Berlin Wall (redirected from Fall of the Berlin Wall)

Berlin Wall, 1961–89, a barrier first erected in Aug., 1961, by the East German government along the border between East and West Berlin, and later extended along the entire border between East Germany and West Germany. It was built to halt large numbers of defections and to prevent E. Berliners commuting to the West. Erected at a time of growing tension between East and West, the barbed wire was eventually replaced by concrete topped with wire. In 1989, after hundreds of thousands of East Germans had fled westward via Hungary and Czechoslovakia, on Nov. 9, the beleaguered East German regime lifted travel restrictions, and days later dismantling of the wall began. Built to keep people in, the wall was dismantled in a failed gamble by the Communists to keep power. By Jan., 1990, the regime was selling large slabs of the wall for hard currency, and had set December for its total demolition. In Oct., 1990, however, East Germany was formally reabsorbed into the Federal Republic of Germany and only short sections of the wall remained standing, as memorials.

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Berlin Wall

Barrier surrounding West Berlin that closed off East Germans access to West Berlin from 1961 to 1989 and served as a symbol of the Cold War's division of East and West Germany. The barrier was built in response to the flight of about 2.5 million East Germans to West Germany in the years 1949–61. First erected on the night of Aug. 12–13, 1961, it developed into a system of concrete walls topped with barbed wire and guarded with watchtowers, gun emplacements, and mines. It was opened in the 1989 democratization that swept through eastern Europe and has been largely torn down.