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Short History Of...

The Berlin Wall

Short History Of...

Noiser

History

4.74.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2022

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On the border between the Western world and the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War. Starting out as a simple barbed wire fence, it would grow in scale and complexity to become a 27-mile concrete edifice, incorporating watchtowers, trenches, electric fences, and landmines. But what was its purpose? How did it impact the people whose city it divided? And what did it take, in the end, to bring it down? This is a Short History of the Berlin Wall. Written by Duncan Barrett. With thanks to Iain MacGregor, author of Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, The Berlin Wall, and The Most Dangerous Place on Earth. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:05.9

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0:11.1

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0:16.9

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0:20.9

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0:27.8

slash DHQ.

0:29.8

The SQF'd I've ever received has to be a bike when I was younger, a pedal bike. It was a sort

0:37.2

of slick little road bike and I remember it was all like, it was so, it was all wrapped

0:42.0

up, it was so obvious what it was obviously because nothing shaped like a bike and had a

0:45.3

little ribbon on it and I was so, I guess, for that was a life changer and I'm still sort

0:49.1

of big on cycling around my area now, so for that one change really.

0:53.5

Join in every sip with red carp's now back at Starbucks.

1:00.5

It's early morning, on August the 22nd, 1961. A day before her 59th birthday, Widow

1:08.9

Nurse Eda Seekman is looking down from her window to the street below. It's a three-story

1:15.6

drop, but she thinks she can make it. Over the past decade and a half, Eda has grown

1:22.9

used to living in a divided city. Her apartment block on Berlin's Bernars

1:28.9

Strasser literally straddles the border between East and West. The apartments themselves are

1:35.2

located in the Soviet sector, while the front entrance opens into the French sector, where

1:41.1

Eda's sister lives just a few blocks away. Ordinarily, criss-crossing the border would be

1:46.6

no big deal, but a week and a half ago, everything changed.

1:53.2

Overnight, a barbed wire barrier went up along the dividing line. Now the front entrance

1:59.4

of Eda's building has been boarded up, with access provided via a rear courtyard opening

...

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