wall would be rebuild. My coworker from east Germany was extremely traumatized. She was afraid of anything having to do with the government. She told me in east Germany you had to be a member of the party to get work. She also said nobody trusted anyone because they could be in the Stasi, neighbors would inform on neighbors to get better paying jobs or nicer housing. She had been a victim of a Stasi interrogation and was hit so hard she had lost an eye. She also said many east Germans committed suicide out of fear of becoming part of what they were taught the fascist west. It was discovered after the wall came down that Honniker as well as the higher ups in n the communist party lived an almost western lifestyle in luxury homes and western food and films and utter luxury. While the average citizens had to stand in long food lines for one thing that was being sold in stores that day.

insane animation

I like to see a video of BMW and Volkswagen

Arrived in Germany the year before the wall came down, still have a piece of it in my shed! The guys on the RAF base gathered some of the Trabants abandoned when they came through and used them to run around the base in.

Well done and very educational! Hopefully we will get to see a video like this after North and South Korea unites to form one nation-state.

Why was some of the restraining devices, such as the automatic firing weapons, removed in 1983?

Indonesia. Sangat Menarik Sekali dan Bagus Banget...untuk.. Pembelajaran Sejarah Dunia... 👍👍👍👍

Nice to see a few Trabis feature in this mini documentary.

i was in Berlin a few years ago There are still reminders of the wall. Cool city Great food

i feel like i’m playing medal of honor

i was in East Berlin back in 73. Still have the visa. E. Germany had a pretty good hockey team back then . some games on utube

I remember watching the wall fall on tv 📺

this is very well done and as a document to show how to control human being, it is so sad that people had to be separated from their loved ones. Freedom is good and beautiful let the world breathe

loved it ,would love too see it

Was there in 1985 got into east Berlin for few hours, it’s look like the time stop in 1945 .

Interesting

That was pretty cool

The video begins along Bernauerstraße, Berlin. The church (Kirche) shown early in the video was destroyed (that is, blown up) by the DDR. You can see the outline of the church today at a memorial site.

Cool

My grandmother was born in 1938 , she was 86 years old...my grandfather was born in 1936 ,he passed away in 2021 ,he was 87 years old...Both my grandparents were born during the second World War... They were born in villages of the Assam Province, British India...

We left the Berlin Wall on 31/01/20 🇬🇧

Nice very nice keep up the good work K-9 0Ut...

when you need to set up all these arrangements just to prevent people from fleeing, you know you on the wrong side. lmao

There are lots of such walls around the world.

a im cuban and i cry everytime i see this

"Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us." -JFK

Hay quá

What happened in 1983 to remove land mines and the trip wire devices to shoot?

thank you to the camera man

Excellent video. Nevertheless, I have a doubt regarding the part where you said West-Berlin was part of the FRG. As far as I know, it was NOT formally part of the Federal Republic of Germany, but it was indeed politically aligned.

So it was basically a high maximum security prison complex.

Fun Fact, the wall was around Westberlin..

Think of the costs of keeping 12,000 security guards housed and fed !

I traveled from Hamburg to Berlin by train in the winter of '90/'91. It was only a few months after the Berlin wall came down. As soon as the train crossed the (former) west-east border, it was as if time transported me back to 1945. It was surreal. The landscape was desolate, with almost no cars or people in sight. The train stations were no more than big-size huts--tile-roofed, delapidated and grey and run-down.

Can you image that these nutters would build a wall around your home and decide your destiny? Madness.

Thanks for the detailed video . But why was berlin only half soviet, considering it was entirely located in Eastern Germany?

DW documentary 👏👏👏👏👏

I see a flaw in the system. Let's just say my lepus impersonation is pretty darn good.

You have a great visual video of how the divided a nation from Aug 1961 to November 1989

I mean you don’t need to go through the wall or the iron curtain, you can just go to poland and highjack a plane and fly it to Tempelhof