Christian Bormann, a German national and hobby historian, said on Monday the he had discovered an 80-meter-long part of the Berlin wall that local authorities didn't know about.
"According to my research, it is the last piece of the original wall," Christian Bormann told the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung.
Documents showed the section of the wall had been written down as dismantled. Bormann was apparently the only person who was aware of this section of the fortification that was located in a forest in the Schönholz district in the north of the city.
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The man made his discovery in 1999, but kept it secret until Monday, when he decided to write about it in his personal blog and inform local officials.
Bormann explained that he had seen storm damage in the area and was anxious about vandals, so he now felt obliged to tell local authorities about the find.
The Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer) refers to the border fortifications that separated East Berlin, the capital of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), from West Berlin, which had special international status for nearly 30 years, from August 13, 1961 to November 9, 1989.
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During this time period, at least 136 people were killed or died at the GDR border: 98 people were shot and killed while attempting to climb the wall; 30 people who had no intention of fleeing were shot dead or died in accidents; eight GDR border guards were killed while on duty. In addition, 251 people, from both the East and West, were killed at Berlin checkpoints before, during or after border crossings.
On November 9, 1989, the GDR government lifted travel restrictions between East and West Berlin. Around two million East Germans visited West Berlin on November 10-12. People started to dismantle the Berlin Wall. It was officially removed in January 1990.
