The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic

Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 ugust 1!"1, that completely cut o## (by land)
$est %erlin #rom surrounding East Germany and #rom East %erlin& The barrier included guard
towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later 'nown as the
(death strip() that contained anti)*ehicle trenches, (#a'ir beds( and other de#enses& The Eastern
%loc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population #rom #ascist elements conspiring
to pre*ent the (will o# the people( in building a socialist state in East Germany& +n practice, the
$all ser*ed to pre*ent the massi*e emigration and de#ection that mar'ed East Germany and the
communist Eastern %loc during the post)$orld $ar ++ period&
The %erlin $all was o##icially re#erred to as the (Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart( (German:
Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by GDR authorities, implying that neighbouring $est Germany
had not been #ully de),a-i#ied& The $est %erlin city go*ernment sometimes re#erred to it as the
($all o# .hame(/a term coined by mayor $illy %randt/while condemning the $all0s
restriction on #reedom o# mo*ement& long with the separate and much longer +nner German
border (+G%), which demarcated the border between East and $est Germany, it came to
symboli-e the (+ron 1urtain( that separated $estern Europe and the Eastern %loc during the
1old $ar&
%e#ore the $all0s erection, 3&2 million East Germans circum*ented Eastern %loc emigration
restrictions and de#ected #rom the GDR, many by crossing o*er the border #rom East %erlin into
$est %erlin, #rom where they could then tra*el to $est Germany and other $estern European
countries& %etween 1!"1 and 1!3!, the wall pre*ented almost all such emigration& During this
period, around 2,444 people attempted to escape o*er the wall, with an estimated death toll o#
o*er 144 in and around %erlin, although that claim is disputed&
+n 1!3!, a series o# radical political changes occurred in the Eastern %loc, associated with the
liberali-ation o# the Eastern %loc0s authoritarian systems and the erosion o# political power in the
pro).o*iet go*ernments in nearby 5oland and 6ungary& #ter se*eral wee's o# ci*il unrest, the
East German go*ernment announced on ! ,o*ember 1!3! that all GDR citi-ens could *isit $est
Germany and $est %erlin& 1rowds o# East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, 7oined
by $est Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere& 8*er the ne9t #ew wee's,
euphoric public and sou*enir hunters chipped away parts o# the wall: the go*ernments later used
industrial e;uipment to remo*e most o# what was le#t& The physical wall was primarily destroyed
in 1!!4& The #all o# the %erlin $all pa*ed the way #or German reuni#ication, which was #ormally
concluded on 3 8ctober 1!!4&