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© Stéphane Compoint
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Berlin Wall Memorial and Chapel of Reconciliation. In the district of the Bernauer Strasse, the abrupt closure, 13 August 1961, the border between areas of occupation provoked especially devastating consequences for the inhabitants. The latter are were denied access to their close vicinity overnight. Families, friends and neighbors were separated. Suddenly, the house across the street was part of another political system. Thus the inhabitants of the Bernauer Strasse became witnesses against their players and the history of postwar Berlin. Overcome by panic and despair, some did not hesitate to jump from their windows to try to win West Berlin and paid the gesture of their lives. Some attempts to drain bordering the Bernauer Strasse succeeded, under the objectives of cameras and media worldwide. The violent separation of the Bernauer Strasse has left deep scars still visible. The former No Man's Land still has not completely disappeared. A portion of the demarcation device has been preserved, which gives a clear idea of the breadth and width of the device. On this site stands the Memorial of the Berlin Wall (erected at the initiative of the FRG in 1998) which includes a section of the border along 60 meters, preserved in its original configuration, but with an artistic interpretation (designed by the architects Kohlhoff & Kohlhoff Stuttgart). With the documentation center of the Berlin Wall (in the background, photos and 103 104), the "Kapelle der Versöhnung" (Chapel of Reconciliation, 107 to 109 pictures) and wall segments stored on the cemetery Sophien-Friedhof ( Photo 105), the Memorial of the Berlin Wall is a collection of historical evidence into a broad place of memory. The route of the former border with West Berlin passed a few meters from the entrance to the chapel. After building the wall, this brick church of 1894 found himself lost and inaccessible in the middle of No Man's Land. In 1985 the East German government decided the destruction of the building. After the wall came down, the site was returned to the parish with the obligation to erect a new church. A new chapel was built and opened on 9 November 2000, the eleventh anniversary of the Berlin Wall fell. In the new chapel, offices are regularly held in memory of victims of the Berlin Wall.
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