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The Berlin Wall | The tale of a city divided.

About this collection

From the end of World War II until 1989, Berlin was a focus for confrontation between Eastern and Western powers and a sharp reminder of how different life was under communism and democracy.

This collection of television and radio items looks at how one city came to represent the political stand-off between East and West during the Cold War. It also explores what the consequences of this were for citizens united by family, employment and friendship but divided by a 27-mile-long fortified concrete and mesh barrier.

Berlin Wall Collection

A 1940s BBC microphone.

BERLIN

Soviet Blockade

RECORDED 1948
3 MINUTES

Is war the only solution to the rising tensions between East and West?

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Television Newsreel headline.

NEWS

Mr Attlee Visits Berlin

BROADCAST 1949
8 MINUTES

British Prime Minister Clement Attlee visits an embattled West Berlin.

go to News - Mr Attlee Visits Berlin
A supply plane arrives during the Berlin airlift. © Getty Images.

NEWS SPECIAL

Blockade Ends

BROADCAST 1949
28 MINUTES

Mass airlifts break Soviet hold on Berlin.

go to News Special - Blockade Ends
East German refugees in West Berlin. © Getty Images.

RADIO NEWSREEL

Berlin Refugee Stories

BROADCAST 1953
4 MINUTES

Interviews with refugees from the Russian zone in Berlin.

go to Radio Newsreel - Berlin Refugee Stories
A barricade in 1953 that later became part of the Berlin Wall. © Getty Images.

PANORAMA

Berlin

BROADCAST 1959
15 MINUTES

Life in Berlin before the wall.

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Richard Dimbleby, 1961.

PANORAMA

Panorama Goes to Berlin

BROADCAST 1961
51 MINUTES

'Berlin presents the most crucial problem which faces mankind today.'

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US and East German forces in a stand-off over the Berlin Wall, 1961. © Getty Images.

THE BERLIN CRISIS

RECORDED 1961
4 MINUTES

A BBC dispatch from Berlin on the military build-up there.

go to The Berlin Crisis
Ed Murrow.

NEWS

Ed Murrow on the Berlin Situation

BROADCAST 1961
2 MINUTES

Ed Murrow is interviewed on his return from West Berlin.

go to News - Ed Murrow on the Berlin Situation
East Germans build the Berlin Wall. © Corbis.

NEWS

The Berlin Boundary Is Sealed

BROADCAST 1961
2 MINUTES

The BBC reports from the scene as the Berlin Wall is constructed.

go to News - The Berlin Boundary Is Sealed
West Berliners peer over the wall to contact relatives. © Getty Images.

PANORAMA

Berlin

BROADCAST 1961
11 MINUTES

Robin Day reports on the newly built Berlin Wall.

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Edward and Joan Kennedy in 1962.

RADIO NEWSREEL

The Kennedy Brothers Visit Berlin

BROADCAST 1963
3 MINUTES

Edward Kennedy slips quietly into East Berlin.

go to Radio Newsreel - The Kennedy Brothers Visit Berlin
A guard on duty at Christmas on the Western side of the Brandenburg Gate. © Getty Images.

THE CHINK IN THE WALL

BROADCAST 1963
29 MINUTES

A Christmas truce for the people of Cold War Berlin.

go to The Chink in the Wall
Sewing flags in preparation for Queen's visit.

THE QUEEN IN GERMANY

State Visit to Germany: Berlin

BROADCAST 1965
53 MINUTES

HM Queen Elizabeth II visits West Berlin at the height of the Cold War.

go to The Queen in Germany - State Visit to Germany: Berlin
Andrew Sachs pictured in 2004.

BERLINERS

3: East and West

BROADCAST 1988
24 MINUTES

Andrew Sachs shows his wife around East and West Berlin.

go to Berliners - 3: East and West
Newsnight logo.

NEWSNIGHT

Fall of the Berlin Wall

BROADCAST 1989
23 MINUTES

Reporting live from Berlin at the dawn of a new era for the city and the world.

go to Newsnight - Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Brandenburg Gate at night.

NEWS

Germany Is Reunited

BROADCAST 1990
10 MINUTES

The formal reunification of Germany ends 45 years of divided nationhood.

go to News - Germany Is Reunited

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