And the wall came tumbling down

FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2021-217 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (November 9, 2021) – In Issue 2021-217 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps, we celebrate the historic end of the Iron Curtain.

TOR AUF! (OPEN THE GATE!)

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 signaled an end to the Cold War and the beginning of the end of Communism in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe.

The physical wall symbolized the political Iron Curtain that had separated east and west Europe since the end of World War II.

It just took two weeks for the East Germans to build a makeshift barbed wire and concrete wall that kept citizens of Berlin and travelers to the city from freely crossing into the city’s different sectors.  Originally passage was only allowed at three different locations, or checkpoints – Helmstedt (Checkpoint Alpha to the American military), Dreilinden (Checkpoint Bravo) and central Berlin at Friedrichstrasse (Checkpoint Charlie). 

Eventually there were twelve checkpoints in total, as the wall took a more formidable shape.

It is estimated that two million people from East Berlin visited West Berlin the first weekend after the bulldozing of the wall, chiseling away at souvenir pieces (I have one, but maybe it came from someone’s driveway) and participating in the “greatest street party in the history of the world.”

Here is Homann’s map of Prussia, including Berlin from 1716.  In those earlier days borders changed on regular basis in much of Europe.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts here on Loveland Beacon.