The Importance of Educating Young People on the History of the Berlin Wall

Magdeburg/Berlin (dpa/sa) – On the 62nd anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall, Saxony-Anhalt’s Education Minister Eva Feußner (CDU) pointed out the importance for young people. “By bringing young people closer to the history of the Berlin Wall, we not only inform them about the atrocities of the division of Germany, but also about the power of human will to overcome barriers of any kind,” said the minister on Friday in Magdeburg. Raising schoolchildren’s awareness of the past helps to lay the foundations for a tolerant society.

“In times when authoritarian, anti-democratic currents are active again, it is of crucial importance to educate young generations about the historical events that led to the formation of democratic values,” said Feußner. Schools and extracurricular places of learning played a role in mediation, eyewitness talks, excursions to memorial sites and museums, and literature offerings.

On August 13, 1961, the leadership of the GDR began building the Berlin Wall. This was intended to stop the mass exodus of people to West Berlin and West Germany, which was slowing down the GDR economy and destabilizing the state. The Wall was opened on November 9, 1989 after mass protests in East Germany.

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