Abstract:
On 17 August 1962, 18 year old Peter Fechter was shot while attempting to climb over the Berlin Wall and escape into West Berlin. His death was witnessed and photographed by onlookers in West Berlin who saw his body through the strands of barbed wire atop the Berlin Wall. This thesis examines the symbolic importance of barbed wire in association with Cold War Berlin, including its use by social movements and in political propaganda. In doing so, it delves into barbed wire's rich history and the events that contributed to barbed wire becoming an evocative symbol of the Iron Curtain and the East-West divide. The events of both world wars indelibly affected the symbolism of the humble strand of barbed wire, linking it to the Western Front, prisoner of war camps and the Holocaust. These associations were particularly relevant in post-war German relations: West Germany used East Germany's deployment of barbed wire as a connection to Nazi atrocities, while the East German regime labelled the West as militant fascists. This thesis also explores the unique attributes of the barbed wire motif that made it a versatile and visceral symbol, and explains how these features allowed two social movements with connections to Germany - the Kuratorium Unteilbares Deutschland (Committee for an Indivisible Germany) and Amnesty International - to subvert the violent and oppressive character imparted upon the barbed wire symbol into messages of hope and perseverance. In examining these themes, the thesis draws on a broad variety of German and English-language material, including photos, placards, posters, memorial pieces and highly detailed archival records of the former East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi). Sitting at an intersection of cultural, political and social history, it offers interpretations and insights into the interdependent uses and meanings of barbed wire - a powerful symbol that is still relevant today.