# Barbed Wire Sunday > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Barbed_Wire_Sunday > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Barbed_Wire_Sunday.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbed_Wire_Sunday > Source revision: 1321637097 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Name given to the day when the construction of the Berlin Wall began (13 August 1961)}} [[File:East German Tanks - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency (1).jpg|thumb|300px|East German tanks stretch out along the [Warschauer bridge](/source/Warschauer_bridge)/[Oberbaum Bridge](/source/Oberbaum_Bridge) in Berlin to stem the flow of refugees to the West, 13 August 1961]] [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 173-1288, Berlin, Mauerbau.jpg|thumb|300px|[Leipziger Straße](/source/Leipziger_Stra%C3%9Fe), August 1961]] '''Barbed Wire Sunday''' ({{langx|de|Stacheldrahtsonntag}}), is the name given to 13 August 1961, when the [military](/source/National_People's_Army) and [police](/source/Volkspolizei) of [East Germany](/source/East_Germany) closed the border between [East](/source/East_Berlin) and [West Berlin](/source/West_Berlin) and began the construction of what would become the [Berlin Wall](/source/Berlin_Wall). The intention of closing the border was to prevent the migration of East Germans to the [West](/source/West_Germany).{{Cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/frederick-taylor/berlin-wall-secret-history|title=The Berlin Wall: A Secret History}} Prior to the establishment of the wall, approximately 3.5 million (or 20% of the population) East German citizens [defected](/source/defected) to West Germany, many through the Berlin border due to its lack of security. This posed a major issue to the government as it was losing its substantial amounts of not just its workforce but also its [intellectuals](/source/Brain_drain).{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9fQPzZ1-hg|title=The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall – Konrad H. Jarausch|website=[YouTube](/source/YouTube) |date=16 August 2017 }} == Timeline == Beginning at midnight, [Walter Ulbricht](/source/Walter_Ulbricht) directed the beginning of construction.{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|1034949456}} |title=Honecker's homecoming |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0717/ehon.html |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=17 July 1987 }} Under extreme secrecy, East German troops arrived at certain points to unload concrete, barbed wire, shovels, stone blocks and more.{{cite journal |id={{EBSCOhost|5078926}} |last1=Rodden |first1=John |title=Barbed Wire Sunday |date=August 2001 |journal=Commonweal |volume=128 |issue=14 |page=9 |url=https://search.opinionarchives.com/Summary/Commonweal/V128I14P9-1.htm }} [Stasi](/source/Stasi) agents were stationed throughout major intersections between the Soviet and Western sectors of Germany.{{cn|date=August 2021}} Around 4 a.m., radio reports of commotion in the streets were being broadcast in [West Berlin](/source/West_Berlin). By 4 p.m., half a million Berliners from both the West and East congregated around the sector. While police in West Berlin held back West Berliners who were calling for action, police in East Berlin were keeping its people away from the construction.{{cn|date=August 2021}} == Results == Despite the measures imposed, 800 people managed to escape East Berlin before the end of the day. They had to overcome barbed wire or jump through house windows at the sector border to succeed.{{cite web |url=https://www.ndr.de/geschichte/chronologie/Mauerbau-in-Berlin-DDR-schliesst-letztes-Schlupfloch,mauerbau102.html |title=Erst Stacheldraht, dann Beton: Der Bau der Mauer |last=Theby |first=Sebastian |date=9 November 2019 |website=ndr.de |location=[Hamburg](/source/Hamburg) |publisher=[Norddeutscher Rundfunk](/source/Norddeutscher_Rundfunk) |language=German |access-date=4 September 2020 |quote=}} However, only a few dozen managed to escape the following day.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020|reason=Where do these numbers come from?}} The Berlin Wall had officially been established. Football players [Emil Poklitar](/source/Emil_Poklitar) and [Rolf Starost](/source/Rolf_Starost) from [SC Dynamo Berlin](/source/Berliner_FC_Dynamo) defected to [West Berlin](/source/West_Berlin) during a friendly match against [Boldklubben af 1893](/source/Boldklubben_af_1893) in [Copenhagen](/source/Copenhagen) on 13 August 1961. Emil Poklitar had gotten wind that the authorities were going to build the Berlin Wall and was helped by his teammates in SC Dynamo Berlin to escape the [Stasi](/source/Stasi) supervisors.{{cite news |last=Bock |first=Andreas |date=17 August 2012 |title=VfB Stuttgart gegen SV Falkensee-Finkenkrug? Ein Klassiker! |url=https://11freunde.de/artikel/vfb-stuttgart-gegen-sv-falkensee-finkenkrug-ein-klassiker/579733 |language=German |newspaper=[11 Freunde](/source/11_Freunde) |location=Berlin |publisher=11FREUNDE Verlag GmbH & Co. KG |access-date=4 September 2020 }}{{cite news |author= |date=13 June 2019 |title=FCS-Legende Poklitar: Der "weiße Wal" ist unvergessen |url=https://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/sport/sz-sport/der-weisse-wal-emil-poklitar-feiert-80-geburtstag_aid-39425037 |language=German |newspaper=[Saarbrücker Zeitung](/source/Saarbr%C3%BCcker_Zeitung) |location=[Saarbrücken](/source/Saarbr%C3%BCcken) |publisher= Verlag und Druckerei GmbH |access-date=4 September 2020 }} == Notes == {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} Category:1961 in East Germany Category:Berlin Wall Category:August 1961 in Europe --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Barbed Wire Sunday](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbed_Wire_Sunday) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbed_Wire_Sunday?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.