Still Looking for Public Domain Images of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall keeps coming up among the search terms that bring people to this blog. I posted images of the wall back in November 2009, but I thought I’d have another look around. Pre-unification (11/9/89) images are surprisingly hard to find, but I found a few more that don’t repeat what is in the November post.

This first image from the Library of Congress  is chilling. The photographer, Toni Frisell, was a high society fashion photographer when World War II broke out. She volunteered her services to the Red Cross, the Air Force, and the Women’s Army Corp, staying on after the war’s end to document its aftermath. When you just glance at the picture, what you see is a smiling, seeming relaxed young man. But look up and to the right and you see he has a gun pointed at his head.

 

Summary from LoC: West Berliner in uniform in front of Berlin Wall; soldier pointing gun over wall.  Toni Frissell Collection [LC-USZC4-4334]

Man carrying cross on street, Berlin, West Germany.  Toni Frissell Collection [LC-USZC4-4333]

These are not tagged “Berlin Wall” but are related to the Berlin airlift, and so may be of interest. The first from the National Museum of the US Air Force is rather unusual:

DAYTON, Ohio -- Berlin Airlift dog parachute on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Berlin Airlift SCR-658 Radio Receiver on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo

I found this on this on the CIA’s website in a document titled “Turning a Cold War Scheme into Reality: Engineering the Berlin Tunnel”, a formerly classified account of the construction of a secret tunnel “in a rural area of the American Sector southwest of Berlin known as Altglienecke” to tap into Soviet communications lines. It operated until 1956 when East German telephone repairmen accidentally came across it. Or so it was believed at the time.

 

The next images are from the National Archives‘ German Reunification Day Exhibit :

President Nixon views the Berlin Wall from a platform

Photograph of President Reagan giving a speech at the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Federal Republic of Germany, 06/12/1987 – 06/12/1987. ARC Identifier 198585

And here’s a post-unification one from the US Army:

Fireworks illuminate Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate as thousands celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nov. 9, 2009. 

Photo Credit: Richard Bumgardner (U.S. Army Europe)