The Berlin Wall (Part 2): The Building of the Wall (with Quincy Mackay)

The History Buff is charting the story of one of history's most infamous barriers - The Berlin Wall, which divided a city in the heart of a divided Europe for 28 years. As a Berlin tour guide, this is something that I talk about a lot, and it's something visitors Berlin continue to be fascinated by. In the last episode, I discussed the end of the Second World War, the division of Germany and the beginnings of the Cold War, which set the stage for the events of this episode.

In this second episode of The Berlin Wall series, I am joined by Quincy, a fellow Berlin tour guide, to talk about the events surrounding that fateful night in August 1961 where the last hole in the Iron Curtain, the border between East and West Berlin, was sealed off literally overnight. Berliners woke up on the morning of 13 August to find themselves cut off from friends, family and work.

But why was the Berlin Wall built in the first place? How was the mammoth task of sealing off the 155 kilometre border surrounding West Berlin actually put into practice? Who planned it? How did the West react? Listen to find out!

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Artwork by Leila Mead. Check out her website and follow her on Instagram.

Music: As History Unfolds by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen.

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