The day the Berlin Wall fell – level 1

09-11-1989

It is August 13, 1961. East German police put wire between East Berlin and West Berlin. The police stop traffic between the two parts. They cut telephone lines.

The reason for this activity is simple. The East German government wants to stop East Germans who want to go to West Germany. 3.5 million East Germans are already in East Germany. It is about 20% of East Germans.

Soon, East Germans start to build a wall between the two parts of Berlin. 7,000 soldiers control the wall. Now, people can’t go from East Berlin to West Berlin. The wall is 155 kilometers long.

The Berlin Wall is a symbol of the Cold War. It divides one of the biggest cities in Europe. It divides families and friends.

28 long years after the construction of the Berlin Wall, the situation in the Soviet Union is changing. This also affects East Germany.

On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall is open. Thousands of Berliners from both parts of Berlin meet at the Brandenburg Gate. They are happy. Families and friends can live freely in one city now.

Difficult words: wire (metal in the form of a line), reason (why something happens), divide (to change into two parts), both (two), freely (without limits).

What lasting effect did the Berlin Wall have on German society?

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