Berlin Wall, The

Berlin Wall, The (in German, Berliner Mauer), fortified wall surrounding West Berlin, maintained by the former German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany) from 1961 to 1989.

Between the establishment of the GDR in 1949 and the middle of 1961 at least 2.7 million people left the country, most of them by entering West Berlin, which was completely surrounded by the GDR but occupied by British, French, and United States forces. During the night of August 13, 1961 GDR soldiers and members of its militia, the Kampfgruppen (combat groups), built temporary fortifications which were rapidly replaced by a concrete wall, 47 km (29 mi) long and 4 m (12 ft) high, around West Berlin, apart from a number of bricked-up buildings and two closely guarded crossing points. Although the regime announced that this was an “anti-Fascist” measure against invasion by West Germany, the tank traps and ditches running the length of the Wall were placed on its eastern side, which suggests that the Wall was constructed to keep the GDR's citizens in.

It is estimated that, between 1961 and 1989, at least 70 people were killed trying to cross the boundary. In that year the GDR regime collapsed and the demolition of the Wall, by both official personnel and enthusiastic citizens, began on November 9. The Wall is now commemorated by its few remaining sections and by a privately owned museum and shop near the site of one of the crossing points, Checkpoint Charlie.