The Berlin Wall split the city in half...

It was 50 years ago this month that a wall was constructed callously dividing a city in two. Overnight a barbed wire fence was hastily erected, and residents awoke to find their city split in half. Yet what began as a slipshod construction crudely bisecting Berlin’s streets, gardens and railways became one of the most potent and enduring symbols of the divide between East and West.

A fascinating and poignant radio documentary broadcast on August 16th by the BBC World Service examines the human and emotional impact of the wall’s construction. Suffused with colourful and touching anecdotes, the programme reveals Berliners’ responses to the newly erected wall, whilst elegantly detailing its political raison d’être.

The wall trapped Berliners, cutting them off from friends, family and work. Many never saw the other side again. Some successfully jumped, swam and dug for their freedom, yet 125 died attempting to reach the West. By 1980, the Berlin wall stretched for over 140 km; it was fortified into an aggressive concrete structure of 3.6 metres in height, defended by over 116 watchtowers.

The programme compiles captivating stories, such as that of a man who escaped East Berlin by hiding under a lion’s cage, or a remarkable interview with a journalist who was the only western reporter permitted to work in Berlin at that time, thereby becoming embroiled in the biggest international news scoop of the moment. Historians and experts are enlisted to document the social and political turmoil wreaked by the wall, providing solid historical detail to enrich the powerful tales of human survival.

The two-part documentary is engrossing for those seeking simply to broaden their knowledge of the subject, but it is the astonishing first-hand accounts of the period that make the programme such a worthwhile listen, even for those well-acquainted with the history of the Berlin Wall.

You can listen to the programme online here,  visit:  or for more information see here. Episode 2 will be broadcast on the BBC World Service on 23/08/11. More information is available here.