The Berlin Wall was first built in 1961, beginning on 13 August to divide East and West Berlin.
East Germany’s government ordered the barrier after millions of people had left for the West, many through Berlin. Workers initially erected barbed-wire fences and temporary barricades overnight, catching residents and international observers by surprise. Concrete sections and larger blocks began appearing several days later.
The Wall did not simply separate two neighborhoods: it enclosed West Berlin and cut it off from the surrounding East German territory. Over time, the barrier developed watchtowers, patrol roads, anti-vehicle trenches and a heavily guarded “death strip.” Its official East German name was the “Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart.”
A common mix-up is confusing the Wall’s construction with Germany’s broader postwar division, which began after World War II. The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, although dismantling continued afterward, and German reunification followed in 1990.