In 1961, the communist East
German government started to
build a wall between East and West
Berlin in order to keep the people
of East Berlin from escaping to
democratic West Berlin. At first,
the wall was a "temporary" barrier
made from barbed wire and wood.
Soon, however, a cement and
barbed wire wall was built to per-
manently divide the two nations
sharing one city.
The wall, which quickly became a
symbol of a divided Germany and a
divided world engaged in the Cold
War, stood for almost 30 years.
In the late 1980's, the communist
world began to crumble, and so did
the Berlin Wall. By 1989, East
Germany no longer stopped its
citizens from entering West
Germany, and the people of
Berlin began to take down the
wall. Today, Germany is a single,
reunited country. The Berlin
Wall only exists in memory.
