Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a fortified barrier built by East Germany in 1961 around West Berlin to stop movement from East Berlin and East Germany. It opened in 1989 and was mostly dismantled.

Inner German border: The fortified boundary between East Germany and West Germany from 1949 to 1990. The Wall was Berlin’s distinctive counterpart to this wider German border.
Division of Berlin: The division of Berlin into Soviet and Western sectors after World War II. The city’s four-power division created the political geography the Wall enclosed.
Walter Ulbricht: The East German communist leader who oversaw the closure of Berlin’s border in 1961. He authorized the measure that began the Wall’s construction.
Berlin Wall escape attempts: Attempts by people to cross the Berlin Wall without authorization, by routes above or below ground. The barrier’s enforcement generated dangerous, inventive efforts to cross it.
Berlin Wall checkpoints: Official crossing points through the Berlin Wall, regulated by East German authorities. They were the limited legal passages through an otherwise sealed boundary.
Berlin Blockade: The Soviet Union’s 1948–1949 attempt to cut off land access to West Berlin. The crisis hardened the rivalry that later shaped Berlin’s border.
Nikita Khrushchev: The Soviet leader from 1953 to 1964, whose policies helped shape Cold War confrontations over Berlin. His pressure over Berlin formed part of the crisis preceding the Wall.
Berlin Wall deaths: Deaths of people attempting to cross the Berlin Wall, caused mainly by East German border enforcement. Fatal crossings made the Wall a symbol of coercive border control.
Berlin Wall watchtowers: Observation towers used by East German border troops to monitor the Berlin Wall. They gave guards visibility over escape routes and border installations.
East Germany: The German Democratic Republic, a socialist state that existed from 1949 to 1990. Its government ordered the Wall’s construction and controlled its eastern side.

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