The construction of the Berlin Wall
The Wall running through the city center, which separated East and West Berlin from one another, was 43.1 kilometers long. The border fortifications separating West Berlin from the rest of the GDR were 111.9 kilometers long.
Layout of the border fortifications - Berlin.de
After 13 August 1961, the barriers – starting with those on the political border to West Berlin – underwent a process of constant expansion and reinforcement on the East Berlin side to create what gradually became a multi-layered “security” system.
Building and development of the Berlin Wall
The large construction site Berlin Wall was a complex, continuously changing, always less impenetrable barrier, that consisted of a wide death strip with numerous barrier- and watch elements. Depending on the position in the Berlin city area, the width of the border line varied.
Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse
Located at a site fraught with history on Bernauer Strasse, it extends along 1.4 kilometers of the former border strip. The construction of the Wall put a violent end to everyday life on Bernauer Strasse, leaving traces that are still visible today.
Berlin Wall Trail
Construction of the “Berlin Wall Trail” (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. The Senate Department for Urban Development (Directorates I and VII) is the “Berliner Mauerweg” project coordinator, while the state-owned Grün Berlin GmbH was charged with carrying out the project.
The Berlin Wall - Berlin.de
Since its erection in 1961, the Berlin Wall was for many years the place, where the geopolitical division of Europe, of Germany and of Berlin manifested itself. Citizens and visitors of the city-West could literally touch the division with their hands.
Opening and fall of the Berlin Wall
After more than 28 years, the Wall had finally lost its power to terrify. In the days and weeks to come, more and more crossing points were created between the two halves of the city, including at Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989.
The fall of the Wall and reunification – Berlin.de
Starting in 1990, the building remains empty for years until the work of demolishing it begins in 2006. It is making way for the construction of a building that will be a replica of the City Palace torn down in 1950.
Berlin Wall Documentation Center
The Documentation Center at Bernauer Strasse 111 is part of the Berlin Wall Memorial ensemble. It offers detailed historical and background information on the history and politics behind the building of the Berlin Wall.
Berlin Wall - Berlin.de
The Berlin Wall has long since disappeared from reunified Berlin. Memories of it, however, are still very much alive: remains and traces of the former border installations are being preserved for posterity, memorials have been built, and the Berlin Wall Trail allows you to explore the former course of the Berlin Wall on foot or by bike.