The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, marking the beginning of German reunification.
East Germany opened its border crossings on 9 November 1989 after weeks of mass demonstrations and political pressure. Crowds quickly gathered at the wall, and border guards eventually allowed people to pass into West Berlin. Residents then began dismantling sections of the barrier, using hammers and other tools.
The wall had been built by East Germany in August 1961 to stop the large-scale movement of people from East Berlin and East Germany into West Berlin and West Germany. Its concrete barriers, watchtowers, fences, and patrol systems became a global symbol of the Cold War and Europe’s division.
The fall of the wall did not itself legally reunify Germany. East and West Germany formally became one country on 3 October 1990. Berlin later became the capital of reunified Germany, while surviving sections of the wall remain as historical monuments and open-air art sites.