The Berlin Wall
柏林墙
柏林墙(德文Berliner Mauer)是德国首都柏林在第二次世界大战以后，德意志民主共和国(东德)建立的城墙，目的是隔离东德(含东德首都东柏林)和德意志联邦共和国(西德)的西柏林。柏林墙的建立，是二战以后德国分裂，东西方两大阵营对峙和冷战的重要标志性建筑。1961年建造，1990年拆除，两德重归统一。
柏林墙记录一段德意志民族分裂的历史，一段世界辉煌的涂鸦艺术史。1989年，前东德主席昂纳克曾自豪地认为，柏林墙仍然可以保持100年，但他永远没有想到，随着前苏联的解体，统一的风潮势不可挡，同年东西柏林、东西德国结束了整整五十年的分裂历史，德意志完成了统一，处在极度兴奋的德国人狂热之下把最具有分裂历史特征的柏林墙几年推得一干二净，以此表示极大的革命性，表示他们要忘记这一段的分裂史。有人认为，这种彻底革命精神不亚于欧洲人公认的200年多年之前的“法国革命”，也不亚于中国文化革命的“破四旧”。
从历史角度看柏林墙，1961年为了避免风起云涌的越境事件，前苏联当局为东德政府策划了“柏林墙”通过一道长166公里的高度为3.5米的水泥体圈划了一道“安全界线”。有趣的是，这道围墙内外的气氛截然不同，围墙之外岗哨林立，东德市民不得靠近，越境格杀勿论，以致于昂纳克为墙上的枪杀事件险些被送上了“断头台”，而墙内则不设一兵一卒，只设导向牌，联邦德国政府告诫国民：往前50米你即越过了东西墙界。所有西柏林人，西德人和国内外游客可以靠近墙体，这就给他们和艺术家们提供了后期创作涂鸦历史的一个良好的机会。
After the Second World War， defeated Germany was divided up into 4 parts： an American， British， French and Soviet occupation zone. Berlin was also divided into 4 sectors. In 1948， the Soviet authorities tried to annex the whole city and started a blockade of the US， British and French sectors. The plans failed due to the Berlin Airlift， and in May 1949 the blockadeblockade n.阻塞 vt.封锁 was lifted. The same year， the Soviet part of Germany became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) with East Berlin as its capital. The other zones became the Federal Republic of Germany with the capital Bonn. The western part of Berlin became a separate enclave surrounded by East Germany.
Until 1961， East Germans could move freely between the Western and Eastern parts of Berlin. But many East Berliner were attracted by the more prosperous West， and by 1961 up to 20，000 East Germans a month flocked to West Berlin. On August 12， 1961 the East German authorities decided to close the border around the Western sectors of Berlin in order to prevent people from fleeing. Officially， it was an antifascistantifascist n.反对法西斯主义者 adj.反对法西斯主义的 protection barrier to defend the East against Western aggression.
The next day， early morning August 13， West Berlin was surrounded by barbed wire. Traffic at the border was halted and the underground and Sbahn connecting the different sides of the city were put out of operation. Houses at the eastern side of the border were evacuated and the windows on the border side were bricked up.
Over time， the barbed wire was replaced by a 3.6m high wall. Along the Wall，s east side ran a “death zone”， an area controlled by guards. A total of 293 watch towers and 57 bunkers were built along the 155km long border. The guards were given the order to shoot at escapees. As a result 192 people were killed in an attempt to cross the border.
After Soviet President Gorbatchev visited West Germany in 1989， Hungary opened its border with Austria. This allowed East Germans to flock to the West. Meanwhile， street protests drawing more and more people put pressure on the GDR government. Finally on November 9， 1989， travel restrictionsrestriction n.限制， 约束 were lifted. Shortly after， border gates opened and people flooded into West Berlin.
Most of the wall has been dismantleddismantle v.拆除 since， but some parts still stand. The most famous one is the 1，316m long East Side Gallery. It is located along Mühlenstrasse between Warschauer Strasse and the Hauptbahnhof and contains 106 paintings.
Other， smaller parts of the Wall can be found at the Bernauer Strasse - where the official destruction of the Wall started， the Reichstag， Invaliedenfriedhof， Bornholmer Strasse， Niederkirchner Strasse and Zimmerstrasse near Checkpoint Charlie.
By 1961， around 3 million people had done this. This was a major coup for the west as these people were leaving the communist system that supposedly looked after its workers and families and looking for a better life in the capitalist west. Among these 3 million people were highly qualifiedqualified adj.有资格的 men who were of little value to the west but were skilled workers that East Germany could not afford to lose. By 1961， the number of refugees fleeing to the west represented about onesixth of East Germany，s population.
On August 12th 1961， a record 4，000 people made their way to West Berlin to start a new life in the west. This pushed the communist authorities into doing something.
In the early hours of August 13th 1961， “shock workers” from East Germany and Russia shut off the border between the Soviet and western sectors of Berlin using barbed wirebarbed wire n.〈美〉带刺铁丝网. The west was taken by surprise but their protests to the Russians were not listened to. By August 16th， the barbed wire was being removed and replaced with a wall of concrete blocks. Within days， West Berlin was surrounded by a wall four meters high and 111 kilometers long. The Wall had 300 watch towers manned by selected border guards (the ZOPO) and 50 bunkers. By the end of August， the Wall seemed all but impossible to cross.
The East German authorities tried to explain away the Wall by claiming that the West was using West Berlin as a centre for spying and that the Wall was for keeping out spies. They called the Wall “the antifascist protection barrier”.
People from East Germany still tried to cross into West Berlin. 190 people were shot dead on the eastern side of the Wall. The west called the Berlin Wall the “Wall of Shame” and it served to remind those who lived in Berlin that those in the Soviet controlled east lived far inferior lives to those who lived in western Berlin.
The Brandenburg Gate
勃兰登堡门
勃兰登堡门（Brandenburger Tor）是柏林的标志。此门始建于1788年，历时三载完工。它以古希腊雅典卫城的柱廊式山门为蓝本筑成，高26米，宽65米，进深11米。门内有五条通道，中间的一道最宽，原为皇室御道。勃兰登堡门通体用白色砂岩条石砌成，门两旁各有六根巨柱，气势雄厚。门上在矗立着一座胜利女神的青铜像。她头戴桂冠，背插双翅，左手执辔，右手握杖，立在飞驰的两轮四马战车上，英姿飒爽，形象生动。这座神像连同四马战车在1807年被拿破仑当作战利品带走，但七年后又让德国的队伍带回来了。柏林人对勃兰登堡门怀有特殊的感情，称它为“命运之门”。在过去的两百年里，勃兰登堡门目睹了多少兴衰荣辱：普鲁士的军队曾从门下凯旋而归；希特勒曾驱赶成千上万的人充当炮灰，从门下出发“征服世界”。柏林墙建成后，勃兰登堡门被隔在大墙以东几十米，成为柏林墙的象征地段。1990年柏林墙倒塌时，这里又成了欣喜若狂的柏林人的聚集之地，成了德国统一象征。
这座以沙石为建筑材料建造的柱廊式城门，于1788年至1791年由C.G. 朗汉斯设计，仿照了雅典阿克波利斯(Akropolis)建筑风格。两侧共有六个多立克式的圆柱，支撑着11米深的五条通道。1794年，勃兰登堡门顶上装饰了沙多(Schadow)塑造的四马战车及胜利女神塑像，指向东方的市中心。二次大战期间，勃兰登堡门四周的建筑全部被毁。
