For further exploration, here’s a short list of links to other Web sites that contain information about the Berlin Wall. We’ve also listed a few books on the subject.

Web Sites

The Facts About Germany web site maintained by the Press and Information Office of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. You can choose German or English versions of the entire site.

On June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech that electrified an adoring crowd gathered in the shadow of the Berlin Wall. Take a look at some of the handwritten documents behind this memorable speech on this National Archives and Records Administration site . The Kennedy page is part of the online exhibition, "American Originals," based on an exhibition currently on display in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. (In English.)

An individual perspective on the web: "A Personal Account of The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The 11th and 12th of November, 1989" by Andreas Ramos. (In English.)

A section of the Berlin Wall similar in size to the Microsoft section was given to Honolulu Community College, Honolulu, Hawaii. The wall, named the " Freedom Monument ," is displayed on the college campus.

An interesting sidelight is this 1995 article from the Detroit News, " Rare species thrive in Berlin Wall's shadow ." By Erik Kirschbaum. In English. "BERLIN — It sounds so absurd, but the Berlin Wall made the area known as the death strip a treasure trove for botanists and biologists. Because East Germany permitted no humans to ever approach the Wall in the days of the Cold War, nature took over the area, harboring a rich diversity of plant and animal species that has thrived undisturbed."

Books

Rice, Leland. Up Against It: Photographs of the Berlin Wall. 1991. A work of "visual archeology," the book captures the graffiti, symbols, poetry and slogans that covered the Wall.

Borneman, John. After the Wall: East Meets West in the New Berlin. Basic, 1991. Impact of unification of Germany on East Berliners; with personal accounts.

Gelb, Norman. The Berlin Wall. Michael Joseph, 1986. The circumstances surrounding the erection of the wall within the historical context of the cold war.

Schneider, Peter, The German Comedy: Scenes of Life After the Wall, 1991. The Noonday Press.

Schneider, Peter, The Wall Jumper, 1984. Pantheon Books.