The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, marking the symbolic end of divided Berlin.
East Germany began building the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 to prevent movement from East Berlin into West Berlin. The barrier divided neighborhoods, families, transport routes, and a city located inside the territory of the German Democratic Republic. It became one of the clearest physical symbols of the Cold War division between communist Eastern Europe and the Western alliance.
On 9 November 1989, an East German official, Günter Schabowski, announced new travel regulations at a press conference. After being asked when the rules would take effect, he said they were effective immediately, although the government had intended a more controlled process. Crowds gathered at crossing points, and guards eventually opened the barriers.
The wall was dismantled in the months that followed, while some sections were preserved as historical monuments and art sites. German reunification formally occurred on 3 October 1990. The fall of the wall was therefore not the same event as reunification, but it accelerated negotiations and became a defining moment in the end of the Cold War.