Divided Berlin Worksheet
Cold War Case Study Grade 9 World History
DIVIDED BERLIN: THE WALL THAT SPLIT THE COLD WAR
Investigating geopolitical division, primary documents, and visual evidence (1961–1989)
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Date: Period:
1 Historical Overview: The Cold War at Ground Zero
Read carefully before answering questions 1–2
Following Germany’s defeat in World War II (1945), the Allied powers partitioned both Germany and its former capital, Berlin, into four occupation zones: American, British, French, and Soviet. Crucially, Berlin sat 110 miles inside the Soviet-controlled eastern zone (which became communist East Germany, or the GDR, in 1949). While the Western zones merged into democratic West Germany, Berlin remained a divided enclave.
Between 1949 and 1961, an estimated 2.5 to 3 million East Germans fled communist rule by walking across the open border into West Berlin—a devastating "brain drain" of young professionals, doctors, and engineers for the East. In the early morning hours of August 13, 1961, East German soldiers unrolled concertina barbed wire, severed communication links, and rapidly constructed a concrete barrier that communist leaders termed the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart." For 28 years, the wall stood as the physical manifestation of Winston Churchill’s metaphorical "Iron Curtain."
1. Why was Berlin's geographic location unique compared to other Cold War flashpoints?
2. What specific economic and social crisis prompted the GDR to erect the wall in 1961?
2 Cartographic Investigation: The Enclave of West Berlin
Analyze the sector map and geographical relationships
Havel River Spree River EAST GERMANY (G.D.R.) GERMANY (1961) FRG (West) GDR (East) Berlin 110 mi. to West border SOVIET SECTOR (East Berlin) Capital of GDR FRENCH Tegel Airfield BRITISH Gatow Airfield AMERICAN Tempelhof Airport Checkpoint Charlie Brandenburg Gate N Berlin Wall (96 mi. perimeter) Allied Crossing Point West Berlin (Allied Sectors) East Berlin (Soviet Sector)
3. Surrounding Territory:
Look at the inset and main map. Why is West Berlin often described as an "island in a red sea"?
4. Total Encirclement:
Common misconception: The wall only divided East and West Berlin. According to the map, what else did the wall enclose?
5. Strategic Vulnerability:
How did Western allies supply West Berlin if road/rail lines through East Germany were cut?
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Part II Evidence Lab: Speeches & Archival Artifacts
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3 Primary Source Text: President John F. Kennedy in Berlin (June 26, 1963)
Rudolph Wilde Platz, West Berlin (Audience: 450,000)
“There are many people in the world who really do not understand, or say they do not, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future... And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin!
Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words: ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’”
Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Glossary: Lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen = German: "Let them come to Berlin"
6. Sourcing & Purpose:
Why did JFK repeatedly address people who doubted the threat of communism?
7. Close Reading:
What contrast does Kennedy draw between democratic and communist nations?
8. Historical Impact:
Why was declaring "I am a Berliner" symbolic for residents isolated 110 miles in East Germany?
4 Visual Primary Source: The "Leap into Freedom" (August 15, 1961)
Photojournalist: Peter Leibing • Bernauer Straße
WEST POLIZEI EAST SECTOR → ← WEST SECTOR Concertina Barbed Wire Barrier (Day 3) NARA / AP Photo
Figure 1: 19-year-old border guard Conrad Schumann defects to West Berlin on Day 3 of wall construction.
9. Visual Observation:
Notice Schumann’s body language and equipment. What action is he taking with his weapon and helmet as he leaps?
10. Symbolic Irony:
East Germany claimed the wall protected its people from Western fascists. Why was this photo an embarrassment to Soviet leaders?
11. Evolutionary Context:
This photo depicts barbed wire in August 1961. Why did the GDR replace this with a 12-foot concrete wall and "Death Strip"?
★ Synthesizing Historical Evidence: Mid-Packet Checkpoint
12. Big Picture Connection: Using evidence from the background text, map, Kennedy’s speech, and the photo, explain how the Berlin Wall served as both a physical barrier and a symbolic battleground of the Cold War.
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Part III Architecture of Control: The "Death Strip" & Escapes
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5 Technical Cross-Section: The Anatomy of the "Death Strip" (Todesstreifen)
Fourth-generation border system: Grenzmauer 75
WEST BERLIN (Free Sector) Viewing Stand FREIHEIT PEACE 12ft Concrete Wall THE "DEATH STRIP" (Up to 100 meters wide) Raked Sand (Footprints) Anti-Vehicle Trench Dog Runs (Tethered) Patrol Road (Kolonnenweg) Watchtower & Searchlight Electric Signal Fence Inner Wall (Hinterland) EAST BERLIN (Restricted GDR Zone) Heavily policed buffer zone; civilians forbidden within 100m.
13. Inward-Facing Defense:
Castles build walls to stop outside invaders. Looking at this diagram, which direction was every trap actually designed to stop?
14. Forensic Detection:
Why did the border troops meticulously rake fine sand every morning between the vehicle ditch and patrol road?
15. The "Shoot-to-Kill" Order:
GDR border guards were issued the Schießbefehl (order to shoot defectors). What did this reveal about state priorities?
6 Case Studies in Defiance: Escaping the Un-escapable
Between 1961 and 1989, over 5,000 people succeeded; at least 140 died
Case A: "Tunnel 57" (October 1964) Underground
A team of West Berlin university students spent six months hand-digging a 475-foot (145m) tunnel from an abandoned bakery on Bernauer Straße into East Berlin. Over two nights, 57 women, men, and children crawled 40 feet below the surface to safety before a border patrol discovered the opening, resulting in a fatal firefight.
Case B: The Balloon Escape (Sept 1979) Aerial Flight
The Strelzyk and Wetzel families secretly bought hundreds of square meters of nylon bedsheets and fabric scraps, sewing together a massive hot-air balloon powered by propane gas tanks. Flying at 6,500 feet in freezing darkness, eight family members drifted 18 miles across the heavily fortified border into West Germany.
16. Ingenuity vs. Technology:
What do these extreme escape methods demonstrate about the human cost and civilian desperation under the GDR regime?
17. Totalitarian Response:
Following the balloon flight, the Stasi strictly rationed fabric and nylon sales nationwide. Why would a government police sewing supplies?
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Part IV The Climax: Demanding Freedom & The Wall's Collapse
Student:
7 Primary Source Text: President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate (June 12, 1987)
Spoken behind bulletproof glass 100 yards from the Wall
“Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe... Yet it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly... Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Source: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Context: Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev had recently introduced Glasnost (openness).
18. Rhetorical Comparison:
How does Reagan’s direct challenge to Gorbachev in 1987 differ from Kennedy’s message to Berliners in 1963?
19. Symbolic Vocabulary:
Why did Reagan refer to the Berlin Wall as a "scar" across the European continent?
8 Visual Primary Source: The Fall of the Wall (November 9–10, 1989)
Bornholmer Straße & Brandenburg Gate
FREE AT LAST EINHEIT Mauerspechte ("Wall Woodpeckers") chiseling concrete Archiv 1989
Figure 2: Thousands gather atop the wall at Brandenburg Gate on November 10, 1989.
20. The "Mauerspechte" Action:
Citizens brought hammers and chisels to smash the concrete. What did the physical destruction of the wall by ordinary hands signify?
21. Contrast 1961 vs. 1989:
Compare this image to the 1961 photo of Conrad Schumann (Page 2). How did the atmosphere and power dynamics flip completely?
★ Culminating DBQ Essay Prompt: The Arc of Division (1961–1989)
22. Document-Based Synthesis Paragraph: In a well-crafted paragraph, argue whether the Berlin Wall was ultimately a sign of communist strength or a confession of systemic failure. Cite at least two pieces of evidence from this packet (the 1961 map, JFK’s speech, the Death Strip diagram, or the 1989 collapse).
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