113: BERLIN WALL

Our hotel is in the Friedrichshain neighborhood in Berlin and is just a few minutes walk to the East Side Gallery, which is the longest, best preserved section of the former Berlin wall. In 1990, it was covered with murals by painters using brushes and spray cans, becoming an open air gallery.

The Berlin wall consisted of two walls, the inner and the outer wall. Whenever someone from East Berlin managed to climb over the interior wall, they would fall into the "death zone", which is the strip between the inner and outer wall. This area was  patrolled regularly by the soldiers from East Berlin, and they would shoot and kill people who were stuck in this death zone. People who successfully crossed the wall did it by digging tunnels, riding hot air balloons, and escaping through the sewers.