The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government of the German Democratic Republic on 13 August 1961. It included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, beds of nails and other defenses. The primary intention for the Wall's construction was to prevent East German citizens from fleeing to the West.
Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin; from there they could then travel to West Germany and to other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the deadly force associated with the Wall prevented almost all such emigration. During this period, over 100,000 people attempted to escape, and over 5,000 people succeeded in escaping over the Wall, with an estimated death toll of those murdered by East German authorities ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin.
In 1989, a series of revolutions in nearby Eastern Bloc countries and the events of the "Pan-European Picnic" set in motion a peaceful development during which the Iron Curtain largely broke, rulers in the East came under public pressure to cease their repressive policies, the Berlin Wall fell, and finally the Eastern Bloc collapsed. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all German Democratic Republic citizens could visit the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side. Official demolition of the Wall began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1994. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which formally took place on 3 October 1990.
In 1996, former president Nelson Mandela visited Germany on a state visit and was given a piece of the Berlin Wall as a special gift, symbolising peace and a token of reconciliation. This piece of the Berlin Wall now stands here, where it is the only piece of the Wall to be housed in Africa.
Information sourced from Wikipedia and www.southafrica.net.
LOGGING REQUIREMENT:
To log this Virtual Cache, take a photograph of your hand gesturing the "V sign" with the piece of the Berlin Wall in the background and upload it with your log. Alternatively, upload a photograph of yourself making the gesture with the piece of the wall in view. The V sign is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched (see below). It is generally accepted as a gesture or sign of peace!
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.