257. Telegram From the Mission in West Berlin to the Department of State1
1897.
West Berlin, August 17, 1981,
1356Z
SUBJECT
- Berlin Wall Statistics.
REF
1. The following are updated statistics issued by the Berlin Senat for the 20th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall. Department should update the figures reported Ref A accordingly.
2.
| — Berlin Wall—total length | 165.7 km |
| — Concrete slab wall | 107 km |
| — Metal bar fence | 55.4 km |
| — Barbed wire | 4.8 km |
| — Walls made of concrete slabs, walls in front of properties and house fronts | 9 km |
| — Watchtowers and observation posts | 277 each |
| — Bunkers, shelters | 137 each |
| — Dog-blockades | 271 each |
| — Anti-vehicular ditches | 108 km |
| — Contact fences and signal alarms | 123.5 km |
| — Shots fired by border troops | 1,587 cases |
| — Shots striking in Berlin (West) with personal injury | 20 projectiles |
| — With property damage | 436 projectiles |
| — Arrests at the demarcation line | 3,094 persons |
| — Fugitives (according to police findings) | 4,747 persons |
| — Escapees belonging to “armed organizations of the GDR” | 542 persons |
| — Escapees, those aiding escapees and West Berliners who perished at the demarcation line | 71 persons |
| — Those above killed by gunfire | 55 persons |
| — Injured persons through use of weapons | 112 persons |
| — Attacks against the “Wall” | 32 cases |
Ledsky
- Source: Reagan Library, William L. Stearman Files, Subject File, Berlin Wall. Unclassified.↩
- Telegram 1644 from West Berlin, July 13, provided the initial statistics for the Berlin Wall. (Department of Sate, Central Foreign Policy File, D810326–0169)↩
- Telegram 181403 to West Berlin, July 10, requested statistics outlining “human costs of the structure” at the time of the 20th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall. (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, D810323–0678)↩