In what year did construction of the Berlin Wall start? Construction started in 1961. The initial border closure began on 13 August, when East German forces erected barbed-wire barriers and blocked crossings between East and West Berlin.
The first overnight barrier was not yet the massive concrete structure familiar from photographs. Streets were torn up, fences and wire were installed, and access routes were sealed. Concrete elements and larger blocks began appearing within days, while the border system was repeatedly strengthened over the following years.
The date is closely tied to the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and to the huge flow of East Germans leaving through West Berlin. More than two million people had departed the GDR during the 1950s, creating a political and economic crisis for the East German regime. The Wall remained in place until its unexpected opening on 9 November 1989.