On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic began the construction of a barbed wire and concrete structure between East and West Berlin. This was the first construction of what would become infamously known as the Berlin Wall. The official purpose of the Berlin Wall was to keep Western people from the West from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, however it primarily served the purpose of keeping people in the communist led East side. The Berlin Wall eventually came down on November 9th, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of the GDR could cross the border whenever they pleased. That night, crowds swarmed the wall with some crossing freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and pick axes and began to chip away at the wall itself. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and recognizable symbols of the Cold War. Overall, around 171 people were killed trying to get over, under or around the Berlin Wall, as they became prisoners in their own homes. Once the flood gates opened, more than 2 million people from East Berlin visited West Berlin that weekend to participate in a celebration that was, as one journalist wrote, "the greatest street party in the history of the world".

What makes the Berlin Wall such a significant sight on the tour of the counterculture of Berlin, is how it represents this blockade being broken down and allowing the people of Berlin to have their own freedom for the first time in decades. It also shows the people the dark past that the city endured, however more importantly it shows how they were able to rise up through the darkness and break through the rule of communism as they continued to fight for their freedom, as many people died fighting for their freedom, trying to get through the wall into the free state of West Berlin.Once the wall came down in 1989, it reunified Berlin and Germany as a whole, which allowed the people to celebrate in the streets, that they were once again whole. Also, from the remaining pieces of the wall that are still standing, much of it is covered in street and graffiti, which symbolizes the counterculture mvement of art and freedom to be who you were in Berlin, when years ago, you would have been killed just for appoaching the wall, let alone draw on it.

Overall, by going to these six points of Interest throughout Berlin, i hope to have taught you about the counterculture movement in Berlin which really began to kick off in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the Berlin Wall came crashing down, allowing the people to their freedom for the first time in decades.

"Berlin Wall Memorial" Meuseumsportal Berlin. (Accessed on March 29th, 2019) https://www.museumsportal-berlin.de/en/museums/gedenkstatte-berliner-mauer/

"The Berlin Wall Memorial" visitberlin.com (Accessed on March 29th, 2019) https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-wall-memorial

"Berlin Wall" History.com (Accessed on March 29th, 2019) https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall