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A 3-ton segment of the Berlin Wall is in the Western Avenue
Brown Line station. Post-Exchange/JAMIE LOO
The Berlin Wall in Chicago
Section of wall in Western Avenue Brown Line station.
By Jamie Loo, First Amendment reporter
November 9, 2009
A large segment of the Berlin Wall has its home in a train station in Chicago. The wall was unveiled in the Western Avenue Brown Line station in 2008.
Chicago Alderman Gene Schulter said former Federal Republic of Germany Chicago Consul General Wolfgang Drautz contacted him about bringing a segment of the wall to Chicago about four years ago. Schulter put together a task force that included the city, Chicago Transit Authority, the German consulate, the former McCormick Freedom Museum and German community to search for a location for the wall. The task force decided that the wall belonged in a public space, he said, and the Brown Line station was chosen. Schulter said many businesses in the area offer products and services for the German community and many German visitors also come to the 47th Ward.
Lufthansa Air Cargo offered to transport the 3-ton wall segment from Germany free of charge and it was in storage in a warehouse until the train station was ready for the installation. The McCormick Freedom Museum, now the McCormick Freedom Project, curated the information panels that accompany the wall segment. The Post-Exchange is owned by the Freedom Project.
Schulter said the wall is a reminder that freedom cannot be taken for granted.
“It should be an inspiration for future generations to understand that we should never ever allow this to be happening again any where else in the world,” he said.
A small piece of the Berlin Wall is also on the façade of the Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue.
For more on this story and to see Chicago’s Berlin Wall segment, click on this link to watch a video.
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Freedom Without Walls
Videos: Remembering the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall links
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Berlin Wall and German reunification timeline
The events leading up to the creation and fall of the Berlin Wall last from the end of World War II in 1945 up to November 1989. This timeline also includes major dates in the reunification of Germany.
May 1945-1949
After World War II ends, Germany is divided into four sections with the U.S., Britain, France and the Soviet Union controlling different parts. The capital, Berlin, was also divided and located in the Soviet sector. In 1948, the Soviet Union begins a blockade which blocks routes in and out of East Germany. The blockade ends in May 1949. West Berlin would later become a free city separate from the Federal Republic of Germany.
June 1953
East Berliners take to the streets in a mass uprising against the communist government. Soviet tanks crush the revolt leaving at least 40 people dead.
June 1961
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and President John F. Kennedy hold an unsuccessful summit in Vienna.
August 13, 1961
The border between East and West Berlin is closed. Over a 24 hour period, workers build a light fence with barbed wire. Brandenburg Gate is closed the next day. Within the next few days concrete walls start springing up, followed by gun positions and watchtowers.
August 26, 1961
All crossing points in the East are closed for West Berlin citizens, isolating the city on the Soviet side. Over time, West Germans begin calling the wall, Schandmauer, or the "Wall of Shame." The wall eventually becomes 96 miles long.
October 1961
American and Soviet troops confront each other in tanks at Checkpoint Charlie, the most well known border crossing between the East and West. It ends in a stalemate.
August 17, 1962
Peter Fechter, 18, is shot and left to bleed to death in full view of the media. Bystanders try to rescue him but soldiers hold them back at gunpoint.
June 26, 1963
President John F. Kennedy visits Berlin and in a speech gives one of his most memorable quotes, “Ich bein ein Berliner,” which translates to “I am a Berliner.”
May 1973
East and West Germany establish formal diplomatic ties.
1975-1976
Another installation of the wall is built, which penetrates deeper into East Germany and includes a touch sensitive, self-firing fence. This didn’t end attempted escapes.
1985
Mikhail Gorbachev comes into power in the Soviet Union.
June 12, 1987
President Ronald Reagan visits Berlin and calls on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
February 6, 1989
Chris Gueffroy is the last person to be executed trying to cross the wall. It is estimated that over the wall’s time more than 200 people were killed trying to escape into West Berlin. There were also an estimated 5,000 successful escapes.
August-September 1989
Communist Hungary removes its border restrictions with Austria. Hungary opens its borders to East German refugees. An estimated 13,000 East Germans escape into Austria.
September-October 1989
Weekly pro-democracy rallies take place in Leipzig. Socialist Unity party leader Erich Honecker is forced to resign. He is replaced by communist leader Egon Krenz.
November 4, 1989
An estimated one million people attend a pro-democracy demonstration in East Berlin. The East German government resigns three days later.
November 9, 1989
The East German government announces that travel to West Germany and West Berlin will be permitted with visas. Thousands of East Berliners pass into West Berlin as border guards stand by. People begin tearing down the wall.
December 22, 1989
Brandenburg Gate is opened.
February 1990
The U.S., France, Britain, and Soviet Union approve reunification for Germany.
March 18, 1990
Free elections are held in East Germany. East Germans vote to have a democratic government and to reunify with West Germany. A treaty is signed in May.
October 3, 1990
Germany is formally reunited.
Sources: Time, Newseum, Cold War Museum
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Basic Law
Basic Law is the constitution of Germany, which ties together the legislative process with constitutional rights and administrative authority. Article 1 of the Basic Law states that: “Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.” Basic Law also guarantees rights such as freedom of press, religion, association, equal treatment before the law, freedom to act within the law, and protection of family. The constitution also defines the country as a “welfare state,” which means that the government must take precautions to guarantee that citizens have a decent standard of living in case of unemployment, disability, illness and old age.
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