Changes

In the late 1980s, increasing political pressure was placed on the East German regime to relax its repressive policies and allow greater freedom of movement. The most famous instance of this was Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, while Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, pursuing his programs of [[perestroika]] and [[glasnost]] to introduce more individual freedom to the Soviet Union, privately urged Erich Honecker, East German General Secretary, to follow suit. Nonetheless, through early 1989 the regime maintained its brutal policies at the Berlin Wall. Chris Gueffroy, an East Berliner, was shot and killed trying to cross over the Wall on February 5--the last person to be deliberately murdered while attempting to flee across the barrier.  

In the late 1980s, increasing political pressure was placed on the East German regime to relax its repressive policies and allow greater freedom of movement. The most famous instance of this was Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, while Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, pursuing his programs of [[perestroika]] and [[glasnost]] to introduce more individual freedom to the Soviet Union, privately urged Erich Honecker, East German General Secretary, to follow suit. Nonetheless, through early 1989 the regime maintained its brutal policies at the Berlin Wall. Chris Gueffroy, an East Berliner, was shot and killed trying to cross over the Wall on February 5--the last person to be deliberately murdered while attempting to flee across the barrier.  

However, the democratic revolutions happening elsewhere in Eastern Europe during 1989 steadily undermined the East German regime. On November 9, the government decided to lift its travel barriers, including over the Berlin Wall; that very night, crowds successfully pressed border guards to open checkpoints in the Wall, allowing them free access to West Berlin for the first time since 1961.

However, the democratic revolutions happening elsewhere in Eastern Europe during 1989 steadily undermined the East German regime, as did the growing protests occurring in many German cities, including East Berlin itself. On November 9, the government decided to lift its travel barriers, including over the Berlin Wall; that very night, crowds successfully pressed border guards to open checkpoints in the Wall, allowing them free access to West Berlin for the first time since 1961.

==After the reunification==

==After the reunification==

The biggest part of wall was destroyed. On the remains of the wall is a luxury housing project planed. Many people are protesting against this plan and think that the section must be saved as a memorial.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/04/removal-berlin-wall-section-put-on-hold-for-now-following-protests/</ref> A piece of the wall is used in [[Albania]] for a memorial of political prisoners.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/26/piece-berlin-wall-used-in-albanian-memorial-for-communist-political-prisoners/</ref>

In the immediate aftermath of the Wall's opening, East German border police did attempt to maintain some control over the movement of persons back and forth, but this effort was soon abandoned. They also ceased to monitor and perform upkeep on the Wall itself, and it was soon heavily damaged, as crowds smashed holes in it to reconnect divided neighborhoods--creating "unofficial" border crossings--or chipped off pieces of it as souvenirs. East German officials began dismantling the Wall in June 1990, a task continued by the German Bundeswehr following reunification that October, and completed in 1992.

 

Little of the Berlin Wall remains today. Markers have been laid down in central Berlin, showing the route it once took past such landmarks as the Brandenburg Gate. Much of the no-man's-land that existed along the Wall, especially around Potsdamer Platz, is now occupied by shopping centers. In 2013, a luxury housing project was planned where a piece of the Wall still remained, which in that case would have been removed; however, many people protested against this plan and argued that the section must be saved as a memorial. Following these protests, the plans were delayed.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/04/removal-berlin-wall-section-put-on-hold-for-now-following-protests/</ref> Other pieces of the Wall have been moved from their original site and are now scattered across the world; one piece is used in [[Albania]] for a memorial of political prisoners.<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/26/piece-berlin-wall-used-in-albanian-memorial-for-communist-political-prisoners/</ref>

==Further reading==

==Further reading==