This Memorial to Berlin Wall victims serves as a solemn reminder of the Berlin Wall legacy. Located on a fence along the Tiergarten on Ebertstrase (approximately where the Berlin Wall used to be), just a short stroll from the Brandenburg Gate, you will find this humble memorial to those who died at or because of the Berlin Wall. This memorial reminds us that although the East German Communist government stated the purpose of the Berlin Wall was to keep Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, the Wall primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections of it’s citizens from East to West.
On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) began the construction of a barbed wire and concrete “Antifascistischer Schutzwall,” or “antifascist bulwark,” (aka the Berlin Wall) between East and West Berlin.
How sad it was to see the names of individuals (approximatley 138 in total) on white crosses who risked their lives trying to escape the tyranny of the GDR; However, the saddest cross of all was that of the last victim, Chris Gueffroy, who died at the Berlin Wall a mere nine months before the Wall fell on November 9, 1989.
Chris Gueffroy was just 20 years old when he was struck by the deadly shots fired by border soldiers on February 5, 1989. To read Chris’s story “The last victim of the Berlin Wall”, click on this link.
