Germany marks 62nd anniversary of construction of Berlin Wall

Berlin and its surrounding area were marking the 62nd anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall by paying tribute to all the victims of the border set up by the regime of former East Germany, reported dpa.

Numerous personalities from politics and society gathered at the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse, a street in the north of the city where the well-known Mauerpark (Wall Park) is also located, to commemorate the people who died or were killed in escape attempts.

Other consequences of decades of division were also discussed, such as the separation of families and the lack of freedom for people in the former East Germany.

On behalf of the city's government, Economy Senator Franziska Giffey laid a wreath.

"Even after so many years, it is important to remember and to make people aware again and again that democracy and freedom cannot be taken for granted and that people fought or even died for their desire for freedom for our reunited Germany and today's free Berlin," Giffey said in a written statement.

A memorial service was due to be held in the Chapel of Reconciliation located at the same memorial.

Several other events were planned along the former border that physically divided the city into East and West on August 13, 1961.

The anniversary also commemorates how the decades-long division separated families and severely restricted freedom.

"The Wall tore apart families and friendships, it uprooted people and led to an incredible amount of suffering," Bodo Ramelow, the premier of Thuringia, a German state formerly part of the communist East, said in a statement on Sunday.

His thoughts went out to all those "whose striving for freedom led to being spied on, persecution and exclusion or imprisonment," Ramelow said.

A tribute was expected for 18-year-old Peter Fechter, who was shot by East German border guards and bled to death by the wall in August 1962, one year after the wall was built. Crowds had gathered on the western side of the wall but they could not help Fechter because he had fallen on the East German side and guards there did not help him. The commemoration was due to take place at the location on Zimmerstrasse, a street by the infamous wall crossing Checkpoint Charlie.

Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Teltow in Brandenburg, top politicians in the region plan to pay tribute to Peter Mädler and Karl-Heinz Kube, who were shot in 1963 and 1966 respectively during escape attempts.

The wall was built mostly to halt the exodus of East Germans to the West, as the labour drain was slowing down the communist state's economy. East German leaders said the wall was protecting their citizens from capitalism. In fact, in East Germany it was officially called the Anti-Fascist Protection Barrier.

The wall in the German capital was roughly 155 kilometres long and separated entire communities for more than 28 years.

The rest of East Germany, which in addition to East Berlin was comprised of five German states, was sealed off from West Germany in the summer of 1952, when East German security agencies established a 5-kilometre-wide restricted area along the border.

According to the Berlin Wall Foundation, at least 140 people were killed at the wall while trying to flee East Germany.

The wall fell on November 9, 1989, in a shock turnaround by the East German authorities, and Germany was ultimately reunited.

Ramelow also recalled the peaceful revolution of 1989: "It was citizens of the former East Germany who brought the Wall down again almost 30 years later," he said.

The painful experience of "a Germany divided by walls and barbed wire" was a reminder to do everything possible so that people "can continue to live in freedom, diversity and democracy" in Germany.