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Cultural Differences Between East And West Berlin Wall

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On the night of August 13, 1961, a giant wall separating East and West Berlin was built. It prevented people from the Soviet zone of Berlin to go to the American, French, and British controlled-part of Berlin (after World War II, the capital of Germany was divided into territories for Allied Powers). The wall showed how both sides had different economies, different cultural beliefs, contrasting political views. Also, the wall separated families from each other for years until the wall was taken down on November 9, 1989. The Berlin Wall symbolized the economic differences, cultural differences, political differences, and separation between the East and West Berliners. Due to Communism in East Berlin, many skilled workers defected into West Berlin, creating economic differences. According to usatoday.com, “so many left that by the time the Wall went up, East Germany lost one-sixth of its population.” This many people leaving caused a shortage of skilled workers. Also the standard of living was so much higher in East Berlin, jobs paid more, and money was worth more in the West (Epler 39-40; Schmemann 34). Like Beate Kosch, a young biochemist who left East Berlin, people wanted to have more opportunities. Sadly, due to the wall, over sixty thousand commuters could not travel back and forth …show more content…

East German authorities did not value Western culture. For example, East Germans were not allowed to listen to popular western music such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, because of blocked radio stations and police raiding of concerts (Sis 18). People in the rest regularly listened to live concerts and any music they chose. Additionally, having long hair or displaying Western flags was a sign of defiance, and people got in trouble by the Stasi, the Secret German Police (Sis 19). Everything that East Germans liked was taken away from them. The cultures of the two sides were dramatically

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