From 1961 until 1989 at least 136 people died directly because of the Berlin Wall and border area. These people are referred to as “Todesopfer der Berliner Mauer” or just “Maueropfer” (wall victims). There are disputes as to the exact numbers. Another study puts the number at 245.
Another 251 people died of natural causes during or after crossing the border, mostly through heart attacks.
There are several memorials for the victims in Berlin. For this video I captured these (in order):
– “Todesopfer the Berliner Mauer Fenster des Gedenkens” – “Victims of the Berlin Wall Window of Remembrance” at the official Berlin Wall Memorial (Bernauer Strasse). This is also the source of the audio.
– Several Weisse Kreuze (White Crosses) around the Reichstag and along the Spree River.
– One of several Memorial Stones along Bernauer Strasse tilting up to the Kapelle der Versöhnung (Chapel of Reconciliation), which was built in the place of a church (of the same name) that for about two decades remained empty in the death zone until it was torn down in the 1980s.
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| Maueropfer Denkmahl – Bernauer Strasse – Berlin Wall Victims Memorial – Bernauer Street – Berlin |