E-dossier

The 65 Years of the Berlin Crisis and the Construction of the Wall

«Since one o’clock on Sunday morning, Berlin has been virtually in a state of siege.» This, in essence, was the message of the telegram sent to Bern by the Swiss Delegation in Berlin on Monday, 14 August 1961. «The erection of barbed wire, barricades and armoured vehicles, the deployment of police equipped with heavy weapons, and the installation of machine guns have transformed the boundaries between the city’s various sectors into tightly guarded state borders.» (dodis.ch/30568, translated from German) 

By sealing off the city, the authorities of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) sought to prevent the flight to the West of an ever-growing number of their citizens. According to reports by Swiss diplomats, the situation was «explosive». While tens of thousands of West Berlin residents demonstrated against the «acts of violence» committed by the East German authorities, attention focused on how the great powers would respond. During the Second Berlin Crisis, from 1958 to 1962, the Cold War went through one of its «hottest» phases. The staff of the Swiss mission closely followed the events of 13 August 1961 and the construction of the Berlin Wall by the GDR. 

The Swiss Delegation was already housed in the same premises that today accommodate the embassy, just a few metres from the border between what was then the Soviet-controlled sector and the sector under the control of the Western Allies. The reports written by members of the Delegation constitute valuable testimony for understanding the events at the heart of the conflict between East and West. 

Among others, the following documents on the Berlin Crisis are available for consultation in PDF format:

  • Telegram (dodis.ch/30568) and detailed report (dodis.ch/30446) by the Swiss Delegation in Berlin on the «cordoning off of East Berlin»; 
  • Letter from the Delegation on the situation of Swiss citizens residing in the GDR (dodis.ch/30447) and a diplomat’s report on his visit to East Berlin (dodis.ch/30570); 
  • Letter from the Swiss Chargé d’Affaires in Cologne on reactions in West Germany to the Berlin Crisis (dodis.ch/30569).