The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany. The longer ‘inner German border’ demarked the remainder of the East-West German border between the two states. Both borders were part of the Iron Curtain.The wall divided East Berlin and West Berlin for 28 years, from the day construction began on August 13, 1961 until it was dismantled in 1989. During this period 125 people were killed trying to cross the Wall into West Berlin, according to official figures. However, a prominent victims’ group claims that more than 200 people had been killed trying to flee from East to West Berlin. Newly discovered documents confirm that the Communist government gave explicit orders to shoot and kill attempted defectors. The East German government had always denied having such a policy.When the East German government announced on November 9, 1989, after several weeks of civil unrest, that entering West Berlin would be permitted, crowds of East Germans climbed onto and crossed the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, parts of the wall were chipped away by a euphoric public and by souvenir hunters; industrial equipment was later used to remove almost all of the rest of it.The fall of the Berlin wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990.
