Images of the Berlin Wall
Citizens of Berlin - including neighbors, friends and family members - were suddenly cut off from each other when construction of the Berlin Wall began on August 13, 1961. While West Berliners still enjoyed the democratic freedoms of all West German citizens - including the right to travel anytime - East Berliners were literally "walled off" from their western counterparts for 28 years, until the fall of the Wall on November 9, 1989. Even though they risked paying for it with their own lives, some brave individuals still attempted to flee communist East Germany to find freedom again in the West in various ways - including armored trucks, tunnels and even hot air balloons.
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Barbed wire and armed East German guards in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate at the heart of Berlin just before construction began on the Wall in August 1961. (© picture-alliance/akg-images) -
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Construction of the Wall at Berlin's central Potsdamer Platz square on August 18, 1961, with GDR guards looking on. (© picture-alliance/dpa) -
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A 19-year-old "Volksarmist" (GDR army soldier) named Conrad Schumann boldy jumped across the barbed wire barriers to escape from the Soviet occupation zone into the west on August 15, 1961. A film clip and photographs of his famous leap to freedom have been shown many times over across the world. (© picture-alliance/dpa) -
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A peaceful protest by West Berlin citizens in 1961 against the construction of the Wall. The big white lettering spells "Freiheit," or "Freedom." (© picture-alliance/akg-images) -
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US Secretary of Justice Robert Kennedy and West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt (second from right) visited the Berlin Wall on February 23, 1962. (© picture-alliance/dpa) -
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Children at play atop the Wall in the West Berlin district of Kreuzberg in March 1972. The white graffiti lettering says "Unity and Freedom for Berlin." (© picture-alliance/dpa) -
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East German citizens gather on October 9, 1989 for a prayer protest service at the Nikolaikirche church in the city of Leipzig, south of Berlin, which was a center of the peaceful revolution and civil rights movement for democratic change before the GDR collapsed. (© picture-alliance/dpa) -
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East Berliners staged their biggest public demonstration for democratic change on November 4, 1989 - only days before border crossings between the divided city were finally opened to them again after 28 years. (© picture-alliance/dpa) -
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Thousands of people pass through the checkpoint at Bernauer Street in Berlin on November 12, 1989. Millions of GDR citizens traveled to West Germany for a short visit after the opening of the inner German borders on the night of November 9, 1989. (© picture-alliance/dpa) -
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East Berliners drive their traditional Trabant, or "Trabi," cars through Checkpoint Charlie and are greeted by cheering West Berliners. (© picture-alliance/dpa) -
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Three former leaders - German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and US President George Bush - who were instrumental in reuniting Germany, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall together in the German capital city, which also bestowed an honorary citizen award President Bush for his important role in the process. (© picture-alliance/dpa)
