Berlin

In Today's Issue

Berlin

The Berlin Wall

Random Joke of the Day

That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

Funny Fobia

The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow

Finish with a Song

Berlin

A city divided by an

Ideology

Forged by the end of a

War.

Bricks and mortar

Splitting the vegetation

Of family

branches

One side capitalist

The other communist

And in the middle

The fulcrum of families

A push into power

By a Soviet force

Or protectionism of

Globalised product

And in the end

Nothing achieved

Shot by a wall

For living on the wrong side

It crumbled as all

Societies do

With a chant, not a gun

“Tear down the Wall”

The Berlin Wall

Construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13 1961 as a way of separating the three zones controlled by France, Britain and America from the zone controlled by the Soviet Union.

The Berlin Wall was constructed as a way of preventing East Germans from entering West Germany. It was not so much a boundary for West Germans wanting to enter the East, who were able to do so by obtaining a permit several weeks in advance. It didn't face much opposition by the western powers as its construction confirmed that the Soviet Union were not planning to take over West Berlin.

Official figures show that at least 136 people died trying to cross the border. People attempting to get from East to West were regarded as traitors and guards were instructed to shoot at them if they attempted to cross, although not to kill them.

The west side of the Berlin wall was covered in graffiti. The East side was not.

The Berlin Wall was something of a propaganda disaster for the Soviet Union and East Germany. It showed the communists to be tyrannical in the way they controlled the movement of their people and their willingness to shoot at people they considered to be traitors.

West Berliners used the Berlin Wall as an ideal way of getting rid of rubbish. If they had anything that needed throwing away, they threw it over the wall. After all, it wasn't as if they would be made to go over it to fetch it back.

Michael Knight himself, David Hassellhoff, is huge in Germany. The Hoff performed his hit "Looking For Freedom" while standing on the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Despite there being a wall separating East from West, there were a number of checkpoints that allowed passage to and from the two sides. The most famous of these was Checkpoint Charlie, a checkpoint separating the American-controlled zone of West Berlin from the Soviet-controlled East Berlin. The guard house for Checkpoint Charlie was removed in October 1990 and is now situated in the Allied Museum in Berlin-Zehlendorf. The last remnant of Checkpoint Charlie, an East German watchtower, was demolished in 2000.

Although November 9th 1989 is recognised as the date of the fall of the Berlin Wall, official demolition of it didn't start until June 13th 1990. Between November 9th and June 13th, border controls still existed, although were less strict that previously. Parts of the wall was chipped away by Germans to keep as souvenirs/sell on eBay. People who did this were known as "wall woodpeckers" (Mauerspechte) Some parts of the wall had been taken down but only to make way for more crossing points. All border controls ended on July 1st 1990 and Germany was recognised as one country again from October 3rd 1990.

Random Joke of the Day

I hate it when a couple start having an argument in front of you. They could at least have waited until I got dressed and left.

The world’s oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9,000 years old! ( I just found it under my table )

Funny Fobia

Cacophobia ? - Fear of ugliness. ( thank gawd you can't see my face )

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The Thoughts of Chairman Anyhow

Congratulations to Robert Mugabe for being appointed an ambassador for the World Health Organisation. Next week, it'll be Kim Jong Un as ambassador for democracy, Harvey Weinstein as chairman of the women's equality commission, and Donald Trump elected as president of the royal society of hairdressing.

Finish with a Song - This is David Bowie with Hero's released in 1977