Medical Interdependence and System Competition During the Cold War: Fight against Polio in Divided Berlin

Covering the intersection of medical, contemporary and urban history this article examines the handling of the dreaded polio in the megacity Berlin after World War II up to the erection of the Berlin Wall against the background of political developments and global strategies to combat the disease. Divided into four sectors by the victorious allied powers in 1945, Berlin was a focal point of the Cold War and was considered a showcase for the two competing systems. Despite this, the city, which had been divided administratively since 1948 and increasingly also in terms of infrastructure, developed an astonishing level of cooperation between experts in East and West Berlin in matters of polio control due to the spatial interdependence and the perception of infectious diseases as a cross-border threat. This "policy of short distances" and personal contacts benefited both the entire population of Berlin and the national epidemic control in both German states.