The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, beginning the process that led to German reunification.
East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 to prevent people from leaving East Berlin and East Germany for the West. The barrier divided streets, neighborhoods, and families, becoming one of the clearest physical symbols of the Cold War and the division of Europe.
On 9 November 1989, an East German government announcement about new travel rules was interpreted as allowing immediate passage. Crowds gathered at checkpoints, and guards eventually opened the crossings. Berliners then climbed onto and broke apart sections of the wall, creating scenes that were broadcast worldwide.
The fall did not itself reunify Germany. East and West Germany formally became one country on 3 October 1990, after negotiations involving the two German states and the four Allied powers that had occupied Germany after World War II. The wall’s fall nevertheless accelerated the political changes that made reunification possible.